Celiac.com 06/20/2013 - A restaurant owned by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been fined over $12,000 after a customer with celiac disease was sickened by eating regular pasta, instead of gluten-free pasta she was supposed to receive.
The fine resolves a complaint brought by 38-year-old Kristy Richardson, who dined in 2011 at Jamie's Italian in Porstmouth, U.K. Richardson suffers from celiac disease.
This in itself might be bad enough for most people, but, at the time, Richardson was on a waiting list for a heart and lung transplant. According to reports in the Sun, her gluten-triggered illness was so severe that her doctors temporarily removed her from that list; potentially depriving her of a transplant opportunity.
Richardson complained, authorities became involved, charges were filed, and the restaurant eventually pleaded guilty to "selling food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by a purchaser," according to the Telegraph.
The fine is in addition to the nearly $4,000 previously awarded to Richardson in a civil case over the matter. What do you think? Should restaurants be fined if their gluten-free food contains gluten. Does it matter whether it makes people sick?
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