A Belfast city centre restaurant has been fined after a customer suffered an allergic reaction and needed hospital treatment.
The customer suffered an anaphylactic reaction after consuming food containing milk at Cafe Parisien.
Café Parisien Limited pleaded guilty to two offences at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
The company said it deeply regretted the distress caused as a result of the “unfortunate human error”.
The first charge involved serving food that was unsafe for certain consumers and the second was for failing to ensure proper procedures were in place in their food safety management system to provide allergen-free food.
The company was fined £2,500, ordered to pay £523 in costs, and also required to pay £500 in compensation to the customer.
A spokesperson for Parisien told BBC News NI that the restaurant and staff take all food safety procedures “extremely seriously”.
The company added it was an isolated incident at a private event in April last year.
They said they fully recognised the importance of allergy training.
“We continue to advocate and promote clear processes to ensure there are many opportunities to log and properly act upon any allergen food requests,” the company said.
