HEALTH officials have warned “it is only a matter of time” before someone dies from an allergic reaction after eating a takeaway.

The warning from Cumbria Trading Standards came after the sentencing of Shengs Chinese in Ainslie Street, Barrow.

Hoi Yeung Yung, 45, pleaded guilty to offences under the Food Safety Act and Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

The court heard that head chef Yung, of Thwaite Flat, Barrow had been responsible for identifying dishes which contained allergens.

He runs the business alongside his sister So So and his brother Wai.

Jon Farnworth, prosecuting on behalf of Cumbria Trading Standards, described how Violet Musgrave had ordered a takeaway from Shengs on February 9 with her boyfriend and his family.

She asked her boyfriend’s father, Adrian Heaton, to check her Szechuan chicken chow mein did not contain peanuts as she was allergic.

Staff at the takeaway said she “would be fine” and Miss Musgrave tucked into her meal.

Within seconds of taking her first mouthful, the court heard Miss Musgrave’s lips become swollen and her throat started to tighten.

Immediately recognising the symptoms of an allergic reaction, Miss Musgrave took an anti-histamine, and after vomiting she began to recover.

“She thought about how her reaction could have been a lot worse, or if it had happened to someone else, and it has put her off ever ordering a takeaway again,” Mr Farnworth said.

Miss Musgrave reported the incident to Cumbria Trading Standards who sent an officer to Shengs.

The officer, Jennifer Wood, ordered the same meal and requested for it to not contain nuts because she suffers from an allergy.

“She took the meal and then told staff it was a test purchase,” Mr Farnworth said.

Ms Wood went into the kitchen where she was given a jar of the Szechuan sauce bought in from a supplier. The label revealed it contained peanut powder and peanut paste, typed in bold to indicate that they were allergens.

Analysis later found the 678g dish contained 3.39g of peanut protein.

Bosses from Shengs were later interviewed by Trading Standards in which they accepted an error had been made in not identifying the Szechuan sauce as containing peanuts.

Speaking after the hearing Mr Farnworth said: “It is only a matter of time before someone dies from an allergic reaction after eating a takeaway.”

Defence solicitor Miss Oldfield described Shengs as a “family-run business of 30 years with an unblemished safety record and a 5/5 food hygiene rating. They have had this hanging over them for many months, you certainly won’t be seeing them again, this has been a very sobering time for them,” she added. Shengs and Yung were ordered to pay a £2,600 fine, £250 in compensation, a £170 surcharge and £3,121 costs.