According to a recent survey report, about 90.34% of the world’s population love pizza, and about a staggering 98% of Americans find pizza their best go-to food. Ranging from Pepperonis, mushrooms, and bacon strips to masalas the pizzas are decorated with a wide range of toppings and flavorings adding to their mouth-watering taste, but can a pizza cause a death?
It can be if the pizza contains any ingredient, you’re allergic to. As in the case of James Atkinson, who was 23 years old and living in England, and was allergic to peanuts. On July 10, 2020, James Atkinson ordered a chicken tikka masala pizza along with his roommate and even cross-checked to see if peanuts were present as an ingredient.
There was no sight of peanuts as a part of the ingredients on the menu, but as soon as Atkinson took the first bite, he could feel that there was something wrong with the pizza till the time paramedics arrived, Atkinson felt breathless and was having the weird feelings and thoughts of death. Later Atkinson, who was a programmer, was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle at 8.40 pm and less than an hour later, he was pronounced dead.
The uneaten foods in his body were examined to be nuts and in particular, peanuts, as searched by the toxicology tests showed to have no Alcohol or other drugs in his system.
The cause of his death was found to be anaphylaxis following peanut ingestion as confirmed by home office pathologist Dr. Jennifer Bolton.
The sudden death of a warm and happy man like James set a surge of shock among the kin of James and his friends and family members. And especially his parents who were deeply sorrowed by the death of their son. “James had a gift of making others happy, checking in on friends, and offering support when needed,” his father said. “To be in his company with his amazing sense of humor and infectious laugh was a privilege.”
