An investigation has been launched after a woman with a dairy allergy died after being served a tiramisu dessert that was made with milk.
Anna Bellisario went into an anaphylactic shock and died on February 5 at San Raffaele Hospital in Segrate, Milan.
Bellisario, alongside her boyfriend, had reportedly been dining at a restaurant in the Italian city.
Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported the two women who ran the pastry shop that supplied the restaurant are under investigation for manslaughter.
A Tiramisu proved deadly (file pic)
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The claimed that the investigation so far had suggested the pair had mixed up the invoice of vegan sweets with desserts containing milk.
It is alleged that the company did not prevent the mixing of the two production lines in the laboratory pastry shop.
The shop was supplying to 63 Italian restaurants the Tiramisu vegan product at the time of the incident.
Prosecutors Tiziana Siciliano and Luca Gaglio put together a reconstruction using information in part based on wiretaps that, according to investigating judge Fiammetta Modica, "draw a worrying picture of unscrupulousness."
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Bellisario died at San Raffaele Hospital in Segrate, Milan
It was suggested that if the separation of the ingredients and environments had been respected there would have been no mixing of casein with products of vegetable origin in the pastry laboratory, which led to the fatal outcome for the girl.
When she ordered the tiramisu, Bellisario checked the label, but also asked for further information, due to her very strong allergy.
She had then started to eat after being given reassurance, it was reported.
On the second spoonful, she felt sick and ran to the bathroom to try to vomit.
Bellisario took the asthma medication and the cortisone that she always carried with her, but shortly afterwards she lost consciousness and later died in hospital.
The product, Tiramisu Mascherpa, was withdrawn from the market by the ministry of health on February 6 last year, due to it possibly containing milk proteins not indicated on the label.
Bellisario had an egg allergy and had also suffered from a strong milk allergy since she was born.
She studied fashion design and regularly went to the restaurant.
Traces of egg were also found in the mayonnaise of the supposedly vegan sandwich that Bellisario had as her main dish in the restaurant.
