THE parents of a teenager who suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating food from a takeaway has appeared on national television calling on food establishments to tighten up to stop a similar tragedy.

Gemma Lee and husband Adam were on Good Morning Britain yesterday, talking about their daughter Megan who died in January 2017 after eating food from the Royal Spice Indian takeaway in Oswaldtwistle on December 30, 2016.

Mohammed Abdul Kuddus, 40, of Belper Street, Blackburn and Harun Rashid, 38, of Rudd Street, Haslingden, were jailed on Wednesday after being found guilty of manslaughter after she had suffered a reaction.

A post mortem examination showed that she died from asthma due to a nut allergy and inspectors found a series of failings at the takeaway regarding food allergen handling.

Speaking on the show to presenters Ben Shephard and Susanna Reid, Gemma said: “We do feel justice has been done regardless of the sentencing and how long they got.

“We believe this is going to raise awareness. We cannot change our story but we can help seeing it re-written in someone else’s life and that is certainly our goal.”

“I don’t think they (people with allergies) should be set apart from everyone else.

“They should be able to eat food and eat it safely regardless where it has come from.

“There are tools out there for restaurateurs and takeaways to educate themselves they need to do that and put processes in place.”

Megan had been at a friend's house and ordered online via the Just Eat website and wrote “prawns, nuts” in the comments and notes section.

However the delivered meal, which included an onion bhaji, a seekh kebab and a Peshwari naan, was later found to have the widespread presence of peanut protein.

Gemma added: “They separated everything apart and she had started eating and because she was at a friend’s house I believe it was quite quick the reaction.

“The friend's parents did the right thing and gave her Piriton – the antihistamine – and discarded what she was eating. She carried on eating but unbeknown to her it had peanuts in it.

“It was not until we got home about half-an-hour later how severe the reaction was.”

Last month a jury at Manchester Crown Court found takeaway owner Kuddus, 40, and manager Rashid, 38, guilty of unlawfully killing Megan through gross negligence.

The two-week trial heard there was a “litany of failings” in the kitchen, including poor hygiene and no records of ingredients kept.

Sentencing the pair, Mrs Justice Yip told them Megan was responsible enough to highlight her allergies when placing the order but “sadly the same responsibility was not at your end”.

She said: “The Royal Spice had no systems or processes to manage allergen control. The menu contained no information about allergens. No record was kept of the ingredients used in dishes.

“In short, it appears that no one at the takeaway had any way of knowing what allergens were in the food supplied.”

Gemma also had advice for families with members who have allergies when they order food from takeaways and restaurants.

She said: “I would like to have confidence that people may be able to order from takeaways without fear of this happening.

“But I would speak to them and see if they are taking it seriously and you can gauge their reaction until improvements are made to stop it happening.”

TV doctor Hilary Jones praised the family for appearing on television saying: “What you are doing to raise awareness is a legacy to Megan.”

Dad Adam said: “Megan was such a kind and considerate and helpful person. We are taking inspiration from her and into our lives now.

She would have helped anybody in need and would make friends where she went and look after her brother Owen and protect him.”

The family said Megan’s death was still having a massive effect. Gemma added: “Owen is not coping well and does not like to be away from us. He used to me more outgoing but he is struggling and he is missing his sister a lot.”