Welcome to our site and to our campaign to change the law surrounding allergy labelling in restaurants, in memory of our beloved Owen. Our aim is to protect and save the lives of allergy sufferers dining out in restaurants.
Latest News
The Owen’s Law petition, debated in Parliament in May last year has been nominated for
Petition Campaign of the Year Award!
We’re delighted to announce that, The Petitions Committee, a cross-party group of MPs, has nominated Owen’s Law for the Petition Campaign of the Year Award alongside two other campaigns.
Find out more about our nomination
The winner will be announced at the end of February, as part of the UK Parliament Week Awards. We’re incredibly grateful for this recognition and hope that the increased publicity will add further weight to our campaign.
Our Campaign
Owen Carey had just turned 18 and was celebrating his birthday with family members and his girlfriend on a day out in London on 22nd April 2017. He had suffered with multiple food allergies all his life and was well used to ordering meals to fit his restricted diet when in restaurants. For lunch that day, Owen ordered a grilled chicken burger at a Byron Burger restaurant, which, having explained his allergies to the server and having no other information on the menu to the contrary, he was assured would be ‘plain grilled’ and therefore safe for him to eat. However, the chicken had in fact been marinated in buttermilk, to which Owen was highly allergic. He only ate a small amount as he could tell immediately that something was wrong. His breathing became more and more restricted and he was using his asthma inhaler constantly as he and his girlfriend journeyed to London’s South Bank for what was supposed to be the second half of Owen’s celebratory day. Forty-five minutes later, having arrived at the London Eye, Owen collapsed, having suffered a massive anaphylactic reaction. Paramedics and a team at St Thomas’ Hospital tried everything they could, but were unable to resuscitate him.
We, his family, are calling for a change in the law surrounding how allergy information is displayed and given in restaurants in the UK. We hope that a simple change in labelling and staff training will prevent any future needless deaths of people with food allergies.
Owen’s Allergies
Owen had suffered multiple allergies to food, pollen, cleaning products, animal hair, and more, all his life. Some of these were relatively minor, only causing mild stomach upset, or sneezing and itching, some more significant leading to a painful ulcer on his eyeball, and some ultimately life threatening. Through the various medical tests and the fastidious care of his mother and wider family, Owen never came into contact with his main food allergens, and therefore had never suffered an anaphylactic reaction before the day he died.
He lived his life in constant discomfort with stomach upsets, hives, rhinitis, eczema and chronic asthma affecting him on a daily basis. Yet he bore it all without making a fuss and never let it hold him back. One of life’s inherently ‘good’ people, he brought so much joy to all he met; being a cheeky prankster with his friends and looking out for those who needed support; being a loving and caring son; sharing a close bond with his siblings (despite a 14 year age gap); doting on his girlfriend Martha; and being an awesome uncle to his nephew and nieces, a role which he, at nine years old, embraced with open arms of love, joy, and plenty of fun.
Despite his life-limiting condition, he was a ray of sunshine and a true example to us all. We miss him terribly
Our Team
Meet our family.
