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A Victorian coroner will examine whether restaurants and food delivery apps should tell customers if meals contain potentially dangerous ingredients, after a teenager died from eating a Mexican dish that contained nuts.
James Tsindos, 17, died from anaphylaxis in 2021 after eating a burrito bowl he ordered online, not realising cashews were one of the ingredients in a sauce.
Today, coroner Sarah Gebert ordered a full inquest into his death, saying numerous medical experts had given differing opinions about the treatment given to James after he consumed the meal.
Counsel assisting the inquiry Rachel Ellyard said James had ordered the dish from a local vegan restaurant using the Deliveroo app on the afternoon of May 27, 2021.
James, who had a history of allergic rhinitis and asthma, noticed his lip swelling, tingling in his throat and abdominal pain.
Ms Ellyard said it was only when James called the restaurant that he learned the sauce in the meal contained cashews.
James's father Harry rang paramedics, who arrived within 11 minutes and initially believed James had responded well to an adrenaline shot.
James was taken to Holmesglen Private Hospital, but about an hour later developed a wheeze. His condition rapidly worsened and a "code blue" was called when he went into cardiac arrest.
The teenager was transferred to the Alfred Hospital intensive care unit but his life support was turned off on June 1, 2021 after consultation with his family.
The Tsindos family's barrister Paul Halley said there were concerns about James's treatment while in medical care and inconsistencies in hospital and ambulance records that needed to be investigated.
Mr Halley also said the community needed to feel assured that they would be alerted to the risk of allergens in online food orders.
"The family have grave concerns about the method in which the burrito bowl was advertised on Deliveroo. It made it very difficult to find any mention that cashews were any part of the make up of the dish," he said.
"I'm sure if I went to a restaurant to eat a burrito it would be plastered all over the place that this contains cashews."
Ms Gebert said under current regulations, restaurants and takeaway businesses were not required to tell customers if food included ingredients like nuts.
The coroner said medical experts would be called to give evidence at the inquest, and she would also make inquiries with the Victorian health department to see whether further community education was needed or an update to regulations governing delivery apps.
"I understand from all of the material he was a beautiful young man," the coroner said to James's family, who were in the courtroom.
"It's not only a loss for yourselves, it's a loss for our community as well."
Friends and family of James, a talented pianist who attended Brighton Grammar School, filled the court gallery on Tuesday.
His mother Venetia clutched a photo of James in his school uniform and his father broke down when the coroner said she would use her discretionary powers to order a full inquest.
Coroner Gebert said the inquest could run for two days, potentially in July or August this year.