Wire in Caffe Nero sandwich sends woman to hospital
LONDON -- A woman was forced to undergo surgery after accidentally swallowing a piece of wire hidden in her Caffe Nero panini.
Katherine Willans, 34, felt sick for three days after eating the sandwich at the cafe's Putney branch in south west London, a court recently heard during a three-day trial.
She eventually had to go to hospital where surgeons successfully removed the wire.
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The court heard the wire came from a brush used to clean grills, which was prohibited under Caffe Nero's internal policy and brought into the shop by workers.
For this reason, Wimbledon Magistrates Court cleared the coffee chain of four counts of breaching food hygiene regulations.
However, wire brushes were also found in Caffe Nero branches in Clapham Junction in south London, and Boston, Lincolnshire.
"One of my reasons for bringing this case was because I didn’t want an unpleasant experience like this happening to anyone else," Willans told Metro about the incident, which happened in 2014.
District Judge James Henderson said the chain had "taken all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence".
Jonathan Goulding, acting for Caffe Nero, said: "Despite the training, a member of staff acted entirely contrary to it and the evidence again is overwhelming about that."
A spokesman for Wandsworth Council said the ruling was "very disappointing".
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