Restaurant owner faces manslaughter charges for serving milk ice cream to allergic diner

The State Attorney's Office has filed charges against the owner of a restaurant in Rosh Pina, accusing him of negligence leading to the death of Osher Deri, a diner with a life-threatening milk allergy.

The indictment, filed by Attorneys Rayan Salah and Tal Moskowitz-Maoz from the Northern District Attorney's Office, outlines the events of April 2021. Osher Deri and her friend visited a kosher meat restaurant in Rosh Pina. Osher, who had a severe allergy to milk and dairy products, ordered a meat dish and then a dessert.

When the restaurant ran out of non-dairy ice cream, the owner sent a new employee, a minor who had just started working there, to buy more from a nearby supermarket. Unfortunately, the employee mistakenly bought dairy ice cream and placed it in the restaurant’s refrigerator.

The owner did not check that the ice cream was non-dairy, and it was put into the restaurant's fridge. Later, the chef unknowingly served the dairy ice cream with Osher’s dessert. Upon tasting it, Oshir immediately suffered a severe allergic reaction and rushed to Ziv Hospital in Safed.

At the hospital, Osher was incorrectly treated by the emergency room doctor. She collapsed and died shortly after from the severe allergic reaction.

* Kikar Shabbos contributed to this article.