Published on 12, July, 2020
I saw a report from a coronors court on the news yesterday about an inquest on a 13 year girl who had died after being given a dairy milk hot chocolate instead of the soya one she'd asked for, she was seriously ill within minutes of having one mouthful and dead not long after. This drink was served in a franchise branch of a well known hight street coffee shop, who said that the training and awareness of allergies hadn't been followed in this case and they agreed with the coroners findings.
How long before people take allergies seriously? I think the owners and staff who served the young woman should be prosecuted for negligence manslaughter as I fear its the only way that allergies will be taken seriously. It's not a laugh, or a joke and it definately does matter when you're given something you're allergic too. So many people think allergy suferers are fussy, lying and attention seeking and if you don't tell them you've given them an allergen they won't know.
I wonder how many people at best spend the day itching or in the toilet because of being given an allergen by someone who's to arrogant to care, or end up in hospital, let alone the mortuary?
I think we really need a public awareness campaign about how serious allergies can be.
That’s awful story. I worked in McDonald’s for 4 years and there was no training about allergens at all! There was only a list of them and that’s it. We were instructed to work with certain products in disposable gloves. Once one family ordered ice cream with caramel sauce. While preparing them I noticed, that there was something wrong with the caramel. It smelled of peanut butter. It turned out someone confused the both sauces and loaded peanut butter sauce into the dispenser for caramel (they have similar colors). It turned out it’s good I reacted because the customer was allergic to nuts. Working in gastronomy is very responsible and also low salary. I feel sorry for the family of this girl.