A child allergic to milk undergoes a reaction when eating a dessert in a restaurant that, according to the letter, was suitable for him

In December 2014, a new European food labeling regulations which included a series of changes aimed at making product labeling more understandable for the final consumer. And although these changes were a before and after for the allergic group, there is still a long way to go.

A few days ago, a nine-year-old boy allergic to milk proteins suffered an anaphylactic shock from eating a dessert with milk in a restaurant, even though the letter indicated the absence of this allergen. And I wonder, what else does it take for hospitality professionals to become aware of this problem?

Errors that can cost life

According to the newspaper El Norte de Castilla, the events happened in a restaurant in Santiago de Compotela (Galicia), where a child suffered a strong allergic reaction due to incorrect labeling in the dessert menu.

The boy, a native of Toledo, and allergic to cow's milk proteins (APLV) ate with his parents in this Galician restaurant when he wanted to order an apple pie for dessert which, according to the restaurant's menu, was labeled as free from milk

Before asking the waiter for dessert, the parents they wanted to make sure it was really made without this allergen and before his question to the waiter, and according to the source consulted, he rebuked the mother of the child "if he could not read."

After trying the dessert, the boy began to feel bad, with itching and swelling that failed to mitigate the rescue medication that his parents had to supply him, so they ended up taking him to the emergency room to put cortices and adrenaline before the breathing difficulties I was beginning to present.

The parents have decided denounce the restaurant through the Castilian-La Mancha Association of Consumers and Users Consumuss. Because this time he was in a terrible fright, but this serious mistake could have cost the boy's life.

The labeling law requires the inclusion of the 14 declared allergens on restaurant menus, which are: gluten, crustaceans, molluscs, fish, eggs, lupines, mustard, peanuts, nuts, soybeans, sesame, celery, milk and sulphurous anhydride.

But, according to statements by the director of Consumuss to El Norte de Castilla, "there is a Incorrect inclusion of allergen symbols in the letters of numerous hotel establishments, probably due to ignorance of these, due to the limited training of the table staff and, most seriously, that the Administration does not control or inspect sufficiently the inclusion of this symbology ".

APLV, lactose intolerance or gluten intolerance?

As the mother of a child with APLV I will difficult and frustrating that is eating out. To the very limited menus with which we find ourselves, there is the ignorance and lack of specific training by the waiters and cooks.

There are countless occasions when asking about a food without milk, I have been offered alternatives without lactose or even gluten, as if APLV, lactose intolerance and gluten intolerance were the same condition

And when you try to explain the differences and look for possible solutions, you feel that, not only you are not heard but your information, questions or complaints "bother" To the waiter on duty. And your frutration and sadness are so great that you only feel like crying.

Cry for not being able to eat quietly and safely in a restaurant, as all families do. Cry because you cannot offer any alternative to your young child other than a grilled steak, and cry because despite having chosen, according to the letter, an allergen-free dish, your child develops an allergic reaction after ingesting it.

The fact that the allergen declaration law was modified was certainly a big step, but if there is no support behind by society, especially in the hospitality sector, we are likely to have to continue to regret cases like this little one.

Via El Norte de Castilla

In Babies and More It is diagnosed more than ever and yet it is estimated that there are 75% of undiagnosed patients: National Celiac Day, Eating out with our baby and enjoying it is possible, we tell you how, A food allergic child He has died in a London school because of an alleged case of bullying related to his allergy, Lactose intolerance, The hard battle of parents of children with allergies against those who insist on giving them what they cannot eat, Allergies in babies: Anaphylactic reaction (anaphylaxis) and childhood shock