Are allergies taken seriously?

News has emerged today that a 12-year-old boy has died of a several allergic reaction after eating a takeaway his parents were told contained no nuts.

Connor Donaldson from Manchester, who died in October, was diagnosed with a nut allergy at a young age and his parents, who also are nut allergy sufferers always made sure his food was nut free. Whilst ordering the Indian takeaway his mother specifically asked if his prawn balti would contain traces of nuts and was assured that it would not.

An inquest into Connors death revealed that the restaurant preparing the curry had been using the same serving spoon to dish up all of the food at the restaurant causing contamination. The curry which he had taken only a few bites from before suffering an asthma attack also contained a balti paste which contained almond and peanut paste.

Connor later died in hospital as a result of the asthma attack due to his reaction to the curry.

Coroner Mrs Lemming said that the public need to be aware of the risks associated with food outlets where nuts are used and that there is a high risk of cross contamination , 'A very small amount of allergen might be all that is required for a tragedy such as this. Depending on the individual cross contamination might be enough to result in this sort of desperate, desperate tragedy".

In the UK around 10 people die each year as a result of an allergic reaction. Kelly Kooks spoke to 21-year-old Mary Harding who suffers from an allergy to fish and walnuts.

Basa is off the menu for allergy sufferer Mary

Like Connor, Mary was diagnosed with her allergy at a young age after her parents gave her fish fingers as a toddler which resulted in her becoming very ill. In her early teens she went for allergy testing which showed the extent of her allergies and was told that if she ate certain types of fish it could be fatal.

"I have to carry an EpiPen around with me because if I eat anything containing white fish then I could die. "

From then she has always been very careful about the foods that she eats particularly now that she lives in shared accommodation at university "If I'm unsure what's in it I just won't touch it. The smell of fish makes me feel physically sick and if my housemates eat it they have to make sure the plates and cutlery gets washed really well."

She explained that because of her allergy to walnuts she has to constantly check packaging and ask restaurants if foods contain what she is allergic to because it is usually not clear on menus.

From hearing both Connor and Marys story I think more needs to be done to ensure that awareness of allergies is readily available for sufferers and that the food industry needs to be more vigilant in its methods of production to make sure tragedies like Connors death stop happening.

I spoke to café owner Adam Klauffman, of Tunbridge Wells, to find out what he does to prevent contamination in his kitchen and what he does to alert allergy sufferers who come to his café.

He explained that the majority of his produce is brought in from suppliers and has clear allergy labelling so he can always check a product if a customer has a query.

"We always make sure that the cakes we make at Adam's Café contain no traces of nuts as this is a common allergy. I cannot guarantee that anything I buy in is nut free but the information is always readily available for my customers."