Just a week ago, my four year old daughter suffered a serious allergic reaction whilst at The Seasonal Garden Café in Hahndorf. The home-made raspberry cake was labelled ‘vegan’ and ‘gluten free’. I thought vegan meant that it contained no animal products. We didn’t know it contained cashews.

My daughter’s reaction to the cashews was immediate and severe. I had to administer her epipen quickly. A stranger called an ambulance whilst café onlookers and staff watched. For a little while the adrenaline from the epipen made her feel better. In the ambulance, she starts losing conscience and her body is twitching. The paramedic is trying to rouse her, she is violently sick, several times. Eventually, we make it to the E.D of the W&C hosp. She is given priority. Eventually, the drugs work and her colour returns to normal. Exhausted, she sleeps in my arms. The whole experience was traumatising and even a week later I cannot put it out of my mind.

I never knew much about allergic reactions until my daughter was diagnosed with allergies to dairy, eggs, cashews and pistachios. Providing nutrition, making safe meals, reading teeny tiny food labels & preventing cross contamination is a daily struggle. At childcare/school, there’s a blanket ban on all nuts. I was offered the choice of having dairy & egg banned or segregating my child. Instead, I have chosen to educate her about what she can & can’t eat. Invitations to parties mean I’m baking in the kitchen the night before.

Eating out is a nightmare. When I say dairy, eggs, nuts, you can see them blink at me in disbelief. Hot chips are the easiest option – just don’t drop the chips in the bucket containing milk solids in the chicken salt. Try explaining that to a 16 year old.

The Seasonal Garden Café has been able to provide a few options that have been safe for my daughter to eat. Over time it’s become a place where I’ve felt a level of trust as the food is labelled, uses healthy and seasonal ingredients. I am so careful about everything she eats and I kick myself over & over for not checking the raspberry cake. When I saw ‘vegan & gluten free’, I never imagined for a second it would contain cashews.

Once my daughter could return home, I asked The Seasonal Garden Café to display a label stating ‘contains nuts’. This would have triggered a ‘warning’ which would have prevented my daughter’s traumatic anaphylactic reaction and potentially save future lives. The Seasonal Garden Café refused, on the basis that they cannot state all the ingredients. I have made it clear that I am only requesting 2 words ‘contains nuts’ and asked The Seasonal Garden Café to re-consider their position for the safety of their customers.

The stark reality is 1 in 10 children suffer allergic reactions to a variety of foods and nut allergies are in the top five causes. The Seasonal Garden Café owes their customers a duty of care and now that they have had first-hand experience witnessing the consequences, they are aware of the risk. The Seasonal Garden Café made a conscious decision and refusal to do nothing to mitigate this risk. My daughter could have died from anaphylaxis. The Seasonal Garden Café applies lifestyle labels stating ‘vegan’ or ‘gluten free’ but refuses to apply a safety warning stating ‘contains nuts’. I am angered by their hypocrisy peddling healthy food yet for so many, it could mean an unnecessary loss of life.