Nuts.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Following the tragic death from anaphylactic shock of 26-year-old Chen Efrat
after being served chocolate spread containing nuts – to which she was very
allergic – an association of parents whose children have food allergies called
for urgent legislation to ensure accurate food labels and restaurant ingredient
lists.
The organization, called YAHEL, convened last week to discuss the
tragedy, in which a Tel Aviv cafe waitress brought Efrat a dish of Belgian
waffles with Nutella chocolate spread, which is based on nuts, even though she
insisted she wanted only pure chocolate because nuts posed a danger to her
life.
RELATED:Woman dies from allergic reaction to nut spread“The lack of awareness and disregard kill our children,” the
organization said. “The next tragedy is on the way. Chen didn’t have to die. If
the authorities, such as the Health Ministry, who are entrusted with this matter
had done their job, it would not have happened. A restaurant or cafe is the last
in the chain of failures that led to this tragic incident.
“If Chen had
had with her a syringe containing adrenaline for immediate treatment of allergic
reactions, it is likely that she would have been saved. But even she didn’t know
of the existence of such a thing, so the responsibility is also of the allergy
doctors, who do not always inform patients with serious food allergies. They
don’t always prescribe the syringe, even though it can save lives,” the parents
said.
Shulamit Rader, chairman of the association, said the sad case did
not surprise the parents. “Every day, children arrive in hospital emergency
rooms around the country with serious allergic reactions.
The public is
not aware of it because fortunately, in the majority of cases, the children’s
lives are saved,” she said.
“Israel is decades behind other countries as
far as labeling all contents of food, and more resources are needed to raise
public awareness of the risks. At present, the most urgent need is to have such
an adrenaline ‘pen’ available at all public places, especially in restaurants,”
Rader said.
YAHEL called for an urgent session of the Knesset Labor,
Social Affairs and Health Committee to discuss Efrat’s death and how to prevent
such incidents.