Student's demand for better allergen labeling after 2nd spice scare
Last updated 27th Nov 2018
A Glasgow student's telling Clyde News food producers need to start taking allergies seriously after being landed in hospital for the second time in just over a year.
Oliver Wright is allergic to cumin and went into anaphylactic shock when he tasted a meal made with Blue Dragon sweet and sour sauce which didn't list it on the ingredients.
The 18 year old says he began to feel his throat closing up after taking a couple of bites of the meal and flatmates at Glasgow Caledonian University gave him an emergency injection with one of the epipens he carries.
An ambulance was called out and Oliver spent the night in hospital where he was given steroid injections.
Just over a year ago a similar incident happened when he cooked a meal using a supermarket barbecue sauce which didn't list cumin as an ingredient.
Oliver says he always reads the ingredient label carefully, and gets a friend to double-check it, and is frustrated it's happened to him again.
The makers of the Blue Dragon brand tolds us they were sorry for what happened to Oliver but deny cumin is used in the sauce and, in their view, it's "highly unlikely" his reaction was as a result of eating the sauce.
The company also says all their packaging conforms to EU laws.
A statement from Food Standards Scotland says there's no legal requirement to list it if it's only used in small quantities.