FAMILIES fed up with Tesco's "nutty" labelling policy have spearheaded a nationwide campaign to stop stores "taking away choice" from allergy sufferers by placing warnings on products with no nut traces.
Fruit squash, low-fat yoghurt and cream soda "may contain nuts", according to the supermarket's labels, leaving parents like Chelmsford mum Angela Waters in despair at the lack of products available to her daughter, Charlotte, who is severely allergic to peanuts and Brazil nuts.
The mother-of-three grew so frustrated with the supermarket's heavy-handed approach that she has now helped launch Say No to Nutty Food Labelling, a campaign to pressure Tesco bosses into rethinking their policy.
"It's taking choice away from a child who has limited choices anyway, you already live in constant fear for their life," said Angela. "Our biggest fear is that if Tesco get away with this type of labelling, all the other supermarkets will follow and we won't be able to shop anywhere."
It was two years ago that Charlotte, now 13, was on holiday in the United States when an ice-cream with a nut topping caused her to grow faint and begin vomiting, a gastric reaction to nuts which can be as fatal as the common respiratory response.
Now the teenager is required to carry an EpiPen with her at all times as even being in the same room as someone eating nuts can lead to a reaction.
"It was quite a shock and has had a massive impact on Charlotte," added Angela, 41.
"But the main problem we have now is having to read all labels and check everything.
"We don't eat out anymore, we couldn't think of going to a posh restaurant without stressing out over what Charlotte was going to eat and cleaning the whole kitchen down."
The final straw came when Angela picked up a carton of apple and blackcurrant juice while shopping in Tesco that she had bought hundreds of times before only to find the "May Contain Nuts" label had appeared, and through subsequent chats with parents in similar positions they started the Say No to Nutty Labelling campaign.
Since the conception of the campaign, Tesco has agreed to review labels on their Fruit Splash juice and own-brand Baked Beans after admitting the products were "100 per cent safe for customers with a nut allergy" along with five other items labelled similarly.
"When they agreed to change the labels I felt happy but then deflated because I thought how many other products could be the same," said Angela, who believes if she were to attempt a full week's grocery shop at Tesco it would currently take her up to an hour-and-a-half due to their labelling.
In response to the labelling issue on Facebook, a representative from Tesco customer care wrote: "Recently how we label has changed and in that changeover the 'may contain' statement has been put on products it shouldn't and caused a lot of confusion and anguish amongst our customers – for which we are very sorry."
A petition to stop "blanket may contain nuts labels" has collected more than 15,000 signatures.
To sign it, go to change.org/en-GB/petitions/tesco-stop-using-blanket-may-contain-nuts-labels
