THE parents of a girl who died because of an incomplete ingredients label on a baguette warned Islanders about the potentially deadly consequences of Jersey’s laws being out of sync with the UK’s at the first event of its kind in the Channel Islands yesterday.
Allergen campaigners Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse told over a hundred Islanders at the first Jersey Food Allergy Conference in the Town Hall that the lack of local food-labelling legislation could ultimately harm the visitor economy; they said that and “the last thing Islanders want is to send back a coffin on one of those flights to the UK”.
The director of public health, backbenchers, GPs and – briefly – Environment Minister Steve Luce, who oversees this particular legislation, were in the packed hall to hear world-leading experts share findings and examples of best practice.
Professor Adam Fox, a Professor of paediatric allergy at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London and chair of the National Allergy Strategy Group, spoke about the science behind allergies, and Dr Paul Turner, Professor of anaphylaxis and paediatric allergy at Imperial College London, discussed their prevalence, as well as prevention and treatment.
Professor Christina Jones, a clinical psychologist at the University of Surrey, explained how parents of children with food allergies report higher levels of anxiety and a lower quality of life.
The conference was organised by the Jersey Food Allergy Group in response to growing concerns over the increasing prevalence of allergies and the significant challenges faced by Island patients and families.
Dominic Jones, chief executive of JPRestaurants and co-founder of the group, introduced keynote speakers Mr and Mrs Ednan-Laperouse – founders of The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation.
Their daughter Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died aged 15 from a severe allergic reaction to sesame.
Mrs Ednan-Laperouse said she hoped the couple could “improve lives in the Channel Islands” and described how their fear that Natasha would accidentally ingest an allergen was “with us every single day”.
She said: “I cannot stress to you the reality of this burden that is often exacerbated because of the lack of knowledge, awareness, robust processes and policies in education which puts children in danger.”
Mr Ednan-Laperouse thanked Islanders for inviting and welcoming them to the conference, saying: “Food allergies are everybody’s problem. We believe that food legislation should be in synchronisation with the UK, and there is complete logic to that. This is to avoid food allergy tragedies happening, particularly when you have hundreds of thousands of visitors every year coming across the water. British people who are now used to the protection levels they have over there could easily think they are afforded that here, and something goes wrong.
“The last thing Islanders want is to send back a coffin on one of those short flights to the UK, as happened to us. That is absolutely unthinkable, and it is vital that you do your very best as human beings to protect people, whether it is for moral reasons or business reasons the right thing to do.
“Strengthening food-labelling laws by introducing Natasha’s Law or something similar will really make a difference and show that this island can welcome all visitors. There are three million people in the UK with food allergies, and they and their families have a choice over where to spend their tourist money. If you shut them out, that is not good for business.”
Environment Minister Steve Luce recently revealed that allergen-labelling laws for Jersey hospitality businesses and other food providers were due to be debated in the States Assembly next year, after they were first proposed in 2022.
Speaking about the politician’s departure from the conference after 30 minutes, Dominic Jones said: “Deputy Luce has been very engaged in the whole process, and there are other challenges going on that he had to address today. I’m confident that he is now putting everything in gear to move forward with the legislation. I’m positive.”
Mr Jones added: “Education is so important, and we’ve heard so much today: the impacts on mental health, the way that schools can adapt, that the hospitality sector can adapt.
“Everyone who has come here today will have learned things about food allergies; we’ve had myths busted, and educating Islanders is how we make it easier to change things in Jersey.”
Dr Matt Doyle, a GP and leader of the Jersey Allergy Clinic, said: “We need to do better. Allergy has crept up on us as a medical community and in Jersey, we have a couple of paediatricians who work very hard to fit allergy into their general paediatrics, myself in general practice, but [this is] still quite a low level considering the burden and number of people affected by allergies.
“I’m really hopeful that events like today start to drive this agenda.”
