Nobody is allowed to eat pizza near Christopher Merrett－just the smell of it can be deadly for the two-year-old, who has a severe allergy (过敏反应) to dairy products (奶制品).
Mrs. Merrett said she first realized something was wrong with her son when she stopped feeding him with her milk at six months old and moved onto cows’ milk.
She said her son spent three weeks in hospital after sitting in a supermarket trolley (手推车) which had tiny traces of milk in it. She said, “It looked clean. We put him there and within minutes his feet and hands had gone blue and we knew there was something dreadfully wrong. We realized then he must have put his fingers in his mouth after touching the trolley and it must have previously had some sort of milk product on it.”
Mrs. Merrett added, “We cannot have pizza when he is in the house. I remember going to Pizza Hut for my daughter’s birthday and Christopher began to cough as soon as we got there.”
Mrs. Merrett, who took time off her job to care for her son, and her husband Michael, 47, have spent hours reading ingredients labels (成分标签) and carrying out hard research on the Internet, trying to find suitable food that their son can eat.
Because Christopher’s allergies are so severe that the couple has prepared an entire cupboard for his food. He also has his own shelf in the fridge and oven.
Little Christopher was taken out of nursery school when he was given cheese by accident and he ended up in hospital. His mother now worries about what could happen when he eventually goes to school.