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Woman dies after opening pasta sauce
The Guardian ^ | December 23, 2004 | Sam Jones

Posted on 12/22/2004 8:48:11 PM PST by ijcr

A woman with a severe allergy to tomatoes died after opening a tin of spaghetti bolognese, it emerged yesterday.

Raya French, 37, a part-time receptionist from Tankerton in Kent, was preparing dinner for her four children two weeks ago when the tomato sauce in the can sent her into anaphylactic shock.

She was taken to hospital, but never regained consciousness. She was allowed to die four days later after her family decided that she had no chance of survival.

Mrs French developed an allergy to raw tomatoes three years ago, and would come out in hives and suffer asthma attacks. Recently the reactions had become more severe.

Her husband, Stephen, said yesterday that despite what had happened, his wife would still want their children - Alexandra, 15, Tom, 10, Maddison, six, and Louis, four - to enjoy the festive season.

"It's been a very difficult time, but we're working towards Christmas," he said.

Canon Patrick Sales, the vicar of All Saints church in nearby Whitstable, said that more than 300 people had attended her funeral last Wednesday.

"She was a governor at the local school where her children were pupils.

"She knew a lot of people in the community and there was a big response to her death."

Mr Sales said of Mrs French's husband and children: "They have been very brave and positive about all this."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: allergy; death; killertomatoes; tomatoes; uk
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Comment #61 Removed by Moderator

To: twinzmommy

I have a few food allergies (nuts, watermelon, avocado) that have snuck up on me over the past couple years. I am pretty irritated with the whole deal. I would second the advice to reconsider doing the prepping of any foods with them in it after reading this.


62 posted on 12/22/2004 10:00:12 PM PST by conservative cat
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To: ijcr
Kinda sounds like a Little Feat Christmas to me!!



Hack
63 posted on 12/22/2004 10:11:30 PM PST by dynamitehack
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To: Happygal
a)..Why would a woman with a severe allergy to tomatoes choose to feed bolognaise sauce to her family?

That's what I was thinking

64 posted on 12/22/2004 10:14:00 PM PST by Mo1 (Should be called Oil for Fraud and not Oil for Food)
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To: bonfire

Sounds like she got anti-oxidated.


65 posted on 12/22/2004 10:20:58 PM PST by midnightson
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To: Happygal
b)...How are they planning on being festive when their mother died a week ago?

Something stinks here.

It is indeed puzzling... If it had happened here it would make a lot of sense (multimillion lawsuit), but in England they have strict limits...

66 posted on 12/22/2004 10:28:12 PM PST by aquila48
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To: Happygal

a)..Why would a woman with a severe allergy to tomatoes choose to feed bolognaise sauce to her family?

---She was probably out of fish and chips.

b)...How are they planning on being festive when their mother died a week ago?

---If they're like most Brits, getting good and plowed, I'd reckon.


67 posted on 12/22/2004 10:29:19 PM PST by LibertarianInExile (NO BLOOD FOR CHOCOLATE! Get the UN-ignoring, unilateralist Frogs out of Ivory Coast!)
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To: Time is now

ROFLMAO.


68 posted on 12/22/2004 10:33:42 PM PST by LibertarianInExile (NO BLOOD FOR CHOCOLATE! Get the UN-ignoring, unilateralist Frogs out of Ivory Coast!)
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To: trussell
I had a bad reaction to onions a couple years ago...found out I was HIGHLY allergic to them...

I also have an allergy to onions (and garlic). Nothing life-threatening, but it's a continuous inconvenience.

Here's what I don't understand. I think that most folks who have a food allergy (like us) will go to extreme lengths to avoid exposure. We develop exposure avoidance habits that become quite elaborate.

Perhaps she did not realize how just much the severity of the allergy had increased .

69 posted on 12/22/2004 10:53:36 PM PST by Seaplaner (Never give in. Never give in. Never...except to convictions of honour and good sense. W. Churchill)
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To: Seaplaner

I know I am almost obsessive about avoiding onions!! I am not allergic to garlic though.


70 posted on 12/22/2004 11:05:54 PM PST by trussell (I Never Frown, even when I am sad,because I never know who is falling in love with my Smile!!!)
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To: Happygal
Oh, my spinning head. Known to be allergic to tomatoes AND then opens up a can of spaghetti sauce?

The cognitive dissonance here is OFF THE EFFING SCALE!

71 posted on 12/22/2004 11:45:14 PM PST by SAJ
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To: Darkwolf377
For some reason I expected that to read "would still want their children to enjoy tomatoes."

That's what I thought, too. Strange story.

72 posted on 12/22/2004 11:48:49 PM PST by Netizen
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Chortle!!


73 posted on 12/22/2004 11:48:54 PM PST by SAJ
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To: ijcr

I don't have that kind of reaction to tomatoes but you can still keep 'em. Good for ketchup and that's about it.


74 posted on 12/22/2004 11:50:47 PM PST by BJungNan (Did you call your congressmen to tell them to stop funding the ACLU? 202 224 3121)
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To: Blue Highway
I thought you actually had to ingest something for their to be an allergic reaction to food, or at least some kind of skin contact.

I was thinking along the same lines then remembered the deal with 'peanuts' and some schools banning peanut butter from being brought in lunches. I guess the smell can be enough.

75 posted on 12/22/2004 11:59:40 PM PST by Netizen
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To: arasina
I developed an allergy to Dawn dish detergent that worsened very gradually.

Interesting. My sister used to get warts on her hands whenever she smoked Merit menthol cigarettes. She used to switch brands now and then and that was how she noticed it. I knew of two other people that smoked Merit menthol and they had warts on their hands. When I mentioned my sister's noticing that when she changed brands the warts went away, these two guys changed brands and theirs went away too. The one even tried them again later, only to have his warts return. He stopped smoking Merit menthol after that.

Kins of strange how we all are different and certain things will affect us differently.

76 posted on 12/23/2004 12:07:24 AM PST by Netizen
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To: knuthom
I am allergic to coffee.

What sort of physical symptoms do you experience?

77 posted on 12/23/2004 12:09:44 AM PST by Netizen
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To: Judith Anne
There are a lot of serious allergies; I know a woman who, like you, had a problem with certain scents...ruined her social life, she couldn't go anywhere without running into someone wearing something she was seriously allergic to.

My mother has that problem when people wear a musk based perfume. It constricts my mother's throat.

I get something similar. I can drink orange juice, or grapefruit juice (thought I don't particularly like grapefruit juice), and I can drink vodka, BUT, I can't mix the orange or grapefrut juices with vodka. As soon as I do that, one drink and my throat feels like it swells inside to where its difficult to swallow.

78 posted on 12/23/2004 12:14:25 AM PST by Netizen
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

You know, that was my first thought. Her allergist says that while that may have started the whole thing, the end result is still the allergy to these fruits. And she does tend to buy organic, at least now.


79 posted on 12/23/2004 4:27:52 AM PST by fortunecookie (My grandparents didn't flee communism so that I could live in Kerry's Kommune - and I won't have to.)
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To: bonfire

That's not an allergy. Hazelnut coffee just plain stinks.

I can't stand flavored coffees, but hazelnut is the worst and stinkiest. Makes me gag and shudder. But if you got rid of my sense of smell for me, I could probably drink it just fine.


80 posted on 12/23/2004 4:34:54 AM PST by hellinahandcart
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