Boy, 7, 'almost dies' drinking McDonald's mango smoothie

18 September 2019, 22:41

A dad has claimed his young son 'almost died' after McDonald's staff put yogurt in his mango smoothie - despite him warning them not to.

David Tyfa, 55, had taken his son James to one of the chain's branches in Huddersfield in 2017 where he ordered the beverage.

But staff mistakenly added the dairy product to the drink, causing James to have an allergic reaction.

A McDonald's spokesperson has apologised for the incident, and said the mistake was down to "human error".

When James drank the smoothie, David said he feared his son would suffer a broken blood vessel or even explode.

The university lecturer told The Times that James broke out in hives, had difficulty breathing and began to grow lumps under his eyes.

The concerned father rushed him home, and gave him antihistamines and an inhaler before calling 999.

David added he thought the "frantic and chaotic" atmosphere allowed for "far too much room for error between the order and the final product delivery".

He is now calling for the chain to add a label on every order which a customer has asked for an allergen to be removed.

A spokesperson for McDonald's said: "When this incident was first brought to our attention in 2017, we apologised to the customer and conducted a thorough investigation with the restaurant.

"It was determined that human error had occurred following which all staff in the restaurant were reminded of the procedures to take when serving a customer with allergens. We apologise that this was not followed correctly in this instance.

“Allergen booklets are available upon request at all of our restaurants for any customers who require allergen information. They provide a breakdown of each of the ingredients and allergens contained within every menu item, and their availability is communicated at various touchpoints within our restaurants.

“The booklets also make it clear that we produce our food in kitchens where allergens are handled by our people, and where equipment and utensils are used for multiple menu items, including those containing allergens.

"While we try to keep things separate we cannot guarantee any item is allergen free, even after ingredients have been removed on request.”