Red alert on allergy to red velvet cakes
THE craze for Mary Berry’s red velvet cakes has helped fuel a rise in food allergies.
The colouring comes from ground-up South American cochineal bugs that can trigger adverse reactions, doctors warned.
They said there had been a surge in the range and severity of food allergies over the past 30 years as E numbers were ditched for natural substitutes.
Dr Isabel Skypala said: “I get faced with people who have eaten pizza or been to that new burger place or had red velvet cupcakes.”
Dr Adam Fox said as a youngster he knew only one child with a peanut allergy, adding: “My son is at the same school and I know six of the 24 kids in his class professionally because of their allergies.”