Help: our boy refuses to eat without bacon crisps
SEVERELY AUTISTIC TEEN BADLY AFFECTED BY WALKERS SHORTAGE
PARENTS of a severely autistic boy are desperate to find a flavour of Walkers crisps he likes as he is “refusing to eat” amid shortages of the snack.
Connor Lewis, 14, who is non-verbal, only eats a limited number of familiar foods of a certain texture and flavour.
His parents, Sarah and Jason, who live in Enderby, are desperate to find Smoky Bacon flavour Walkers crisps as, without them, Connor is “refusing to eat anything else”.
Walkers crisps have been in short supply due to IT issues.
“That flavour of crisps is his main food,” Sarah said. “Because of his severe autism and learning difficulties his diet is really limited, but since these shortages, they’re just nonexistent.”
She said it is extremely difficult to explain the crisps are not available at the moment.
According to Walkers owner PepsiCo, production could be affected until the end of the month.
The Mercury understands the most popular flavours, including Cheese and Onion, Ready Salted and Salt and Vinegar, are taking priority for production. “We’re at the end of our tether,” Sarah said. “My husband has been driving up and down the motorway to check service stations.”
Connor’s regular medication is also being affected as his parents usually have to disguise it in juice, which he only drinks alongside a packet of Smoky Bacon crisps. “It’s having an impact on his mental health as well because he just doesn’t understand why his main food isn’t there,” Sarah said.
The 45-year-old asked her radio presenter brother to appeal for help finding the crisps. “We managed to get a box of the crisps from someone from Lancashire but apart from that we’ve had no luck,” said Sarah.
The couple are now appealing to PepsiCo, and anyone else who can help them, to get hold of the crisps. They have also been referred to a dietician for a consultation in December, but Sarah said it is a “long time to wait for a child who isn’t eating”. PepsiCo was unable to comment on the specific case, but said it is doing “everything we can to increase production”.