A five-year-old girl suffered a serious allergic reaction which “could have killed her” during a special family holiday.

Ipswich Star: Daisy Mowles, five, suffered a serious allergic reaction to a meal at Center Parcs Elveden and required hospital treatment Picture: KATIE MOWLESDaisy Mowles, five, suffered a serious allergic reaction to a meal at Center Parcs Elveden and required hospital treatment Picture: KATIE MOWLES (Image: Archant)

Little Daisy’s parents, Tom and Katie Mowles, booked a week away at Center Parcs in Elveden last week to mark the youngster’s birthday but what should have been a memorable trip as a family-of-four turned into a nightmare.

Daisy, who has an eight-month-old brother Jasper, is allergic to egg and dairy but as a treat, her parents decided to order an Indian takeaway from the site’s Dine In service last Wednesday.

Mrs Mowles, 28, from Holbrook, said: “Before we ordered we spoke to the server about the allergies to dairy and egg that Daisy has.

“He went through our order of vegan Indian food to confirm that what we ordered was safe for her to eat, he checked with the chef and with us once more, confirming the dairy and egg allergies.”

The family tucked into their meal but it wasn’t before long that Daisy started to complain of an itchy tongue and cheeks and her face began to swell.

Mrs Mowles added: “We told her to have a drink as it was likely the food was a little spicy as we were advised that everything was safe for her to eat.

“She then began to itch her eyes which came out with hives - another sign of an allergic reaction.

“We gave her Piriton but she became upset and panicky so we gave her a Ventolin inhaler in case her breathing was starting to become a struggle.

“I called Dine In to confirm everything was definitely dairy and egg free but was advised that the naan bread contained 0.1% yogurt powder which is, of course, dairy, and why our daughter was having an allergic reaction.”

The couple took Daisy to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds where she was given a further antihistamine.

The family has since received a full refund of £406 but Mrs Mowles said she wants more to be done to ensure this does not happen again. It has left Daisy anxious and questioning everything that she eats.

She said: “I want to know if the labelling on the food was wrong, did they disregard the yogurt powder or are the staff just not educated on allergies enough?

“This could have killed her but we were very lucky Daisy’s reaction wasn’t worse this time. This may have a different ending for someone else.”

A Center Parcs spokesman said: “We understand that this was a very upsetting incident for the family and we would like to apologise to them for any distress caused.

“At Center Parcs we have very rigorous procedures for the control of allergens across all of our restaurants. We have conducted a full investigation and unfortunately, it would appear that, on this particular occasion, some of the procedures were not adhered to strictly.

“As a result of the investigation we have re-briefed and re-trained all employees involved.

“We have been in contact with the family to reassure them that we are taking this matter extremely seriously.”