Given cows milk instead of soya milk

[Hungrylimpetmum]

I have lurked here for a while picking up some great advice for my 8 month old ds with an immediate CMPA.

I am breast feeding so am dairy free and our house is dairy free as just touching cows milk brings him out in a rash.

Yesterday I was shopping in John Lewis and fancied a coffee, I asked for a soy latte and checked with staff once it was made that it was soy milk. I get it with vanilla syrup so can't really tell by the taste which milk they use.

Once I was halfway through it a staff member came over apologised and said it was actually cows milk!

They were very apologetic but didn't seem to understand the severity of the situation. They were lucky I am not allergic but now my breast milk is going to have milk protein in again :(

This is all very new to me, those who are more experienced with allergies how do you eat out and ensure the staff take it seriously?

Oh gosh that's awful. Sorry.

Unfortunately you do have to prepare yourself for such mistakes. My worst was ironically at the allergy show. I ate two testers I shouldn't.

I normally eat out only at wagamamas and pizza express, both of whom are very very particular about allergies and the manager in wagamama is only one who is authorised to take the order and deliver it to you.

Thanks, that's useful to know about wagamammas as I imagine they have a lot of dairy free options on their menu as well.

I would make a written complaint. This is appalling and could be life threatening for someone who is allergic to milk. It could also make your bf baby poorly until the milk is gone from your milk. Very disappointing to say the least

I don't trust anyone .
When out I have herbal or black drinks only and add my own milk . I also check the cups are spotless and if possible rinse them .
The machine that should have made your soya latte would have been used to froth dairy too - that would present a contamination risk surely ?

I have a milk intolerance and find that soya milk is more yellow in colour than cows so if it's not I question it. Costa are usually quite good but I do keep an eye on what they are doing as it's not worth the reaction I have if they get it wrong. I'm not convinced the clean the machines that well though so if you are really worried I would buy black tea coffee. I've had good experience with wagamammas too, though I'd ordered a curry that had cream in it by mistake (was just coconut cream) and the staff were really helpful and have all the ingredients in a booklet if you need to check.

This happened to me in Starbucks - soy latte turned out to be cow latte. Unfortunately I'd drunk most of it and DS did have a reaction a day later
I contacted Starbucks customer care who did take it seriously, I'm sure John Lewis would as well. They contacted the store manager who then made sure all the staff had refresher training. The next time I went in they were really helpful - I'd think they'd be told to look out for a lady with a baby ordering soy lattes

Thanks for the replies. I am going to write and complain to highlight the issue.

I think I will stick to black coffee from now on its not worth the worry.

My dd was intolerant of cows milk from birth, any amount still gives a serious eczema reaction which can take weeks to clear.

It's hidden in so many things, I have a lot of years of practise of spotting milk and milk products, but was recently caught out with the chips in Waitrose's restaurant, they are actually their own chunky fries and contain cows milk, as do Aldi's Salt and Black Pepper cashew nuts.

My dd also had a bad reaction to buffalo milk, apparrently there's not much difference between a buffalo and a cow as they're both bovine, but she is fine with goat and sheep for animal produce and organic soy, coconut, oat and almond milks. When dd was little, before Swedish Glacé was available in supermarkets, we used to take a huge insulated bag and drive to a farm that made sheeps milk ice cream and bring back a few litres.

You're doing the right thing by just not having the milk they offer, with the best will in the world, in a commercial setup, cross-contamination and honest mistakes happen.