It would be nice to think that all risk factors had been taken into account as we go about our daily lives, but that will never be possible. There will always be the unexpected - waiting out there to claim our lives - despite the most stringent precautions.
Such was the case back in 2007 when a thirteen year old schoolboy attended a camp as part of his school cadet training. His school had been warned that he suffered from a dangerous peanut allergy and it was presumed that this was taken into account when meals were planned.
In this instance, meals were sourced from the Australian Defence Forces ( ADF ) and comprised " C " rations. The meal in question was " Beef Satay ", and upon eating it the cadet suffered Anaphylaxis - and died !
The subsequent investigation revealed a chain of factors that combined to bring about this death. The law requires food products containing traces of peanuts to be clearly labelled to alert users, but the C rations do not contain such a warning because they are not commercial food offered for general sale.
The ADF sees no need to have a warning on it's own C rations because no member of the Australian Defence Forces could be susceptible to Anaphylaxis because all allergies are screened out and recruits are rejected if these are evident at a medical screening.
The supervisors at the school cadet camp would reasonably expect that warning labels would apply to all forms of food - and finding none - would expect to proceed with safety.
No doubt this tragedy will result in many procedural reviews. The ADF may have second thoughts about it's labelling needs, with a review of where it's C rations may end up being used, and schools will need to think long and hard about their extra curricular activities and precautions with food.
The chance of such an accident happening again will be reduced, but it certainly serves as a warning that there are untold hazards out there - just waiting for the right combination of time and circumstances to claim an unwary life.
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