30375A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy who is allergic to wheat, dairy and gluten suffered an instant reaction after eating at McDonald's, despite a manager assuring his mother his meal would be safe.

Katrina Regan, 22, and her mum, Elizabeth Dennison, took young Marshall to McDonald's fast food restaurant in Trowbridge, on Thursday and ordered a chicken breast from the new food range for children.

A manager assured his mum the meal was 100 per cent chicken.

But Marshall only had two bites of the chicken before his mother noticed it had a coating on it. By then the boy was already showing signs of an allergic reaction his belly swelled and he broke out in a rash.

Miss Regan said: "Marshall does not have that serious a reaction, another child might have died, which is what concerns me the most.

"The manager didn't even ask what he was allergic to, just said it was 100 per cent chicken."

Miss Regan complained to the manager but said he was dismissive of her complaint and walked off while she was still talking to him.

"He had an attitude problem. He just was not bothered at all. We were having a conversation and he just walked away from me," she said.

A spokesman for McDonald's said the company was aware of the importance of providing nutritional information, which is readily available in restaurants.

She said: "In addition to providing this information to customers, we empower our staff with detailed instructions on the contents of all new menu items to enable them to advise customers as necessary.

"Unfortunately this occasion was a case of genuine human error. We apologise to the family for any upset caused."

After the manager walked away an assistant manager took over dealing with the family and found the packaging of the meat, which confirmed its ingredients included all three of the items Marshall was allergic to.

Miss Regan said: "The assistant manager was fantastic, really helpful, we had no problem with him at all."

Marshall has suffered from allergies since he was a baby and Miss Regan and her partner, Alastair Sharp, have to carefully monitor his diet.

Miss Regan, a nursery nurse, was in Trowbridge staying at her mother's home in Bradford Road after suffering problems with her pregnancy the weekend before.

She had been told to rest and avoid stress and said this incident had not helped.

Marshall's grandmother Mrs Dennison said: "This was the last thing she needed. In this day and age, with so many allergies about, you would think they would know better. I was absolutely disgusted."