Mum issues warning after toddler has an allergic reaction to ketchup leaving her covered in 'burn marks'

A mum has issued a warning to other parents after her daughter was left covered in “burn marks” after suffering an allergic reaction to ketchup.

After accidentally squirting tomato ketchup on herself, the 18-month-old toddler was left with in a horrific red rash over her body which her mum said “looked like burn marks.”

Leanne Bullard's daughter, Alice, suffered an allergic reaction after spilling the sauce from a £1 squeezy bottle of Daddies Tomato Ketchup.

The 39-year-old, from Halesworth, Suffolk, didn’t realise Alice had been affected until she was bathing her daughter and spotted bright red marks on her skin.

The mum later discovered that her daughter had suffered a reaction to a preservative used in the tomato ketchup brand.

Leanne explained that she had given her children the ketchup with their dinner, but Alice had managed to cover herself with the sauce, so she’d given her a bath to clean it off.

"I got some baby wipes which are the same brand I always use that she had never had a reaction to and wiped it off her,” the mum explained.

"When I did wipe it off her, directly underneath where the tomato ketchup had been were red marks and patches.

"It looked like she had been burnt, it looked like scolds.”

READ MORE: Could children's fiver parties spell the end of birthday presents?

Leanne dialled the NHS on 101 who told her to watch over Alice, as the sauce could cause her airways to swell as she’d eaten it.

Leanne watched over her for hours until eventually the rash died down and she has since made a full recovery.

Though neither Alice or any of Leanne’s other children have ever had an allergic reaction before, after Googling her daughter’s reaction she realised that other children had also had a reaction.

After complained directly to Daddie’s parent company Heinz, Leanne was told the plastic bottle of Daddie’s ketchup contains potassium sorbate, a common cause of allergic reactions.

The chemical is used as a preservative, but doesn’t appear in the glass version of Daddie’s ketchup, or in their standard tomato ketchup.

Leanne now wants to use her experience to make other parents aware of the additive, as she fears other children could have a more severe allergic reaction.

"You would think that being in a plastic bottle you would have thought it was more child-friendly because obviously I wouldn't give a glass bottle to a child,” she says.

"Some children could have had a more severe reaction, it could have been a lot worse especially if it had reacted with Alice's throat or her airways.

"That's quite scary for a parent."

READ MORE: Mum praised for seat belt covers informing car accident responders about a child's medical information

A spokesman for Heinz said: "We were very sorry to hear about Leanne’s experience.

"From the information shared it may have been a reaction to the tiny amount of potassium sorbate which is widely used in some foods as a preservative and is part of the recipe for Daddies Tomato Ketchup in plastic bottles.

"We have confirmed with Leanne that Daddies Tomato Ketchup in glass bottles is made without potassium sorbate because of a different filling process, and it is not used in Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

"Of course the details of these recipes are clearly labelled.

"We have sent Leanne a voucher as a gesture of goodwill to enable her to replace the bottle.”

It isn’t the first time a mum has issued a warning to other parents about potential allergic reactions.

Back in April the mother of an 11-year-old girl who died after an allergic reaction to toothpaste shared her story to alert other families of the risk.

The family of Denise Saldate, who live in California, US, are in mourning after her sudden death caused by a reaction to a milk protein in prescription toothpaste.