A day centre run by charity Age Concern has been criticised after not allowing a 96-year-old man to eat a homemade birthday cake. The centre, in Barnstaple, north Devon, was given the cake by Elaine Richards who baked it for her friend's birthday.
However, the centre refused to allow the elderly man, who does not want to be identified, to eat the cake.
Age Concern said it refused the Madeira cake on health and safety grounds as it was "too much of a risk". Only allow bought cakes with listed ingredients, it added.
Mrs Richards, 75, from Braunton, said the rules are "ridiculous" and that she thought it was a joke.
"I've been making cakes for 60 years and have fed a family of four on my cooking," she said. "The worst they've had is a bit of indigestion from eating too much. It's so nonsensical, these are stupid rules."
It is understood the man was eventually able to eat his cake at home and that the Barnstaple centre was following a local, rather than a national, policy.
Andrea Scott, from Age Concern in Barnstaple, has apologised to Mrs Richards, but said that food regulation guidelines had to be followed to protect people in her care.
She said: "Age Concern in Barnstaple introduced a rule seven years ago intended to prevent older people in its care from being exposed to unknown food risks. We have very many elderly and frail people that attend day care and some are diabetic. If I let one person do this, it will open the floodgates. We don't know where these cakes come from, but if something went wrong then we could be sued."
2 comments:
judas priest..he's 94 years old...so he croaks from the cake...what a way to go...better than alone in his bed at 3am
I know ,it's daft ! He's more likely to die from a "shop bought" cake with all its E-numbers and preservatives ,than a nice home-made cake with fresh ingredients anyway.
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