Eating out with a food allergy is stressful enough – but with a rare one, it’s a nightmare

‘In the last five years, foods as varied as sausages, frozen chips, ice-cream, sliced ham and bread have started to include a new ingredient: pea protein.’ Photograph: Sally Anscombe/Getty Images

My last brush with mortality came in April, at a branch of Starbucks. Finding myself running early for a meeting, I took the chance to pop in for my usual: a latte and a ham-and-cheese croissant. As I waited for the barista to pour my coffee, I took a nibble of the pastry. Within a minute, my lower lip was swollen and blistering.

I checked the ingredients list. Though I’d ordered this very same item about once a month for years, I knew what was coming: this croissant now contained peas.