'Daycare fed my daughter yoghurt after we told them she was vegetarian'

"What are my rights?" the mum asked, implying she wanted compensation for the easy-to-make mistake. But people promptly told her to "move on."

Eleanor Katelaris

2 min read

July 26, 2024 - 3:58PM

Image: iStock

Parenting

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In a post that's doing the rounds in the Melbourne parenting community, a mum has shared how her daughter's daycare fed her yoghurt, despite her telling the centre she was vegetarian.

Yoghurt… you’re probably wondering. What’s wrong with that?

It’s just dairy, right? Meaning no actual meat is in the product…

Not always, apparently.

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Image: iStock

The tiny detail on the ingredients list

According to the mum, who took to a Melbourne parents Facebook page to vent, the yoghurt they fed the toddler contained “gelatine derived from animals.”

Therefore, it’s not technically vegetarian.

She said that she had previously informed them of her “vegetarian dietary restrictions” but perhaps didn’t go into the right amount of detail about what she could and couldn’t have.

Now she wants advice about her “rights and options” after she informed management and felt their response fell short.

“They were like, ‘We can’t change it but we will be careful and are sorry’,” she said.

“If I was told someone was vegetarian, I would assume no meat"

While most commenters prefaced their replies with sympathies - “I’m sorry this happened” etc. - almost everyone told the mum she should have been more specific when listing her daughter's dietaries.

“How clear were you about what being vegetarian means to your family? I know many vegetarian people who still consume animal products, such as gelatine, dairy, honey, etc. Did the childcare understand that you prefer no gelatin?” one commenter pointed out.

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Another plays devil's advocate for the daycare, saying, “If I was told someone was vegetarian, I would assume no meat. I would only assume no gelatine if the person was vegan. I think this is a case of misunderstanding and miscommunication.

"Put into writing that gelatine is part of the dietary restrictions. Mistakes happen. They are only human. They wouldn’t have fed your baby something that goes against your preferences on purpose.”

And a third backed that up, saying it “sounds like an innocent error.”

“It’s not as though bubs has an allergy and it was a huge medical incident,” they said, before suggesting the mum "move on and pick your battles.”

A fourth commenter, who was a childcare worker herself, shed some light on the situation from their side, saying “They’re childcare workers, not dieticians, we aren’t trained in food and food products. When someone says vegetarian, we assume it’s just meat - we don’t look at ingredient lists.” They also suggested “if it’s not too much worry” to provide certain food that the daycare can feed the child.

Other users wanted to know what “rights” the mum was referring to. “What are you hoping to get out of this? They have apologised or are you asking for compensation?” asked one.

With no reply yet from the mum, we hope she’s taken this advice on board and let the daycare centre know more details surrounding her daughter's diet so hopefully this doesn't happen again.

This article was updated in July 2024.