ARMY cadets have been banned from eating combat ration packs after the death of a boy at Scotch College in Melbourne.
Nathan Francis, 13, was flown to Royal Children's Hospital in a critical condition but died on arrival. He had suffered an allergic reaction to peanuts while on an army cadet camp in late March.
A spokeswoman for the Defence Department said the rations had been banned for children but the measure would not carry across the rest of the Defence Force.
The ban was announced in a statement posted on the Australian Army Cadets website last week by the cadets commander, Brigadier A.K. Murdoch.
In an urgent message marked for widest dissemination, Brigadier Murdoch ordered that cadet activities involving ration packs cease or use alternative rations.
Brigadier Murdoch said he did not know how long the prohibition would last.
Speculation among cadets is that the rations - used by all troops in the Australian Defence Force - caused the death.
In a post on the Australian Air Force Cadets' online bulletin board, David Palfreman, 17, the company commander at Mentone Grammar, wrote: "I was talking to one of the cadet warrant officers who was around when it happened. Apparently it was an anaphylactic reaction to the peanuts in the beef satay."
A spokeswoman for the Defence Department said Victoria Police, the Coroner and Comcare were investigating the death. The spokeswoman said the Defence Department was co-operating with these inquiries, and it would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause of death.
Beef satay, one of two main meals in Menu C of the ration packs, lists peanut butter as its second highest ingredient by quantity. Changes to these packs would be considered in coming weeks, as would the use of ration packs by cadets,
a Defence Force spokeswoman said.
"This prohibition is a necessary and proportionate measure designed to ensure the safety of young cadets in Defence's care."
But Cadet Sergeant Sirena Blunt, posting on the air force cadets' bulletin board, said cadets should take responsibility for what they ate.
"I understand that a cadet has died as a result of the ration pack, but we can't keep banning things in cadets because of an unlucky event. These things could happen anywhere, to anyone."
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/army-ration-suspected-in-boys-death/2007/05/15/1178995163468.html