A woman has captured the terrifying moment she gave her boyfriend a bite of food—only to realize that he’s allergic.
Dhaniela Marrero, who goes by Mimi, was enjoying a meal out with her boyfriend, Luis, when the accident occurred. She bit into a snail and was blown away by its delicious taste, and she simply had to get her boyfriend to give it a try.
The problem however is that Luis, 23, has a shellfish allergy.
Mimi, 22, of Miami, Florida, told Newsweek that she didn’t realize snails were considered shellfish, and she “thought nothing at all about it.” Neither did Luis, who didn’t question it before tasting the food.
“At the time, we thought snails were land animals since we see them all the time outside our homes, especially at night,” Mimi said.
@mimiimimosaa / TikTok
Thankfully, Luis told their server about his allergy at the beginning of the evening and the staff quickly stepped in. After seeing Mimi feed Luis a bit of snail, the server was quick to address the issue.
“He looked over at Luis eating the snail and raised concerns to us, saying that he cannot eat snails because they are shellfish,” Mimi continued. “Luis was fearful and I felt immediate regret and fault for not being more cautious when letting him try new food knowing he has an allergy.”
Prior to this moment, Luis remembers cutting his hand on a fishing hook that had used shrimp as bait. The following day, he awoke with his hand “completely swollen and red.”
Fortunately, Luis didn’t experience any symptoms after eating the snail, but he still took some Benadryl to be safe.
Indeed, shellfish allergies are the most common food allergies in adults, with approximately 2 percent of the U.S. population reportedly suffering. It’s thought that around 60 percent of people with shellfish allergies experience their first reaction as adults, according to the charity Food Allergy Research and Education.
Shellfish are categorized into two groups, crustaceans and mollusks (or bivalves). Snails come under the latter, along with clams, mussels, oysters and squid.
Mimi shared a video of the moment she accidentally gave her boyfriend some shellfish on TikTok (@mimiimimosaa). In just a matter of days, the video has gone viral with over 7 million views and more than 324,700 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.
The online response has been mixed, as many people were shocked at how relaxed the couple were about a food allergy, while others also had no idea that snails are shellfish.
Mimi told Newsweek: “I would like to add that we are human and make mistakes—this was one of them. None of us knew snails belonged to a shellfish family, or we would have never let Luis eat one.
“I’ve had responses from people as shocked as us to learn that snails are a type of shellfish, to people bashing and belittling us for being unaware. Some people have even gone as far as saying he should break up with me, while other people see it was simple human error.”
Next time they’re out for food, Mimi says she’s going to Google search any food she’s not sure about to play it safe.
The viral TikTok post has generated over 2,800 comments so far. One user wrote: “This is exactly why you tell your server allergy vs preference. A good server will do exactly this: save your life.”
Another TikTok user replied: “I’m allergic to shellfish and had NO clue that snails counted as shellfish.”
While another comment reads: “Bless this waiter for being aware! Food allergies are no joke!”
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