Mum's desperate search for the only food her autistic five-year-old will eat

A mum is facing a desperate battle to get her hands on the only food her autistic daughter will eat. Emma Armstrong's daughter Libby Crossfield has a severely limited diet and Aldi's organic spaghetti bolognese Mamia baby food is one of very few things she will tolerate.

Mum-of-three Emma has always kept well stocked up on the products as she knows that Libby, who has profound social and communication difficulties and suffers from sensory issues, will refuse to eat anything else. Back in 2021, when supermarkets were struggling with certain supplies, we shared Emma's hunt for the product as she was unable to find any in stores.

Now she's facing the same problem, and with Libby currently on an urgent waiting list for a gastrostomy to have a feeding tube fitted into her stomach, it's vital she continues eating ahead of that. "Last time we were in this position, everyone helped us so much," said Emma, a civil servant from Failsworth, Oldham.

READ MORE: 'We tried Aldi's new £2.25 cake and it's the perfect treat for Bonfire Night'

READ MORE: Supermarket 'most expensive' for basket of essentials after all others drop price of shopping staple

"The amount of kindness we were shown was overwhelming. One of the school mums is out searching stores for me at the minute and has come across two, so we have food until Monday lunchtime.

"With Libby on the list to have a feeding tube fitted, if we can’t source this food, it’s really going to be catastrophic for us. If we lose this food then when she gets the feeding tube fitted she’ll be totally reliant on it. The purpose of the tube is to give us more freedom to explore as we can’t push very hard at the moment for the fear she will completely stop eating.

"She will probably have it