Allergic Reaction To Food

[ian124]

We spent a long time planning a wedding and reception and had many meetings with the reception staff. They were made aware no nuts could be in any of the food as one the children has a really bad allergic reaction to nuts. He would even have a reaction if someone else had eaten nuts and then spoke to him. While my wife and I were off having pictures the waiters brought round some canapés. When the child in question asked the waiter if these contained nuts he was told no, there are also witnesses that herd him ask. He ate one and had a reaction within minutes. Him and his parents had to leave thankfully he is fine. Later when we asked at the reception if any food had nuts in the receptionist just said I don't know and carried on what she was doing. We have also asked why nuts were around at all when we were told there were no nuts, to Which we were told the child and his parents are lying and he must have eaten something before the wedding. We were then told that the children should not have been eating the canapés as they were for the adults only, if this is the case why did the waiters off them to all the children?

Anyway what I am wondering is am I in the right to ask for the money back from the venue for the meals of the guests that had to leave?

Thanks

Ian

[joko]

unfortunately with an allergy this severe (merely speaking to someone who had eaten nuts) its pretty impossible to guarantee no contact at all in a place like a hotel - the place is full of staff , and also strangers who are not only unaware of your problem and request, they are not obliged to follow it.

if its so bad all it would take is a guest to have eaten a peanut butter sandwich then touch a door handle with some on his hands, then the next person to open the door also has some on his hands and spread it etc etc

all the hotel can possibly do is ensure none of the food has peanuts in - and i dont believe a waiter would knowingly lie to someone with a life threatening allergy just to get him to eat a canape - why would he? he only said what he believed to be the case - but the waiter himself or the chef - or any staff, could have eaten peanuts earlier and not washed their hands properly.

who knows how it happened - and without a sample of the canape you cannot prove the hotel was negligent.

did the child not have an epi pen with him?

you could ask for a refund, and they may give it as a good will gesture.

[ian124]

Sorry I maybe should have said the canapé was chicken satay as one of the ingredients is nuts not sure if that makes a difference.

Yes he did have an eppi pen but once this has been used they still need to go to a hospital

[Mamyalynne]

Well first of all, what a shame for the poor child - he must struggle to walk past cake shops etc.


The fact that you were assured no nuts would be included in the food and satay was served, should certainly mean they should refund for the meals the guests who went to the hospital missed out on. You have all this in writing I hope?

Good luck.

[ummmm]

I don't you're being unreasonable to expect a refund on those meals.

[EcclesCake]

To expect to be able to protect anyone from such a severe allergic reaction is unreasonable. However if the venue knew the issue they were blatantly foolish to serve satay.

I do think it is reasonable for you to go back and request a refund.

[gness]

Mamya...how I wish a nut allergy prevented entry into cake shops...how my hips would benefit. :-(

If satay was served after you informed them that a guest had a severe nut allergy there should be some recompense...it's not only the person with the allergy who has to avoid them and drunk uncles at weddings are always kissing children.
My visitors last weekend ate peanuts...there was a lot of hand washing and teeth brushing but still no goodnight kiss for me....ah well...x

[pixie373]

I do think it was irresponsible when you have been very careful to specify no nuts at all for anybody and they have ignored you and served them anyway. Definitely worth a letter.

[joko]

well yes that's very different - i would be fuming - they have included a nut based dish on the menu, despite being told not to - and not told the staff.

did you not ok all food before hand though - who chose the menu?
did you ok the canapes?

perhaps the waiter didn't realise satay was nuts - but either way the hotel were negligent in adding this dish.

to say the parents were to blame when they have blatantly served satay just shows total ignorance of ingredients and blame shifting.

i would ask for a refund for the food uneaten - but also for some compensation for ruining your day - the drama, fear and upset - knowing a child could die - this must have caused must have put a dampener on your day - i would also suggest to them you may go to the papers warning other parents not to trust them.

[Mamyalynne]

Gness, I was responding to the fact that this child can have a reaction even if someone who has eaten nuts speaks to him.


Sorry for the digression Ian , hope you get this resolved.

[gness]

I know Mamya...I was joking about the cake shop and..if only...in my case.
Apologies if I have offended you...x

[boxtops]

I certainly think that the venue has a case to answer if they were told not to serve nuts, then served chicken satay, that's extremely careless. I'd ask for a meeting with the manager. I'm not sure what you are expecting to get from it, though - if anyone has an entitlement to claim compensation, it's the child's parents acting for him, not you.

[Maydup]

I agree that a meeting with the Manager is by far the best route. If you can, try to be calm and clear ( rather than angry and emotional) and know exactly what you want the result to be. Face to face you are likely to get the best outcome.

If he/she is dismissive then up the pressure and be firm that unless they give you a refund on the whole families meals AND a voucher for a free weekend break if its a hotel, or whatever your price is, then you'll go to trading standards. Hopefully it won't come to this, but the most important thing is to raise their awareness of the issue. They too went to lengths to agree the menu but didn't follow it up. Someone has let them down there end and they need to address it. Its 2013 not 1913 and we should all know about these issues.

[ChuckFickens]

May I ask how old the child was?

[ian124]

Thank you all for your answers. Im not really sure what I want from this I would like to think they have learnt from the mistake but how they are acting im not sure they have. I would hate it if this was to happen to someone else and I had not done anything about it when it happened to this member of my family

The child is 11 and is always very careful about what he eats

[gness]

Ian...the cost of or refund for the meals are really neither here nor there at this point, I think.
I do think you should do what you can to make sure they know how serious their carelessness could be.
I was once accidentally given food cooked in groundnut oil....well she said it was an accident! I know how scary it is when you've eaten an allergen and there is nothing you can do to reverse it other than the epi or jext pen.
Good luck....x

[EDDIE51]

If I had a child with an allergy that severe I would not let him eat any thing unless I had brought it with me. I would have taken special food with me just for him.
In commercial catering it is impossible to completely avoid nuts as traces of them can be present in any food that has been produced in a plant that uses nuts in other products.

[boxtops]

I agree with Eddie. A friend's son has aversions to many food and instant anaphylactic shock can result. They take all his food with him.

[gness]

I disagree Eddie. I would hate to have to do that whenever I went out for a meal. I make sure that whoever is catering knows about the allergy and places are used to that these days and I carry two Jext pens.
It is hard to avoid traces but to have to spend your life taking a picnic wherever you go would be a shame.

[boxtops]

It's better than having your child rushed to hospital, gness - our friend's boy can't take wheat, fish, certain flour or breads, nuts, cow's milk - it's easier to bring his food with them.

[wolf63]

Is the hotel part of a chain? If so at if the hotel do not admit their guilt at least you can take it further.