Have You Ever Been Given Allergy Information With Your Takeaway?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/indian-restaurant-owner-charged-with-manslaughter-after-customer-dies-from-peanut-allergy-10134867.html

/// Mr Wilson died before the introduction of new laws stipulating that caterers must provide allergy information on unpackaged foods. ///

[dave50]

No catering establishment can take into account every allergy going, it's ridiculous. There are so many people these days with allergies, someone will get a reaction to something somewhere.

[andy-hughes]

I believe that all food establishments are obliged to show advice of the potential for allergic reactions to food, and to ask staff if unsure.

It appears that using peanuts instead of almonds in this case has caused the fatality, and that is why the prosecution has been brought.

What Dave says is true, but the new law does draw attention to the potential for this kind of tragedy, and hopefully it will help to avoid a recurrence.

[Gromit]

The regulation is an EU initiative.

More information here.

http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/allergy-guide

The restaurants I use, mainly Indian vary. Most have a paragraph on their menu and takeaway menu to the effect that some dishes may contain nuts, and that people should enquire for specifics when they make an order.

[Gromit]

http://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/food-allergen-labelling-technical-guidance.pdf

[ludwig]

All takeaway packaging should be clearly labelled - 'If you've got a nut allergy and you've just bought this takeaway, you're an idiot'.

[hc4361]

When food outlets use bought in sauces, mixes, powders etc what hope have they got of properly advising against allergies if the products they use aren't labelled?
There is every possibility that almonds bought as shelled or pre-prepared in some other way have been in contact with peanuts.

[Jonathan-Joe]

Sloppy reporting by the Independent - "Around one in ten deaths a year in Britain are due to allergies to foods like nuts." This should read "About 10 deaths a year ...".

[youngmafbog]

The simple is to put a notice up saying may contain traces of nuts. Even if the product does not contain a particular nut it may have been in trace contact with one.

Another EU ruling, might have guessed.

[andy-hughes]

I have seen the 'may contain nuts' notices on packaging for ages - so quite why they need a new ruling is a little odd.

If someone has a serious allergy, then surely they know, and are able to adjust their diet accordingly.

I can see that in this instance, the restaurant has misrepresented the content of the food concerned - hence the prosecution - but otherwise a simple 'Nuts' notice would surely suffice.

[The Builder]

I was working in a pub yesterday while the Environmental Health guy was going through this legislation with the owner. Even the EH guy was struggling.

Apparently, the latest threat to mankind is from ............. lupins

[Samuraisan]

I think if I had such a dangerous potentially fatal allergy I would never eat in a restaurant, especially an Indian. I love Indian food, and have made many many a great curry at home. It must be like Russian Roulette.

[pastafreak]

The Builder
//Apparently, the latest threat to mankind is from ............. lupins//

Lupin may be in food in the form of flour. More common in Europe than here. Can cause anaphylaxis.

I cook for a charity,and we've been posting guidance for our customers for a few months now. Allergens range from wheat/grains to celery,dairy,soya,and nuts. So not just foods that cause life threatening reactions. Yes- the customer may know what and how a food affects him,but we need to provide the information to inform and help the consumer make a decision as to what is OK to eat.

[Samuraisan]

I thought a Lupin was French for Rabbit

[pastafreak]

http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/what-is-anaphylaxis/knowledgebase/lupin-allergy--the-facts

[ludwig]

If I had a condition that made my head swell to the size of a beachball at the slightest miniscule trace of a certain fairly common ingredient, I wouldn't be eating anything that I didn't know exactly what was in it and how it had been prepared.

A warning on a package wouldn't make any difference to that policy one way or another.

[Gromit]

// I have seen the 'may contain nuts' notices on packaging for ages - so quite why they need a new ruling is a little odd. //

Because this is food not bought in a package, it is served on a plate or from a foil takeawAy container. Food with no labelling at all.

I agree with ludwig. If I had an allegy, I would steer clear of all food that I didn't know how it was prepared.

[andy-hughes]

pastafreak ' //Apparently, the latest threat to mankind is from ............. lupins//

My friends, I happen to know that this is the Lupin Express!!!

(copyright Dennis Moore).

[mikey4444]

While it beyond doubt that this poor chap had an allergy to nuts, where have all these allergies come from ?

I can never, ever remember any child not being allowed to eats nuts, or eat bread, or drink milk when I was a boy in the 50's and 60's. And yet now we seem to have millions of people that can't eat a wide range of foods, or at least say that can't.

Are all these allergies a modern phenomenon ?

[anotheoldgit]

mikey4444

Yes that's true but perhaps they were dying like fly and no one knew why.

Hope you are enjoying your break in 'sunny' Cornwall?

[anotheoldgit]

Correction flies