The Danger of Milk Shake Parlours if You are an Allergy Sufferer
Allergy Sufferers Beware when treating Yourself at Ice cream and Milkshake Parlours
- It’s true to say Ice cream and milkshake parlours can be terrific places to relax and enjoy a delicious treat.
- Parlours have been springing up in many places right across the country and have become ever more popular and trendy places to go.
- Dessert parlours are another option for those who don’t want to go to their local pub to drink but still hanker after a place where they want to meet friends and socialise.
- There are so many different flavours of luxury ice cream and milkshakes to choose from, and you can even get them made with your favourite toppings.
The trouble is that what appears to be a tiny mistake with the ingredients for a milk shake or ice cream order can, for a food allergy sufferer, have huge and far reaching consequences.
Allergy Sufferers and Milk Shake Parlours
In our experience most food allergy blunders tend to happen when food allergy sufferers are eating out at restaurants or when buying take away food.
However with the emergence of dessert parlours springing up all around the country we are now finding increasing numbers of claims arising after clients have ordered drinks at milk shake parlours and also when ordering ice cream.
We desperately want to raise awareness in relation to the mistakes we have come across when our client’s have ordered milkshakes and ice creams at dessert parlours.
In this way allergy sufferers will hopefully be more alive to the possibility of their order not being accurately taken and can hopefully guard against the risk of allergens finding their way accidentally into their milk shake or ice cream.
This is certainly not easy as to a large extent the allergy sufferer is still ultimately having to rely upon the defendant’s staff to ensure allergens are not present.
We know even when our clients’ check and double check with the waiting on staff who give reassurance their order is correct and allergy free mistakes still happen. How do you possibly guard against this?
Mistakes that can only be Serious for Allergy Sufferers
We know only too well there are a very wide range of circumstances where mistakes are made when allergy sufferers order food or drink and then, through no fault of their own, find themselves suffering an anaphylactic reaction.
We know that for each client who has had to go through the awful consequences of suffering an allergic reaction there is huge panic, distress and massive physical and psychological torment.
Our experience tells us that our food allergy clients are all extremely careful and responsible when choosing what to order and make sure that they consult the menu and advise the staff about their allergies.
Allergy Sufferers all understand the importance of telling staff about their food allergy and checking that their chosen milk shake or ice cream does not have any ingredient in the menu which could cause a reaction.
The Law is On Allergy Sufferers Side:
By law food businesses are under a strict duty to advise the customer if they use any of the 14 allergens as ingredients in the food and drink they provide. This list has been identified by food law as the most potent and prevalent allergens.
The 14 allergens which food businesses are duty bound to inform you about are, as set out in the Food Agency Website, :
Celery,
Cereals containing gluten (such as barley and oats),
Crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters),
Eggs,
Fish,
Lupin,
Milk,
Molluscs (such as mussels and oysters),
Mustard,
Peanuts,
Sesame,
Soybeans,
Sulphur dioxide and Sulphites (at a concentration of more than ten parts per million),
and Tree Nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts).
Where Attention to Detail can go Awry…
Problems can arise when the ice cream parlour or milkshake shop staff are not as careful as they should be and we know from our experience as allergy claim solicitors, they can muddle up the order:
It tends to be the case that staff who work in dessert parlours are young and may not have been taught or told by the management about the importance of ensuring orders for allergy sufferers reflect their instructions and don’t contain allergens.
Again we have found in our experience of helping client’s with food allergies that sometimes basic mistakes are being made by staff that have not received adequate training and have no real appreciation of the crucial importance of serving allergy free food and drink.
Mistakes can occur for a variety of reasons including, as discussed above, a lack of proper training or education or an unsafe system of work or just simply the pressure of work.
Whatever the reason for the offending mistake, it doesn’t really matter to our individual client as once there is an allergic reaction the damage has been well and truly done.
We have seen claims where ice cream parlours have served ice cream to clients which contain nuts, even though the client has told the staff they have a nut allergy.
In terms of milk shakes, on occasions dessert parlours have inadvertently actually added toppings containing nuts to milk shakes even after being specifically told about the client’s nut allergy.
Over the years there have been many instances reported in the press which serve to highlight how things can go terribly wrong when through carelessness, lack of knowledge or training people with allergies have suffered when ordering milkshakes.
What to do If You have Suffered an Allergic Reaction?
- Of course the very first thing to do is to seek medical attention immediately so you can be assessed and treatment can be given to stabilise your condition.
- Once you are feeling able to do so it is then a good idea to seek initial advice from a specialist allergy claims solicitor who will be able to advise you of the next steps to take so that evidence is preserved and your position is fully protected.
- It is very important to report the matter to the manager where the allergy mistake was made and make sure to follow this up with a text or e-mail so that you have written record of what was said.
- On occasions the Defendant will say that they have no record of any incident or allergy complaint so this is where it is important to be able to produce any evidence to back up what happened. Phone records, Receipts, Google location App, photographs and evidence from witnesses can all be very important in this context.
- If there was an error in the menu that caused the allergic reaction then it’s again crucial to make sure you have a copy of the offending menu so that your solicitor is able to produce this to show any misleading or wrong entries.
Starting Your Claim
- We pride ourselves in looking after all of our clients and you can see from our Google reviews that our ratings reflect our desire and commitment to provide the very best service.
- If you need any help or advice in bringing your allergy claim then we would be delighted to hear from you.
- We will be able to assess your claim very quickly having specialised in bringing Allergy Claims for many years.
- If we are able to accept your claim then we will be able to offer you a genuine No Win No Fee Agreement so that if for any reason your claim is not successful there will be nothing for you to pay.
- Get in touch with us today and we will use all our knowledge and experience to get you the result you deserve 🙂