Are you responsible?

In the news!

This week has seen a lot in the news, on TV, posts on Facebook and LinkedIn about a burger bar, based in a pub in Norwich, where the owner has been reported as refusing to serve people who have food allergies. Is he being responsible?

Here is the link to the news article Norwich burger kitchen defends strict allergen policy – BBC News

Quite rightly, this has caused a lot of discussion, including with Jeremy Vine, Sarah Knight, and Jeff Taylor the business owner. You can find the interview here Jeremy Vine – UK military and teaching your children to drive – BBC Sounds at 1:06 into the show.

Now it’s my turn.

To my mind, and from experience, the problem is communication and someone with ‘entitlement’ who went straight to social media to air their dirty washing.

One person on the radio said that their message had not got through to the kitchen.

The conversations start before that, but there must be policies and procedures in place even before that.

Having listened to the interview, and read the article, my opinion is that Jeff is doing the right thing.

There may have been a misunderstanding when the member of staff told a customer that they don’t serve anyone with allergies. This needs addressing, because it is not all allergies that they can’t cater for, and Jeff stated that they do have a milk free and vegan option available. What Jeff said was that their bread rolls contain milk, and are made in a bakery that has a heavy use of nuts. The buns have sesame seeds on them, and they can get into everything in the small space they have, and they use soya oil for cooking.

All that put together means that the safest thing they can do is tell customers that they cannot safely serve anyone who needs to avoid gluten, nuts, milk, sesame, and soya as standard. They do, however have the possibility to serve someone who has a milk allergy ‘by arrangement’. That means ‘speak to them before you go’.

What the allergic community needs is clarity.

There was a lot of support for what Jeff is actually doing, and that is so important. So many people are very quick with negative comments, and they will rant on social media, even people who have never heard of him, let alone been to the venue, have slated him. The media have not helped him by their headline, but it is now opening opportunities for conversation and education, which is positive.

Who is responsible?

Jeff talks about who’s responsibility it is to keep customers safe, and says, ‘The responsibility lies with me. I want to protect my team, the guys who work in a fast-paced environment. I want to protect fellow diners. Ultimately, I want to protect the guys who have allergies.’

He is correct in this. Food businesses have a legal responsibility to provide allergen information, to have their staff trained, to have policies in place to protect the food allergic customer. That said, the FHS diner carries responsibility too!

Be sensible!

Those of us living with food allergies are responsible for our own health too. 

We must ask for the allergen information, talk about our allergies, and inform food businesses of our requirements.

They are not mind-readers!

They cannot tell by looking at us that we have allergies, or what those allergies are!

I have just heard an account of a customer phoning through an order for fish and chips, asking if the chips are gluten free, then ordering a separate portion of ‘gluten free chips’. The proprietor had a strange feeling about the order, because she had stated that they cook gluten free fish and gluten free chips in the same fryer. When she checked with the customer, the reply came back that the gluten free chips were for someone with a fish allergy! 

Come on people, give hospitality a helping hand!

We cannot expect every business to cater for us without question. We must accept that there are limits, and when a business says they cannot feed us safely, then we also have to accept that honesty and openness.

Surely it is better that way than to have them say they can when the reality is that they cannot! 

We want to know

Now, I want to know what you are doing to let your customers know what you are doing to keep them safe.

If you can accommodate customers with food allergies, I want to know about you. Let’s have the conversation and build confidence in your business. https://foodallergyfriends.co.uk/free-initial-consultation/

If you have food allergies, please tell me your thoughts and experiences.  

Let’s be positive!

Food Allergy Friends Limited and Cater Allergy Safer is here to bridge the gap between hospitality and the FHS diner.

We bring training, consultancy, advice, and recognition to food businesses who are doing a good job through our Cater Allergy Safer programmes.

We bring confidence to the FHS diner that food businesses are doing everything they can, and recognising their limitations with transparency and honesty