Gluten Free Pizza NOT Gluten Free!

bigp26

Hi All,

A bit of a different thread but thought somebody out there may have some advice for me. Many thanks in advance for the help!

So, I am a sufferer of Coeliac Disease, as is my father. We were diagnosed with such around 8 years ago.

On Saturday, we attended a family event where pizzas were ordered to feed everybody.

My cousin had ordered a gluten free pizza from a local place called Village Pizza. When the 8 16" pizzas arrived, I noticed that one of the boxes said "vegan". I therefore asked the delivery driver where the gluten free pizza was and he said it was the one with "vegan" written on it.

My father and I therefore tucked into this pizza, impressed at how authentic it tasted. The next morning, we both suffered from stomach pain and diarrhoea. We have also been feeling rather fatigued over the last few days. I therefore called the pizza place up today and asked them if they did a gluten free pizza. I was shocked the hear a “No” down the phone.

I feel absolutely disgusted by such behaviour. My father and I are lucky that we don’t break out in rashes or have life threatening symptoms due to gluten exposure, however we still felt that it harmed our bodies! The long term effect of such exposure when having the disease is cancer and I am rather fuming at the negligence that this company has shown. The fact that one bit of gluten exposure essentially puts your intestines back to square one (after months and months of staying on the special diet) really just frustrates me!

What would be my next steps? Is there a governing body I can complain to? Can I claim compensation?

I thought I’d consult on here before I go into the pizza place and start getting angry.

Kindest Regards,
P

ThumbRemote

bigp26 wrote: »

Can I claim compensation?

To do so, you'll need to show negligence on the part of the Pizza shop, leading to your own personal injury.

What proof is there that the shop agreed to provide a gluten-free pizza? You will need something in writing, a word-of-mouth over the phone isn't going to stand up in court. You may also need to keep a sample of the pizza.

If you have this, then the next step would be to talk to a solicitor.

halibut2209

//munches on gluten-free popcorn

unclehugo

bigp26 wrote: »

My cousin had ordered a gluten free pizza from a local place called Village Pizza.

Can you be sure you cousin ordered the right thing?

wealdroam

bigp26 wrote: »

I thought I’d consult on here before I go into the pizza place and start getting angry.

Because you said:

bigp26 wrote: »

My cousin had ordered a gluten free pizza from a local place called Village Pizza.

it is probably best that your cousin 'goes into the pizza place and starts getting angry'.

After all, you didn't order anything from them.

Cornucopia

You need to take a step back and establish why your cousin thought that he had ordered GF pizza.

TBH, if it were me, I probably wouldn't trust unknown catering, or a shared takeaway given that the consequences are so serious.

bigp26

Hi,

My cousin definitely ordered the right thing as shes a doctor! I also confirmed with the delivery driver that it was gluten free myself!

Unfortunately there is nothing in writing

Cornucopia

Without anything in writing and no pizza sample, I can't see you getting much more than an apology and maybe a voucher.

mjm3346

Did you/anyone see a menu that showed they sell gluten free pizza?

marliepanda

bigp26 wrote: »

Hi,

My cousin definitely ordered the right thing as shes a doctor! I also confirmed with the delivery driver that it was gluten free myself!

Unfortunately there is nothing in writing

Did the pizza shop offer gluten free pizza, or did she just enquire? Chances are they misheard...

You probably won't get anywhere. You are it despite it saying vegan not GF. Did your doctor cousin not advise against that?

Crazy_Jamie

marliepanda wrote:

Did the pizza shop offer gluten free pizza, or did she just enquire? Chances are they misheard...

Given that the OP's cousin is a doctor and the consequences of consuming gluten for the OP and their father are apparently potentially serious, I would have thought it's more likely that the OP's cousin was very clear as to the need for one of the pizza's to be gluten free. Plus the OP has already confirmed that they had a direct conversation with the delivery driver about whether or not one of the pizzas was gluten free.

ThumbRemote wrote: »

To do so, you'll need to show negligence on the part of the Pizza shop, leading to your own personal injury.

What proof is there that the shop agreed to provide a gluten-free pizza? You will need something in writing, a word-of-mouth over the phone isn't going to stand up in court. You may also need to keep a sample of the pizza.

If you have this, then the next step would be to talk to a solicitor.

Whilst it is never guaranteed that such evidence will be expected, suggesting that it flat out isn't going to be accepted is wide of the mark. Bearing in mind that the cousin is a doctor there's a decent chance that she would make a credible witness, and the OP's evidence as to the conversation with the delivery driver further supports the position that the company knew of the requirement to supply gluten free pizza.

The point as to whether there is a sample of the pizza goes to the issue of causation, or to put it another way whether it was the pizza supplied by the company that caused the symptoms complained of by the OP and their father. But again in my view whilst a sample of the pizza would be highly useful, it is not absolutely necessary. The burden is on the Claimant in personal injury cases to prove the case, and the natural position of the company (assuming negligence is established) would be that there is no evidence that the pizza caused the symptoms, and that any number of other things could have caused them. However, the OP and their father are clearly long term sufferers of a condition that (one would expect) makes them very cautious of what they eat. Both of them becoming ill at the same time would tend to suggest that they suffered those symptoms from the same cause, which I expect would point to the pizza. Again, it is by no means definite that that evidence would be sufficient, but a sample of the pizza would not be essential.

Clearly there are more details that would need to be provided in order to more accurately assess prospects of success, but personally I'd say on the basis of what we know it certainly appears that there may be the evidence there to establish liability and causation.

If the OP wants to go down the compensation route my advice as always would be to consult a solicitor to make a preliminary assessment of the merits. There shouldn't be a charge for doing that, as the case should be dealt with on the basis of a Conditional Fee Agreement, and whilst people will rightly mention that solicitors can now take up to 25% of your compensation, in reality there are plenty of solicitors out there who still do not take any of your compensation, and with a bit of searching it shouldn't be too difficult to find one.