Gluten Free Pizza NOT Gluten Free!

Crazy_Jamie

ThumbRemote wrote: »

There would be no onus on the OP to prove this. For a start, it would be impossible to.

All they need to show is, on the balance of probabilities, that the illness was caused by them consuming a pizza which was supplied as gluten free but was not.

Correct. That second paragraph is as concise a summary as you're going to get of the issues in the case. All of this advice about not trusting suppliers to supply gluten free or only consuming home made gluten free pizza may be all well and good as practical day to day advice, but it is irrelevant for the purposes of a personal injury claim. Whether or not the menu states that gluten free pizzas are available is also not determinative; a verbal assurance from the company is more than sufficient.

marliepanda

It will come down to he said she said. The OP has not stated anything about a menu which offers GF pizza. He has already said there is nothing in writing.

Crazy_Jamie

marliepanda wrote: »

To be honest I find the fact the cousin is a doctor pretty irrelevant. She was ordering pizza. You don't need specialist skills to do that.

Missed this earlier. It would be relevant to an assessment of whether or not the OP has reasonable prospects of success in a personal injury case, because as a doctor it is more likely that she was aware of the OP's medical condition and therefore was sure to specify that one of the pizzas needed to be gluten free. It goes to her credibility as a witness.

marliepanda

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

Missed this earlier. It would be relevant to an assessment of whether or not the OP has reasonable prospects of success in a personal injury case, because as a doctor it is more likely that she was aware of the OP's medical condition and therefore was sure to specify that one of the pizzas needed to be gluten free. It goes to her credibility as a witness.

I still don't see it as relevant. It is not that big of an issue, that 'credibility of witnesses' is even going to be an issue. They may offer a voucher/refund/free pizza. Do you really recommend going further than that if they say 'nope, sorry, no can do'

Yes its not nice, but making it into a huge deal is silly. Nobody died, nobody is going to get cancer from on gluten containing pizza. if it WAS such a big issue then you would be so much more careful with what you eat. Trusting a takeaway shop to not 'give me cancer' is silly, I barely trust them not to give me a dicky tummy, but the risk is on me.

A doctor is not going to do a full round of allergies and illnesses before putting in a food order. If you have specific requirements you should be ordering and confirming, not somebody else, doctor or not.

sgun

"...impressed at how authentic it tasted"...really?? Authentically bad in my experience, vegan cheese is disgusting and doesn't melt properly on pizzas. Perhaps the pizza wasn't vegan either!

peachyprice

They don't even have gluten free bases on the menu, only vegan. Maybe their vegan dough is GF?

http://hungryhouse.co.uk/village-pizza-eastcote?utm_source=11554&utm_medium=desktop-speisekarte&utm_campaign=rmtr&rmtr=11554&clid=rmtr

Just_a_Girl_2

As a fellow coeliac, I sympathise with you as the side effects are damn unpleasant.

However, I can tell a non-gluten free pizza just from looking at it and definitely would have known as soon as I bit into it as gluten free pizza has a completely different texture and consistency to regular pizza.

I order GF pizza but only via Dominos or Pizza Hut who are accredited with the NGCI (no gluten containing ingredients) from Coeliac UK, as it's just not worth the risk. As soon as the box said vegan, not gluten free, you should have telephoned the restaurant to confirm that the correct pizza had been sent as the odds are the delivery driver didn't really know and just said yes.

barbiedoll

I don't know about the rest of the country but where I live (London), the staff in most pizza takeaway places are not English and/or speak English as a second language. If I needed to avoid certain foodstuffs, I certainly wouldn't put my trust, or my health, in the hands of a worker who may never have heard of my medical condition and who may not understand the term "gluten-free". And I certainly wouldn't take the word of a delivery driver as to whether or not the food was suitable for me!

(This is not a dig at foreigners, we order Chinese food from our local takeaway whose staff are aware that my son has a nut allergy and can guarantee that no nut oils or products are used in the dishes that we order.)

Absolutely agree with the poster who said that the "doctor" bit was irrelevant. I can't see this leading to a "personal injury case"!

soolin

There is a precedent for a restaurant being sued for selling gluten free which was not in fact gluten free

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2325603/Jamie-Olivers-Italian-restaurant-chain-hit-17-000-legal-serving-wheat-pasta-coeliac-terrible-mix-up.html

However, I expect there must be an onus to prove somehow that Gluten free was ordered and was confirmed as being supplied.

As a coeliac myself I would also dispute that it is easy to tell the difference between gf and non gf in a few isolated cases. Yes I can normally tell mine are GF but the Pizza Express ones to me taste exactly how I remember real pizza tasting. As I have been GF for 20 years I can't honestly say that I do remember what non gf pizza tastes like, and I am not willing to try one to find out.

Crazy_Jamie

marliepanda wrote: »

I still don't see it as relevant. It is not that big of an issue, that 'credibility of witnesses' is even going to be an issue. They may offer a voucher/refund/free pizza. Do you really recommend going further than that if they say 'nope, sorry, no can do'

I'm not recommending anything. The OP has asked whether or not they can claim compensation. I have answered that question. You can play down this incident as 'not that big of a deal' all you like, but how far this matter it to be taken is a decision for the OP to make. In the event that she does seek the advice of a solicitor as to whether she has reasonable prospects of success, the fact that the person ordering the pizza was a doctor is relevant. It's far from a determining factor, but it is something that a solicitor or barrister would take into consideration when assessing prospects.