Nut allergy

littlelotti91

I was wondering if somebody could give me some advice

On Saturday I attended a work Christmas night out at a village hotel. I do not eat meat. When the food was served I asked for the vegetarian option. As I have a nut allergy I asked the waitress if there was nuts in the meal (I am cautious about this, but even more so around Christmas when they tend to put nuts in food more so than normal for some reason). She told me no. It was a vegetarian puff pasty tart type meal. I took one small bite and almost instantly my mouth started tingling. I left the meal. Another member of staff walked past and I ask him (he seemed more official and had a clip board and seemed to be directing other staff members. His response was "no definitely not" (Other members of the party overheard this). Still feeling doubtful I left the meal. They served dessert but I refused this given I no longer trused the staff if they had told me that didnt contain nuts.

Around 30 minutes went by and I felt like I had something lodged in my throat, My mouth was tingly, and I had cramp in my stomach. Safe to say I was feeling extremely miserable and contemplating going home. Shortly after I felt like I was going to be sick, I ran to the toilet where I was very sick. Figuring I couldn't feel any worse and my stomach cramps had now gone I just drank water for the rest of the night. Around 2 hours later and most of the effects had warn off, except by now my skin had become very itchy. I suffer from eczema anyway which was on my arms, but the itching was everywhere. Head, Arms, hands, legs, chest. I couldnt stop itching. The room was incredibly hot and I was wearing a blazer. Given by now I had itched my arms to bleeding I felt I had to keep my jacket on. When I came home after the night had finished I took my Jacket off and there was scratch marks all accross my chest.

When I arrived home I found an online flyer for the christmas events. The flyer clearly says the veg option is a mushroom brie and spinach puff pasty tart topped with roasted HAZELNUTS

I emailed the hotel to complain. The general manager called me today very apologetic and offered me 1 nights complementarity stay valid for a year. He told me all catering staff are issued with a sheet of the food they serve stating what food contains which allergies and agreed there was no excuse for the mistake.

I declined the offer of the stay explaining I didn't feel it was enough considering the discomfort I had been caused. He asked me what I wanted and I said I would like to go away and think about it.

I don't know what is an expectable form of compensation and was wondering if anybody here could give me advice?

Thanks!!

hollydays

What's the worst outcome of eating nuts you have had so far?

tomtontom

You had symptoms of a potential reaction very quickly - why did you not do something at this point? You appear to have stayed at the party for another three hours.

The hotel staff made a mistake which could have been very serious. Thankfully it wasn't. Their offer seems very generous to me. What would you like them to do, or more precisely, how much money are you after?

sam.4000

If I had a nut allergy I would not just ask the waitress if their were nuts in the meal. I would have phoned up the hotel before the meal and informed them of my allergy to nuts or atleast informed them when I got there.

To just ask a waitress if it contained nuts is not enough, how do they know you have an allergy. I think an offer of a free stay is generous and I have no idea how much you compensation you think you deserve but surely not informing the venue of your nut allergy is your problem not theirs!

custardy

littlelotti91 wrote: »

I was wondering if somebody could give me some advice

On Saturday I attended a work Christmas night out at a village hotel. I do not eat meat. When the food was served I asked for the vegetarian option. As I have a nut allergy I asked the waitress if there was nuts in the meal (I am cautious about this, but even more so around Christmas when they tend to put nuts in food more so than normal for some reason). She told me no. It was a vegetarian puff pasty tart type meal. I took one small bite and almost instantly my mouth started tingling. I left the meal. Another member of staff walked past and I ask him (he seemed more official and had a clip board and seemed to be directing other staff members. His response was "no definitely not" (Other members of the party overheard this). Still feeling doubtful I left the meal. They served dessert but I refused this given I no longer trused the staff if they had told me that didnt contain nuts.

Around 30 minutes went by and I felt like I had something lodged in my throat, My mouth was tingly, and I had cramp in my stomach. Safe to say I was feeling extremely miserable and contemplating going home. Shortly after I felt like I was going to be sick, I ran to the toilet where I was very sick. Figuring I couldn't feel any worse and my stomach cramps had now gone I just drank water for the rest of the night. Around 2 hours later and most of the effects had warn off, except by now my skin had become very itchy. I suffer from eczema anyway which was on my arms, but the itching was everywhere. Head, Arms, hands, legs, chest. I couldnt stop itching. The room was incredibly hot and I was wearing a blazer. Given by now I had itched my arms to bleeding I felt I had to keep my jacket on. When I came home after the night had finished I took my Jacket off and there was scratch marks all accross my chest.

When I arrived home I found an online flyer for the christmas events. The flyer clearly says the veg option is a mushroom brie and spinach puff pasty tart topped with roasted HAZELNUTS

I emailed the hotel to complain. The general manager called me today very apologetic and offered me 1 nights complementarity stay valid for a year. He told me all catering staff are issued with a sheet of the food they serve stating what food contains which allergies and agreed there was no excuse for the mistake.

I declined the offer of the stay explaining I didn't feel it was enough considering the discomfort I had been caused. He asked me what I wanted and I said I would like to go away and think about it.

I don't know what is an expectable form of compensation and was wondering if anybody here could give me advice?

Thanks!!

Topped with hazelnuts would indicate the nuts would be fairly obvious and likely easily omitted?
As a nut allergy sufferer. Isnt eating flour based products a risk?

foxtrotoscar_2

If I suffered from a nut allergy I'd be finding out about what was on the menu before attending. If you had the flyer it would have only taken seconds to do so.

sheramber

Do you not carry anti histamine with you in case you have a reaction?

Did you not read the flyer to find out about the menu?

It is recommended of you have an allergy you ask the chef not the waiting staff.

I would have thought somebody with an allergy would have been more prepared rather than waiting until the meal was served before finding out if nuts was an ingredient, especially as you say you are aware it common to use them around Christmas.

I react to Salmon and seafood so would not visit a fish/ seafood restaurant without checking that there was a suitable alternative available for me.

littlelotti91

Hi I didnt do anything staight away because frankly after the experience I wasnt in much mood to do anything. And I wasnt 100% sure it was the allergy given both staff memeber's had told me no. The booking was made by a girl at work and it was for 10 people. She didnt have a menu for me to read at the time of booking and I thought asking the staff would of been good enough.

I think in this day and age 99% of products say 'may contain nuts' and if I had to eat things based on that frankly I would never eat. But I would expect the staff members at a large chain hotel to know if the product contained actual nuts.

I think irrelevant of allergy or no allergy asking the waitress should be good enough. They should know what food they are serving - especially at an event where there are only two options, and ask the chef if they didnt know.

hollydays

hollydays wrote: »

What's the worst outcome of eating nuts you have had so far?

Can I ask this again.

sam.4000

littlelotti91 wrote: »

Hi I didnt do anything staight away because frankly after the experience I wasnt in much mood to do anything. And I wasnt 100% sure it was the allergy given both staff memeber's had told me no. The booking was made by a girl at work and it was for 10 people. She didnt have a menu for me to read at the time of booking and I thought asking the staff would of been good enough.

I think in this day and age 99% of products say 'may contain nuts' and if I had to eat things based on that frankly I would never eat. But I would expect the staff members at a large chain hotel to know if the product contained actual nuts.

I think irrelevant of allergy or no allergy asking the waitress should be good enough. They should know what food they are serving - especially at an event where there are only two options, and ask the chef if they didnt know.

You have a nut allergy but did not tell staff, asking a waitress is not enough. I would think for your own health you need to take it a little more seriously.

Tigsteroonie

Maybe treat this as a "lesson learnt" - never trust an organiser to tell you if the menu contains an allergen, never trust the waiting staff, always try to find out for yourself (by looking at their menu) or ask to speak with the chef. Your health is more important than the embarrassment of seeming to be a little awkward.

I think their offer of compensation is fair. Maybe get them to throw in dinner and wine, as well as the room.