People with allergies..

Timmyctc

Should people with allergies be responsible for inquiring whether or not products in shops contain their allergens?

I work in a shop that sells confectionery, among other things, and one of the products we sell is a mix of some different items from the store all pre-packaged by us.

Recently a customer came back to the shop and started going mad at a co-worker of mine and 'explained' about her daughter who was allergic to nuts (which one of the items in the mix contained) and (presumably) went into anaphylactic shock. She reckons it was our fault for not informing her that the mixed bag potentially contained products with nuts when she purchased it and that she had previously got a mixed bag and nothing contained nuts on that occasion. If anyone ever asks us whats in the bag we explain the general gist as the contents vary daily and if anyone with dietary constraints ever inquires about the contents of the bag we advise them that it is usually inadvisable to get it.

So basically AH. Who's fault is it.
xoxo gossip goat.

The Backwards Man

** This thread may contain nuts **

northernpower

Over a matter of life and death you wouldn't think it would be too much effort to put a sticker 'may contain nuts' on anything that potentially contains nuts or any other allergen.

Shops fault.

Timmyctc

northernpower wrote: »

Over a matter of life and death you wouldn't think it would be too much effort to put a sticker 'may contain nuts' on anything that potentially contains nuts or any other allergen.

Shops fault.

So we should sticker them "May contain nuts, dairy, gluten, gelatin, artificial colours, artificial flavours, sugar etc etc etc"

Dunno if that would leave much room on the bag.

iguana

If it's pre-packaged then you broke the law by not listing allergens such as nuts.

http://www.fsai.ie/faq/allergens.html#legislation

becost

Timmyctc wrote: »

Should people with allergies be responsible for inquiring whether or not products in shops contain their allergens?

I work in a shop that sells confectionery, among other things, and one of the products we sell is a mix of some different items from the store all pre-packaged by us.

Recently a customer came back to the shop and started going mad at a co-worker of mine and 'explained' about her daughter who was allergic to nuts (which one of the items in the mix contained) and (presumably) went into anaphylactic shock. She reckons it was our fault for not informing her that the mixed bag potentially contained products with nuts when she purchased it and that she had previously got a mixed bag and nothing contained nuts on that occasion. If anyone ever asks us whats in the bag we explain the general gist as the contents vary daily and if anyone with dietary constraints ever inquires about the contents of the bag we advise them that it is usually inadvisable to get it.

So basically AH. Who's fault is it.
xoxo gossip goat.

People with food allergies should really be the ones responsible for announcing to others whether it be in a supermarket, restaurant, etc, that they have a particular allergy. :pac:

Timmyctc

iguana wrote: »

If it's pre-packaged then you broke the law by not listing allergens such as nuts.

http://www.fsai.ie/faq/allergens.html#legislation

Cheer for that info but what if within the prepacked item the item of question is marked with its original packaging?

Peregrine

Products should have allergy information on them rather than consumers asking.

I don't have any allergies like nuts or anything (Except..ironically, anti-allergy medicine) but I don't think people with allergies should have to ask shopkeepers what's in certain products every time they buy something.

April O Neill

Timmyctc wrote: »

Should people with allergies be responsible for inquiring whether or not products in shops contain their allergens?

I work in a shop that sells confectionery, among other things, and one of the products we sell is a mix of some different items from the store all pre-packaged by us.

Recently a customer came back to the shop and started going mad at a co-worker of mine and 'explained' about her daughter who was allergic to nuts (which one of the items in the mix contained) and (presumably) went into anaphylactic shock. She reckons it was our fault for not informing her that the mixed bag potentially contained products with nuts when she purchased it and that she had previously got a mixed bag and nothing contained nuts on that occasion. If anyone ever asks us whats in the bag we explain the general gist as the contents vary daily and if anyone with dietary constraints ever inquires about the contents of the bag we advise them that it is usually inadvisable to get it.

So basically AH. Who's fault is it.
xoxo gossip goat.

She should have asked you if any of the items contains nuts, or may have traces. You're not a mindreader and are not going to ask every single customer what allergies they have.

It's the responsiblity of the person with allergies, or their guardian in the case of minors, to check.

EDIT: It should have said on the bag. BUT if she wasn't sure, she should have checked still, as it sounds like her daughter's reaction could have been bad.

1ZRed

People with allergies have no soul

Or is that gingers?

Timmyctc

I should add Health and safety have done a routine check in or two on the and found nothing wrong with anything in the place.

When it comes to nuts, they're supposed to be listed on the bag.

However, unless the packaging is misleading (e.g. if it said nut-free when it wasn't), I would say that the consumer has a responsibility not to buy their child food that might kill them. If it's a package with very little info, or no ingredient list, it should be assumed that there may be allergens inside.

It seems to me that people just refuse to take responsibility for anything these days.

northernpower

Timmyctc wrote: »

So we should sticker them "May contain nuts, dairy, gluten, gelatin, artificial colours, artificial flavours, sugar etc etc etc"

Dunno if that would leave much room on the bag.

How many of those ingredients are going to cause anaphylaxis? - no need to exaggerate for the sake of a dig, you asked the question.

Obviously there's a responsibility on the person to ensure they know what they're eating but even bags of nuts come with a warning, I'm not saying the store needs to go that far but if your selling mixed bags of confectionery and YOU don't even know whats in each mix you should at least provide a disclaimer.

shruikan2553

It depends, if its the type of bag that would come out of the factory with ingredients on it it should probably say if it contained nuts. If they are packed in the shop then they should have asked