loose nuts in Pizza Express

[tatt]

Hi folks - long time since I've been here. Wanted to warn you that Pizza Express has become a risky place for nutters and there's a petition to try and change that back www.change.org/p/pizza-express-to-remove-loose-peanuts-nuts-from-their-menu#share

I contacted pizza express as i was also concerned and they sent me this today:

Thank you so much for contacting PizzaExpress.

We take allergens extremely seriously and we'll always do everything we can
to accommodate customers who have allergies. In relation to nuts, we've
been serving nut-containing dishes including bowls of nuts, such as
peanuts, since 2003. Please be reassured that we have a 100 per cent track
record in this area of safety. Here are some of our processes:

Here are some of our processes:

· We provide detailed training to all our team members and ensure
this training is refreshed on a regular basis
· While in storage, nut products are always kept on the bottom
shelf of our fridges and other storage areas to prevent contamination
· We label all our nut products with a yellow "contains nuts"
sticker so team members can clearly identify them
· Separate utensils are always used to prepare and serve nut
products
· We use dispensing bottles, where appropriate, to minimise the
impact of any nuts being spilled or dropped
· Customers are encouraged to tell their waiter if they have an
allergy. We have a marker on our tills so a message, clearly marked in
red, can be sent to the kitchen, ensuring the chef is aware of any
allergies flagged by our customers
· An internal team regularly carries out unannounced audits to
assess the quality and safety of all our restaurants and the food we serve.
Allergen awareness is a major focus for these. Should a restaurant be in
breech, an alert will be issued automatically so the problem can be
addressed as a matter of urgency?
· And of course, teams regularly wash their hands and clean
surfaces, to prevent contamination through dust particles or customers
touching surfaces after eating nuts in our restaurants. It is important to
note that nut products are never directly handled with hands but we insist
on hand washing after handling the utensils

Dishes containing nuts are always marked on our menu with an 'N' and full
allergen and suitability information for our dishes can be downloaded here.
Information on individual ingredients can be found here.

Despite all these measures, PizzaExpress cannot offer a 100 per cent
guarantee that cross contamination will not occur.

Thanks again and have a good day!

Kind Regards,

Nicoleta Craciun
Customer Experience Team

have you checked out their menu? The dish is clearly labelled NEW. The only nut products on the menu before were pesto and a dessert with nougat. So to claim they have had bowls of nuts on tables for years is just untrue. That's why the petition is almost up to 1000 signatures with people who used to go there.

Pizza Express always labelled everything containing pine nuts as contains nuts

Serving peanuts, cashews & almonds is something v new

Gutted! We love Pizza Express. Their response makes it sound great, but it only takes one untrained member of staff to not follow guidelines. Also massive risk of cross contamination with peanut dust on tables, chairs, door handles etc.

I'm not sure I understand this. PE have started selling bowls of nuts? Lots of places sell bowls of nuts. Do they all get petitions and complaints?
My child and I have allergies, I've never considered that restaurants should plan their menus (other than sensible labelling and awareness plans) around that?

I'm not saying your wrong, just that I don't understand.

Pizza express have sold bowls of nuts for years.

How do nut allergy people manage when generally out and about in bars, restaurants and places? Nuts are everywhere!

What is it with nut allergies? I'm allergic to milk, cheese and all other dairy products but I accept that other people enjoy them so I'd not even consider asking a restaurant to stop serving them. I do not eat or drink them myself as I do not want to throw up, feel ill, collapse and be sick for days but if others want to eat or drink them it is their choice.
I like nuts and can eat them so why should they be different to milk products. Let people with allergies take care but so not try to impose your allergy on others

Pizza Express is one of the places that my nut-allergic friend, and my non-allergic friend with a nut allergic child, and teenage ds's nut-allergic friend, are all happy to eat at.

Clearly the people that I know, that are living with nut allergies and Epipens, find Pizza Express's processes acceptable.

I find the nut thing OTT. My son can't have dairy. I suggested peanut butter on toasy at nursery when the others have cheese on toast. This isn't allowed as the nursery is nut free "for allergy reasons"

I would have thought milk (in beakers, bottles of formula) as well cheese and yoghurt would be far more likely to cross contaminate than one child having peanut butter.

Most nut allergies = anaphylaxis not just a tummy ache

They've served bowls of nuts in ours for years. Listed by the olives I think.

Saying that, they've gone right downhill recently. We're usually very regular customers but being served two dishes minus ingredients on consecutive visits has put us off.

dairy allergies can = anaphylaxis too EldonAve

though nut allergies are more likely to become airborne

dairy allergies can cause issues with cross contamination, if another child spills their milk, splatters yogurt down their jumpers etc. we all have to be allergy aware and look out for each other x

My understanding is that an allergic reaction to nuts is however more likely to result in anaphylaxis than other reactions.

Although anyone who has a food allergy can experience anaphylaxis, the foods most likely to cause a severe reaction are peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. People who have both asthma and a food allergy are at greater risk for anaphylaxis.

From foodallergy.org

yes but many people DO have anaphylaxis to eggs and and milk, what i am saying is we all have to think about all allergies, and the potential of a serious reaction, and yes nuts/peanuts usually tend to mean anaphylaxis. but a splash of milk could be dangerous too.

nuts/peanuts does generally mean possibility of anaphylaxis tho.

I do support nut free schools and nut bans due to the risk of nut products becoming airborne, which is less likely with milk and egg (unless they are being cooked)

My child is anaphylactic to most foods, she is fed by a feeding tube , hypoallergenic food.

She has a normal life.

This nut allergy thing has gone mad.

its more about previously safe foods and treats being taken away, so if ur child had one thing or one safe place they could eat, then that is suddenly taken away due to a change in menu, or introduction of something new in a shared factory on shared lines making that product no longer safe.

As allergy families, we are all used to making our own safe treats, not eating out, not being able to buy something off a shelf eat it. But the few places they eat in, and the few ready made products they can buy (like fab bakin boys) are slowly being taken away.

We all know where we can and can't go, places to avoid, products we can and cant buy.

Quick question for those who have experience of anaphylaxis to milk or dairy. Lots of kids with nut allergies react to absolutely tiny amounts. My dd, for example, has had severe facial swelling after eating approximately a millimeter square of peanut butter. She has also reacted to chocolate labelled as containing traces of nuts. Do people who are allergic to milk / dairy typically also react to such small amounts?

It depends on the child, but yes, it can happen. My DS is as anaphylactic to eggs & dairy as he is to nuts.

Neolara, yes, ds1 has reacted to similar (tiny) amounts of other foods, including milk, peas and lentils.

He had a minor (just severe vomiting) reaction the other day, when we were eating in a cafe. A pea had fallen into the carrots he was served. He didn't eat the pea, just a piece of carrot that it had touched, and that was enough to make him sick and breathless, requiring antihistamine and inhalers. We don't eat out much!

We have eaten at Pizza Express twice in the past, and found them very good - able to provide exact information about ingredients with very little fuss, and reassuringly careful with their procedures.

yes people with dairy allergy can and do react to milk splashing onto their skin, may contain trace amouts of dairy, and to dairy being cooked e.g pizza.