Would you have eaten the pudding?

[NoSourDough]

I have celiac disease and just a few crumbs of gluten will cause at lease 3 weeks of damage and illness for me, so eating out means I have to be very careful.

I’m on holiday in a UK destination, gone to a hotel restaurant, made it clear I have celiac disease, asked for the gluten free menu.

Main course, all is well.

Pudding time, I ask for a gluten free Sticky Toffee Pudding. DH asks for a normal one but with vegan ice cream (he is lactose intolerant).

A different waitress brings both puddings out, both in the same coloured bowls and is temporarily perplexed with regard to which one has the vegan ice cream.

i make it clear that one should be gluten free. She disappears and comes back and gives me the one that she says is gluten free.

We start eating, DH tastes his and says his ice creams tastes normal and not vegan.

i have a mouthful of pudding and spit it out - fearing that I’ve actually got the gluten pudding.

I decide not to eat mine as I cannot take the risk.

When waitress returns, I explain my dilemma, that I cannot take the risk and I want the pudding taken off the bill.

I couldn’t believe her reaction. She spoke to her manager, and said “it was 100% gluten free” with such an attitude and as I went to answer, she walked off.

They did take off the pudding on the bill but it was the fact they didn’t take it seriously and that it felt I was making a fuss about nothing. Why they didn’t put the food in separate coloured bowls or flag it is beyond me.

i did want to speak to the manager but it was mayhem outside in reception and I just wanted to leave. I will be leaving a review online.

Exactly. What normal place can afford to have a gluten free oven. You need an entire gluten free kitchen.

if that is the case, why were there two kinds on the menu and why did the waitress not just say so?

I don’t carry around a Tupperware of Scarlet-friendly food on a night out just in case the restaurant with a GF menu online can’t then, when I arrive, confirm they manage cross contamination and start saying things like ‘how serious is your Coeliac’ and telling me ‘we can leave the Parmesan off the risotto’ (sorry, what? 😖)

I will sit there with nothing rather than risk it. I don’t care at this point.

i always double check if wait staff are giving me the allergen free version and some behave as yours did. I don’t take any notice. This is my life. In coffee shops I watch them like a hawk and there have been so many times that they have made a mistake. I never make a big deal of it when I correct them. Don’t forget to write them a fitting review, op.

People really don't understand how difficult food intolerances can make life. As usual the health brigade have spoiled it for those who really need it.

Your restaurant have been really cavalier about the whole thing which is appalling.

You can never know that food is truly gf in a restaurant, unless the restaurant is entirely gluten free or there are no products that can be either or and there is no possibility of cross contamination in the kitchen. Even if there are little flags on the food someone has to put them on there so there is always the possibility of human error. If I was likely to be that sick I would be sticking to food that cannot contain gluten if I was eating out.

I assume you think that if the waitress had immediately said this is absolutely definitely the gf one that would have given more confidence and therefore not deserve a bad review, whereas saying I'll double check that for you makes you less confident so deserves a bad review, irrespective of whether the waitress really knew for certain or not, after all she is just relying on what the kitchen staff told her, so double checking if it's queried by a guest seems the right thing to do to me.

No you don’t, you need a small section, which most good establishments can manage quite well. I’ve been to some fantastic eating places where I’ve been assured that there is no cross contamination due to a separate oven, separate utensils and flags put into the food to highlight the allergen item. It’s about protocol and how well the place is run. It’s also a legal requirement if you are stating GF on the menu that is meets certain requirements.

What has that got to do with things?

@TSMWEL - I have also experienced the Caesar salad crouton fuckery from a well-known restaurant where I live. This was after waiting an hour after everyone else’s food turned up to be served in the first place. They also sent back the same salad with the croutons picked out. (Looked like seagulls had been through it.) What upset me most was the frequent references by the waiter about how they “Totally understood gluten intolerance.” I had to say, “Look I know you didn’t prepare the food, but you need to learn that gluten intolerance is NOT the same as coeliac disease. It is almost unheard of someone with gluten intolerance having parts of their bowels surgically removed.”

No, I think if the waitress had responded "all the sticky toffee puddings are gf" or "oh they forgot to put the flag on, I will get a fresh one so you can be sure" or basically anything which didn't rely on telling the difference between two fairly identical-looking things, then that would have given more confidence.

Agree you can't have 100% confidence. But that doesn't mean you give up and go "well, 50/50 chance" which was what the OP was left feeling like. The restaurant should be trying to give as much confidence as possible.

I didn’t realise that you need a separate oven for gluten free produce. That is expecting a lot from a restaurant - especially with a small kitchen. I honestly can’t see how places can ever 100% guarantee that something hasn’t been contaminated.

I've never been to a restaurant that doesn't put clear flags on food, specifying dietary requirements. Even in really fancy restaurant there is a clear sign on each dish if one is different due to allergy. If they didn't, I'd make a serious complaint. Some gluten allergies could kill.

I don't think you can read anything into the waitress's expression, particularly given that you feel she had a specific issue with you (to what extent this is the 'benefit' of hindsight isn't clear).

You knowingly ordered the same puddings. When you queried whether these were correct, you were provided reassurance. When you decided to have it taken off the bill rather than eat it, the staff were obliging. They didn't have to do that, and as others have mentioned, this means they lost their profit for that meal.

I'm not sure what else you want from them - and I honestly believe an online review would be entirely unfair.

Rather than continue to agonise over this incident, I'd chalk it down to experience. And maybe next time you eat out, you could explain at the time of ordering that you feel very anxious about potential mix-ups, so this situation can be avoided in the future.

How to other places manage then? As I said, the place local to me keep it simple. they do not duplicate menu items. If there is a GF item on the menu, then all of that item is GF. Same with vegan food. They are honest about the fact that they can't offer a completely segregated kitchen environment. The people I know with food allergies don't want the moon, they just want honesty, clarity and consistency.

l didn’t read it as calling OP a liar - more that they were intimating the restaurant served up the same pudding to both OP and her DH.

Ah yes. I see what you mean. Thanks 👍🏻

We have a restaurant where I live where they put in a little paper flag to say GF. Good idea and I have had no problems there.

If they're going to state that their menu is 100% gluten/dairy free, vegan etc then legally that’s what they have to do. There have to be a totally separate prep areas, utensils and cooking facilities to comply with the law. If you’re going to offer these things then you need to make sure that you are offering them, and not some half baked version (sorry, couldn’t resist !!) that will likely make someone ill.

tehn why not just say so and make it clear on the menu?

My SIL is celiac she can tell food isn't gluten free. She ordered gluten free chips with a meal once but they had cooked the chips in the same fryer meaning they weren't GF. She had to get a baked potato instead because they don't keep 1 fryer for GF food. Different coloured bowls would ensure they don't get mixed up.

You were not unreasonable to question it and ask for confirmation.

You would be unreasonable to put a negative review online, with zero evidence that they’d actually done anything wrong.

At the moment you’re assuming they’ve screwed up.

You might prefer places that use a flag system, but that’s your preference. You knew they didn’t before you ordered desert.

If you’re concerned, talk to them. If they screwed up, then post a public review. At the moment you’re making huge assumptions.

(vegan vanilla is getting really good, stp works fine gluten free so may well have been same and nothing to need to identify between. You don’t need to mark GF as such to people without dietary restrictions, and places choose not to as it can put gluten eating people off).

As someone with coeliac disease. I 100% would have done the same. If I can’t trust what I’m eating is gluten-free, I’d not be eating it (and not paying). A few years ago I was glutened 3 times in a row after eating at a nice restaurant (3 different occasions) owned by a company that has many restaurants. I complained big time after the 3rd time - I demanded staff be retrained on allergies etc, which they said they would do.

Wow. You feel sorry for restaurants having to take steps to ensure that they follow the law to ensure that people don't die??????
What a strange person you must be.

This may be of interest. Please note it only covers gluten. Legally businesses do not have to have totally segregated kitchen facilities in order to state that they offer gluten free food. There does have to be less than 20ppm of gluten in the food offered as GF so this won't rule out crumb or air transmission. https://www.fdf.org.uk/globalassets/resources/publications/brc-free-from-guidance.pdf

I 100% wouldn't have eaten it either. Most places you have to order with a manager and get either a flag or different coloured dish. They are obviously pretty lax and It's not worth the risk. I'm pretty careful but have have obviously eaten something I shouldn't have and have the most awful (gluten) rash at the moment, can't sleep it's so itchy. There's so many potential side effects, it's not worth ruining your entire holiday.