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.

Presumably to let him know what happened a provide a training opportunity for his staff so it doesn't happen again.

If a restaurant can get the provision of gluten free food right it's actually a huge market opportunity for them, if we find somewhere that can provide safe GF food and the staff know what they're doing, we will go back multiple times.

Have you ever met anyone with coeliac disease? It's not just a gluten intolerance where you might get a bloated stomach for a few hours.
Eating gluten for someone with coeliac will make them extremely ill and it can lead to serious complications.

Would you still feel sorry for the restaurant if it was an anaphylactic reaction and your loved one died right in front of you? For the sake of two little flags? Didn't think so.

Don't feel bad for ordering two very similar puddings. Me and my husband often do this (one Gf, one not) because I actually find it reassuring when mine is often visibly different to his. It's very unusual in my experience for the gf option to look the same as the regular one. I expect this could be a case of them both being gf but she should have said that. I wouldn't have risked it.

The flags/different coloured dishes are a really easy, cheap way for restuarants to make sure that food isn't muddled up between the kitchen and the table. I've been served a burger in a gluten bun before that was actually meant for a different table. Fortunately I spotted it (the bread didn't look like it was about to fall apart) but I could easily have eaten it in the early days post-diagnosis and a simple flag would have stopped that.

And anone saying they are sure the waitress wouldn't have come back out and said it was gluten free unless they were absolutely sure, I can tell you don't have allergies - the three times I've been glutened in a restuarant I had double checked and been reassured the meal was definitely gluten free.

With coeliac disease it absolutely is a fair comparison. You don’t seem to understand the difference between gluten intolerance and coeliac disease.

Anyone saying YABU does not understand the severity of coeliac and/or has not been glutened by a restaurant having a blase approach to allergens and other conditions.

Because then they wouldn’t be offering gluten free would they ?

A review stating what happened would be much appreciated by anyone with coeliacs looking to eat there!
Having made the mistake of not knowing which one was gluten free, the restaurant should have made you a fresh one so that they could be sure yours was GF. A good place that takes service seriously might even give you a fresh one and not charge you to acknowledge the inconvenience and poor service!

I know it's not one of the 14, but the way the waiter spoke, the item wasn't in their 'back of house' info at all. And if the chef doesn't know what they're cooking, it doesn't bode well.

I wouldn’t have eaten it. I think in these circumstances you have to be self defensive and ultimately take responsibility for your own health. I also suffer from serious allergies and I wouldn’t have taken the chance if the waitress was a bit confused.

I agree with you but surely a restaurant wouldn't offer two types of sticky toffee pudding. Also you could've tried each other's ice cream, then you'd be able to tell if there's a difference. I'd look at the menu online to check if they do actually have gluten and gluten free version of stp.

You can also get dogs that sniff out gluten. Pretty cool!

Yes but how did she check? If there was nothing to distinguish them then there was no way to check them. She probably just walked into the kitchen and then walked out again since she clearly didn't care.
It's usual to put a flag in the vegan/gluten free when it's made so it is clear which is which. I wouldn't have risked it either.

Tell me you know nothing about autoimmune diseases and anaphylaxis without telling me you know nothing about autoimmune diseases and anaphylaxis. Because if there is lost trust or any shred of doubt you absolutely cannot eat it. For the sake of manners, you could be dead in minutes.

At our local pub all the sticky toffee puddings are gluten free (and very nice they are too!). If this was the case here the waitress should have confirmed it. Husband is coeliac.

You didn’t need to eat the pudding if you didn’t want to, your choice, but they had told you it was definitely gluten free so you should have paid for it.

Yes they would if ALL the sticky toffee pudding was gluten free. Its what many places do, they don’t offer two versions of thr same item.

Yes, it's possible. Not likely in a well run kitchen but human beings are indeed fallible so it is possible.
But there is a huge difference to someone with allergies or other serious dietary restrictions when you arrive at a restaurant where the server asks about your needs on arrival, provides you with an allergy menu, checks again when you order, brings out the meal with an identifying mark and confirms with you again before you eat it, or where the chef comes out to speak to ypu themselves, and one where you have to drive the process and the answers are vague and unconvincing. A mistake could happen in either of those establishments but it's rather less likely in the one where there are clear signs that the staff are trained and there's are consistent process in place than one where they seem confused, nervous or plain disinterested isn't it?

I think not eating it and not paying for it was the right choice. I’d leave a factual review (including that they did take it off your bill) and recommend where they serve the same dish in 2 versions they’re clearly marked in the kitchen with flags or coloured bowls to avoid the situation happening in the future. You can be polite about it and help them learn.

Some places do. But they look different so it's very easy to tell which is which. If all the sticky toffee pudding was gluten free that should have been clear
The last place I went to my friend and I had the same dish but hers was gluten free, they asked her if she was gluten-free by preference or coeliac which I found very reassuring as it showed they understand the seriousness of traces of gluten to someone with coeliac.

No.
The chef will have ordered it from Brakes and got it out of the freezer.
www.brake.co.uk/desserts/hot-desserts/sponge/individual/brakes-gluten-free-sticky-toffee-puddings/p/113111

They've gone to the trouble of including allergen-free options on their menu, and flagged them up as such, so they clearly want to cater for that kind of customer. So why would clearly identifying them on the plate be a totally unreasonable act?

Not an exact comparison but it follows that if they can’t safely manage one allergen, they can’t manage any (nuts included).

I understand why you were hesitant but I assume they were both gluten free tbh as it's unlikely they'd have two versions. She did go and check for you and you don't even know if your husband's ice cream was the wrong one- he just thought it might have been. I don't really think they deserve a bad review tbh, especially given they took it off the bill for you.

You have to be able to trust them. It is you that has to suffer the consequences for their confidence. I often wonder how many would be as confident if it was them (or their child) who would suffer, and I doubt even half.
If you can't trust them you can't eat it.
In 2 different restaurants DS & I have ordered the exact same glutenfree vegan pizza and they have been brought out separately and obviously different once they both arrived. The first time DS had to go home and puke it up and we got a voucher.
The second time DS told me not to eat it because he noticed first.
I asked the next passing waiter nicely if it was gluten free, and he said no and took it away and replaced it. For the whole rest of the meal the waitress for our table was incandescent with rage!

Honestly some people are insane and should not be around food or customer service, but all we can do is trust our judgement case by case. Or become hermits.