Real life: “I haven’t slept since that allergic reaction in my restaurant”
It started like any ordinary evening in the restaurant. The kind where you can get into the rhythm with your eyes closed. Pans clattering in the kitchen, serving plates, filling one table after another. Until that one table. Chef P.: “She had a nut allergy, it was noted on the ticket.” He prefers to remain anonymous. “As always, we double-checked. No nuts, no traces. And yet, something went wrong.”
Allergic reaction in the restaurant: every chef’s nightmare
“Within ten minutes, the swelling started. Lips, tongue, panic. The waitress called me, and I was terrified. I immediately called 112. Luckily, she had an EpiPen herself, but it could easily have ended much worse. A nut allergy can be life-threatening.” The customer was taken to hospital. Chef P. was left behind with a lump in his throat.
Sued for negligence: “You think, this won’t happen to me”
Three weeks later, a registered letter arrived. A negligence claim. “My world collapsed. I’ve always kept my kitchen in order. Everything labelled, separate cutting boards, cleaning protocols. But this… This destroys you.”
The problem? You can follow the rules as closely as possible, but zero risk does not exist. “The sauce came from a jar that the manufacturer said was nut-free. It later turned out that cross-contamination was possible during the production process. That wasn’t stated on the label. But who gets the blame? Me.”
From chef to suspect: ‘My passion became a lawsuit’
“I cook because I want to make people happy. But after this incident, I was afraid to go back behind the stove. Every order felt like a ticking time bomb. I had panic attacks and sleepless nights. And my team? They felt just as powerless.”
Restaurant allergic reaction: a legal minefield
According to his lawyer, it wasn’t his fault, but the lawsuit drags on. “As a business owner, you bear the responsibility. But the system is flawed. If the industry itself doesn’t become more transparent, we chefs will continue to take the hit.”
What can you do as a chef?
“We now check everything three times. Everything. From the salt to the oil. Guests with allergies get a separate menu. And we have them sign to confirm that they understand we can’t provide a 100% guarantee. It’s not pleasant, but it is honest.”
What can you do as a customer?
- Report your allergy when making the reservation and at the table
- Ask questions: what exactly does it contain?
- Don’t trust it? Don’t eat it
- Bring your own EpiPen
Conclusion: ‘I’m not a criminal, I’m a cook’
The chef is cooking again by now. But he sees his profession differently. “We’re not talking about one spoonful too much salt here. This is about lives. I am responsible, yes. But I’m also a victim of a system in which the labels are incorrect and the fines end up with the wrong people.”
Read more:
- This really isn’t okay: reserving a table and then not showing up
- 8 things you really want to know before starting a restaurant
- 5 plate presentations that really aren’t acceptable anymore
