Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant chain has been fined £8,000 for contravening food safety laws and is to pay a further £9,000 in costs after a customer who suffers from coeliac disease was mistakenly served wheat pasta.
Kristy Richardson, a coeliac and therefore not able to digest gluten, is reported to have told staff in the Portsmouth restaurant on three occasions that she needed gluten-free pasta, but was served ordinary pasta. As a result, she suffered a severe reaction.
Mrs Richardson also suffers from other illnesses, which both made the risk greater and her suffering more severe, and also meant that she went to considerable lengths to check that her dietary requirements could be met.
Restaurants are rightly making great efforts to serve guests who suffer from allergies and other dietary requirements, but this case once again highlights the necessity of having the necessary processes and checks in place to ensure that guests’ requirements are met.