Ah, yes. “Mistakes were made” is right up there with “taking it seriously” for noncommittal corporate douchespeak.
This is a great reminder that if you have a serious food allergy that you should always carry some sort of backup with you if you’re eating out. Be it some Benadryl (diphenhydramine if you’re nasty), or an EpiPen. Pro tip: get small baggy and put some Benadryl in it and keep it in your wallet or purse.
You really can’t trust servers to know for sure if something contains an ingredient or not. Believe it or not most restaurants don’t make everything from scratch and may use any number of pre-prepared ingredients in their food, or even pre-prepared dishes. I have a lot of family and friends with severe food allergies and am painfully aware of the problems that can occur when eating out.
I’m not sure what sort of allergy disclosures are required in the UK where this story took place, but in the US you only have to declare a specific set of allergens, and only if they are used as an ingredient. The “made in a factory that also processes peanuts” type notices are strictly voluntary.
