Living a life with food allergies can feel like you’re walking through a minefield. It means having to call up restaurants in advance to see if it’s possible to eat there, and then feeling like a nuisance every time you have to grill a stumped waiter about how certain foods are prepared. It means developing a habit of meticulously reading through every single ingredient list, and becoming an expert at studying any allergen guide handed to you. And it means checking, double-checking, and then living with the fear that you haven’t checked enough and that any oversight can, in severe cases, cost you your life.
It is a burden people like myself have no choice but to carry, we simply have to learn how to cope. But it’s made even harder when people fail to give us relevant information. Take Leon for example, whose co-founder and chief executive John Vincent advised diners with severe allergies to think carefully before choosing to eat at the health-conscious joint. In a blogpost, he wrote: “The idea that Leon could cause harm to one of our guests is horrifying. And we would therefore ask those of you with serious allergies to consider carefully whether you choose to dine with us.”
It is a move seemingly motivated by fear, and one that is becoming more common among high-street food chains, ever since the tragic death of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who suffered an anaphylactic reaction in 2016 after eating a Pret sandwich containing sesame that was baked into the dough, and was not identified on the food label. But it is a horribly regressive move. Rather than tackle the problems, it shifts the emphasis on to those with food allergies, making us feel unwelcome and alienated, but also seemingly uncooperative and lazy.
While businesses seem to be profiting from the rising “free-from” food trends like veganism – Leon just rolled out its plant-based burger – catering to those with serious health concerns like food allergies does not seem like a priority. On their website, Leon emphasises its mission to “always make it easy for everyone to eat well and live well”, yet with their latest statement, it seems to be doing the exact opposite.
Leon is not the only high-street chain that is insensitive and inconsistent in their warnings. Itsu, co-owned by the co-founder of Pret, faced scrutiny earlier this month after putting up blanket warning signs that food contained allergens only confused customers even more, and Italian-American joint Frankie and Benny’s even asked customers with allergies to sign a form that states the company could never guarantee that a dish was completely free of any allergen - except for gluten, according to a BBC investigation. Signing a licence to be killed doesn’t necessarily ease the minds of those who are already so vigilant: more than half of young people with a food allergy avoid eating out as a result of their conditions and only 14% say they feel confident enough to ask about allergen information, according to a survey by the Food Standards Agency last September.
Instead of trying to cover themselves, companies should see this as an opportunity to build their reputation, increase their customer base and even, as a moral duty to help those suffering from food allergies. With more than two million people affected in the UK, a figure that is increasing, they’ll have to do it sooner or later. So why not now?
At least the UK government is now looking to toughen the rules on food-labelling, but let’s hope that more than just this bare minimum is done. We need consistent information of what exactly is in our food, how it is prepared, and vitally, to create an environment where it at feels normal to ask. As expert decision-makers when it comes to food, allergy-sufferers are more than capable of deciding what meets our safety requirements as long as we are provided with all the information we need, and are not made to feel difficult for daring to ask. Telling us to “enter at our own risk” does not do that. Honesty is admirable, but in this case, it’s simply not good enough.
• Sophia Ankel is a freelance journalist
