What Are Your Rights After An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s?

Do you know what you could do after an allergic reaction at Papa John’s? This guide explores the answer.

Experiencing an allergic reaction can be uncomfortable and inconvenient at best, if not painful, life-threatening and traumatic. Living with a food allergy can leave people feeling as though they are always at risk of a severe health problem.

Therefore, it is important that food businesses follow their obligations in regards to the safe handling and preparation of food. Restaurants and takeaways are required to list certain allergens in an accessible place so that you can make an informed decision on what you can eat if you suffer from allergies. However, if this information is incorrect or you suffer an allergic reaction due to a different failure on the restaurant’s part, you could claim.

Allergic reaction at Papa John’s

A guide to allergic reaction at Papa John’s

If you have evidence of a valid claim or have any legal questions, why not get in touch? If you have solid grounds for a claim, our advisors could connect you with our panel of No Win No Fee personal injury solicitors who can help you to make a compensation claim.

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Services And Information

  1. Everything You Need To Know About Your Rights After An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s
  2. What Is An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s?
  3. Causes Of An Allergic Reaction To Takeaway Food
  4. Symptoms Of An Allergic Reaction To A Takeaway Pizza
  5. Do You Have The Right To Be Notified Of An Allergen?
  6. Which Allergens Should I Be Notified Of?
  7. Calculating Damages For Allergic Reactions At Papa John’s
  8. What Laws Cover Exposure To Allergens?
  9. What Is A Catering Establishment?
  10. Do I Have The Right To Damages After An Allergic Reaction To A Takeaway?
  11. Does The Consumer Rights Act Give You Rights?
  12. How Much Time Do I Have To Claim For An Allergic Reaction?
  13. I Suffered An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s, What Should I Do?
  14. Claim For An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s On A No Win No Fee Basis
  15. Other Information
  16. FAQs About Your Rights After An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s

Everything You Need To Know About Your Rights After An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s

Restaurants have a duty of care over customer safety and wellbeing. If a violation of this duty of care has led to you suffering from the effects of an allergic reaction, you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

This guide is aimed at teaching you about what sort of allergic reaction situation could lead to a compensation claim. Not all reactions will lead to a claim. For example, if you suffered an allergic reaction after eating at a food business, but you weren’t aware of your allergy at the time, you would find it difficult to claim for an allergic reaction. That’s because the food business wouldn’t necessarily be seen as being negligent.

You can also find out from this guide how the process of claiming works. This includes:

  • Working out your compensation payout.
  • The things you can do to gather evidence in the aftermath of an allergic reaction.
  • What a No Win No Fee claim is.

This guide aims to help, but if you need any free legal advice, why not call our advisors? They’re here 24/7 and you won’t be under any obligation to proceed with our services.

What Is An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s?

A food allergy is when your immune system reacts to a certain ingredient as if it is a threat, though it’s not. This causes an allergic reaction, which can be painful and even fatal.

Restaurants have a responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure that they are not putting their customers at any avoidable risks of illnesses or reactions when they serve food. Therefore, if you have an allergic reaction at a food business, you could be entitled to make a compensation claim if there is a reasonable case to make that it failed to follow its responsibilities towards food safety.

Causes Of An Allergic Reaction To Takeaway Food

An allergy and allergic reactions occur when the body’s immune system mistakes the proteins found in otherwise non-harmful materials for a threat and releases the body’s immune response. It is the body’s immune response to the allergen rather than the allergen itself that causes the symptoms of an allergic reaction.

Some of the foodstuffs which can trigger allergic reactions include:

  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Peanuts
  • Tree nuts
  • Fish
  • Shellfish
  • Some fruit and vegetables

You could come into contact with these allergens and suffer an allergic reaction for a number of reasons. However, under certain circumstances, the allergic reaction may be due to a takeaway food business’ failings. This could include:

  • Missing off some allergens from the allergen menu (despite these allergens being ones required to be there), meaning you unknowingly purchase and consume a meal that’s not safe for you.
  • A staff member advises you that the allergen you’ve mentioned isn’t in the food, but it is.
  • You request for an allergen to be removed and the business says they will remove it, but instead, they serve you the meal containing the allergen.
  • There are no accessible warnings of allergen cross-contamination in food preparation. However, the food is cross-contaminated with one of the 14 allergens.

It’s important, as an allergy sufferer, to take responsibility for your own health. However, if you suffered an allergic reaction because of a food business, despite having tried to protect your own health, you could claim.

Symptoms Of An Allergic Reaction To A Takeaway Pizza

The symptoms of an allergic reaction to food can vary within reason. They can emerge in different parts of the body, either separately or at the same time. Some of the symptoms associated with allergic reactions include:

  • Itchiness inside the mouth
  • Hives or rash
  • Swelling around the face, particularly the throat or mouth
  • Vomiting

In more serious cases, anaphylaxis can occur. The symptoms of this include:

  • Feeling faint
  • Shortness of breath
  • A fast heart rate
  • Collapse

Anaphylaxis is a medical emergency so it’s important to get the correct medical treatment as soon as possible.

Do You Have The Right To Be Notified Of An Allergen?

A food business should have information for its customers of certain allergens that might be present in the dishes they serve. Items potentially containing even trace amounts of allergens should also have an appropriate warning.

Though staff aren’t required to know which foods do and do not contain allergens, they should be able to show you where to access allergen information. For example, there may be an allergen menu.

If you ordered food from a takeaway but didn’t ask for information about allergens present in the food, or you didn’t attempt to find this information out for yourself (by looking on the business’ website, for example), you could be seen as risking your own health. If you suffered an allergic reaction as a consequence of not seeking out allergen information and ordering food regardless, you might not be able to claim.

This guide tries to answer the question ‘what could you do after an allergic reaction to a Papa John’s meal? However, if you need any more questions answered, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Which Allergens Should I Be Notified Of?

The following 14 allergens are what restaurants are required by law to make customers aware of if they’re contained in food they provide.

  1. Celery
  2. Cereals containing gluten
  3. Milk
  4. Eggs
  5. Peanuts
  6. Tree nuts
  7. Fish
  8. Molluscs
  9. Crustaceans
  10. Mustard
  11. Sesame seeds
  12. Soya
  13. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
  14. Lupin

Restaurants should also make consumers aware of the risk of cross-contamination of these allergens if that risk exists.

You can ask staff if the allergen can be removed. However, they’re not under any obligation to agree to do this. If they do agree to remove the allergen, they should ensure that this happens. If you’re told that an allergen can be removed, but it isn’t and you suffer an allergic reaction as a consequence, the food business could be liable for your injuries.

Calculating Damages For Allergic Reactions At Papa John’s

There are two heads of claim in personal injury compensation claims:

  1. General damages: compensation for your injuries.
  2. Special damages: compensation for financial losses caused by the injuries.

General damages can be valued properly after you’ve attended a medical assessment as part of the claims process. An independent medical professional would assess your injuries and create a report. The report’s purpose is twofold:

  1. To assess the severity of your injuries.
  2. To prove that the injuries were caused or worsened by the incident.

(If the report is unable to prove that the injuries were caused or exacerbated by the incident, you may find it difficult to claim.)

If you use the services of a solicitor, they can utilise the report to help them value your injuries, alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a publication that presents suggested compensation figures for different injuries.

We’ve used figures from the JCG to create the compensation table below.

Edit
Injury Severity Notes Award
Illness/Damage Resulting from Non-traumatic Injury (i) Severe Serious pain, requiring hospitalisation for days or weeks with continuing symptoms. £36,060 to £49,270
Illness/Damage Resulting from Non-traumatic Injury (ii) Serious Short-lived but serious symptoms over 2 to 4 weeks with some remaining discomfort. £8,950 to £18,020
Illness/Damage Resulting from Non-traumatic Injury (iii) Significant discomfort Symptoms will require hospital admission but there’ll be a full recovery within 1 to 2 years. £3,710 to £8,950
Illness/Damage Resulting from Non-traumatic Injury (iv) Varying degrees of disabling pain Pain lasts for weeks or days. Up to £3,710

If you can’t see your injuries in the compensation table above, why not reach out? Our advisors are available 24/7 and give free legal advice.

Special damages

Suffering an allergic reaction due to a restaurant’s negligence could cost you in ways other than your health. You could suffer financially, especially if it was a severe reaction.

If you become very ill from the reaction, you could have to pay medical bills. If you are required to visit the hospital or your local GP surgery due to the allergic reaction, you could have to pay travel costs. A serious allergic reaction could force you to take time off work, which may result in loss of earnings.

All of these losses could be claimed back as compensation under special damages. To claim these losses, you will need to provide proof. This proof can come in the form of bank statements, receipts, and contracts, for example. If you speak to our advisors, they can give you information on putting this evidence together.

This guide on what you could do after an allergic reaction to a Papa John’s meal aims to help. However, if you need any more questions answered, why not reach out to us?

What Laws Cover Exposure To Allergens?

The Food Safety Act 1990 requires all manufacturers and sellers of food to ensure that the food they produce and sell is not harmful to the health of the consumer and is of reasonable quality. The packaging and marketing of the food products must also not be misleading to the customer.

The Food Standards Act 1999 founded the Food Standards Agency, the regulation and enforcement body for food standards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In October 2021 ‘Natasha’s law’ came into effect, requiring all food that is pre-packed for direct sale to be labelled with a full list of ingredients. Before this, ingredients didn’t need to be labelled on these types of foods, meaning that allergy sufferers had to take extra steps to ensure the food they were consuming was safe to eat.

What Is A Catering Establishment?

Essentially, a catering establishment sells food for consumption. Therefore, it could also be called a food business. The food business should abide by certain rules and regulations to ensure the food is safe to eat.

All food businesses have an obligation to make sure that certain allergen information of the food they serve is available for the customer to access. They should also disclose if there’s a likelihood of cross-contamination with allergens.

Do I Have The Right To Damages After An Allergic Reaction To A Takeaway?

You could have the right to make a compensation claim if you have had an allergic reaction to the food you have bought from a takeaway due to the fact that:

  • The restaurant did not abide by safe food handling and preparation standards, meaning you weren’t warned of allergen cross-contamination.
  • They didn’t follow proper labelling procedures, meaning the allergen wasn’t labelled on packaging even though it should’ve been.
  • They agreed to follow a request you made to have the food prepared without an allergen but failed to inform you when this wasn’t possible and served the food regardless.

There are other instances where a food business’ actions or inactions can cause you to suffer an allergic reaction. You will need to provide proof, however. You would not be entitled to claim compensation on your word alone that you suffered an allergic reaction to your meal due to the negligence of a food business.

If you choose to use the services of a solicitor, they can help you to put together the evidence you need to claim the compensation you could be entitled to.

Does The Consumer Rights Act Give You Rights?

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 entitles you to know that when you purchase a product it will be:

  • Fit for purpose
  • As it was described it would be
  • Of satisfactory quality

This law gives you the right to request a refund or a replacement of a product if it has not met these standards.

In regards to food allergy claims, if an allergen menu or packaging describes a meal as not having an allergen in it, but it does, it wouldn’t be described correctly. If you suffer an allergic reaction as a result of this, you could claim compensation.

How Much Time Do I Have To Claim For An Allergic Reaction?

There is a time limit to making a compensation claim. In many cases, this time limit will be three years. That is three years from the date of the allergic reaction caused by negligence or the date you became aware that negligence at least contributed to your injuries.

This time limit exists in order to make sure that claims are brought about within a span of time where evidence can be reasonably accessed and reliable. Once this time limit has expired, you will no longer have the right to make a claim, even if there is evidence that could otherwise support a valid claim.

Some exceptions to this rule do exist. For example, if you don’t have the mental capacity to claim, someone could do so on your behalf. They’d act as a litigation friend. However, if you regain mental capacity, you could claim for yourself. You’d have three years from the date of recovery.

Another exception applies to children under the age of eighteen at the time of the incident. A litigation friend could claim on the child’s behalf at any point up until the child reaches eighteen. At this point, they could claim on their own behalf. However, the three-year time limit would begin from their eighteenth birthday.

I Suffered An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s, What Should I Do?

If you have suffered an allergic reaction to a meal in a restaurant, then your first step should be to seek medical attention. In some cases, you or a family member may have to call for an ambulance. In other situations, you may simply need to visit your GP or call 111. If you have been diagnosed with an allergy for some time, then you will probably know what is best to do in such an event.

If possible, you can try to put together some evidence of the allergic reaction and its causes. You could, for example:

  • Take pictures of the meal you had.
  • Take pictures of the allergen menu that was incorrect.
  • Make a request that the restaurant makes a note of the incident.
  • Retain the receipt and bill of the meal.
  • Get the contact details of witnesses in case you need statements at a later date.

You could also write down notes as soon as possible describing the incident in as much detail as you can manage. This is to ensure that there is a record of your memories immediately after the allergic reaction.

Claim For An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s On A No Win No Fee Basis

If you want to make a personal injury claim for an allergic reaction you have suffered due to restaurant negligence, you don’t have to use the services of a solicitor. However, we believe that the right legal representation can truly benefit you. Funding a solicitor needn’t be a major concern. That’s because you could make a claim with the help of a No Win No Fee solicitor.

A No WIn No Fee solicitor is a solicitor that carries out compensation claims without requesting their fees upfront. You also don’t have to pay ongoing solicitor fees.

In a No Win No Fee claim, you sign an agreement with a solicitor which details that if you win your case, your solicitor will be entitled to receive a small percentage of the compensation that you are awarded. That percentage is lawfully capped.

And if the claim doesn’t win, you don’t have to pay any solicitor fees at all.

If you are able to sign a No Win No Fee agreement, it could well be a sign that the lawyer is confident that the claim will be successful.

Get in touch

Our advisors are available 24/7, offer free legal advice and won’t oblige you to proceed with the services of our panel of lawyers. However, if you have a favourable claim, they could connect you with our panel.

You can contact them by using any of the methods below:

Other Information

Here are some guides that we believe could help you.

Allergic Reaction At Nando’s

What Are Your Rights After An Allergic Reaction At Pizza Express?

Allergic Reaction At Pizza Hut

Food Standards Agency: Food Allergy And Intolerance

Food Standards Agency: Who We Are

NHS Food Allergy Overview

FAQs About Your Rights After An Allergic Reaction At Papa John’s

Here, we answer some questions relating to allergic reaction claims.

How Do You Know If You’re Allergic To Pizza?

If you have been diagnosed with an allergy you should have already been made aware of what foodstuffs could include the ingredients that might trigger a reaction. If you do suffer an allergic reaction, then the symptoms may begin within a few minutes or a few hours. These could include, rashes, swelling, nausea, or difficulty breathing.

Can You Be Allergic To Pizza?

Pizza can contain dairy products, such as cheese, which some people are allergic to. Pizza dough could also trigger an allergic reaction in people who suffer an allergy to gluten.

Is Papa John’s Safe For A Peanut Allergy?

To find out whether a food business is providing dishes that are safe for you to consume, you should contact them directly. For example, you could search for their allergen menu online or ask a server where to get this information.

Thank you for reading our guide on what you could do following an allergic reaction at Papa John’s.

Writer KE

Checked by HT