Vegan Restaurant Allergic Reaction Claims Guide – After Eating Vegan Food- Can I Claim Compensation? – Food Allergy What To Do & Guide?

I Had An Allergic Reaction After Eating Vegan Food, Could I Claim Compensation?

If you’ve had an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant, you may have suffered symptoms such as hives, stomach cramps or other unpleasant effects. You may have even suffered a reaction that has led to life-threatening symptoms. 

Eating out when you have allergies could be tricky, but if you take care about what you order, such as checking the vegan restaurant allergy menu for details of allergens, and warning the staff of your allergies before you order your food, you would be taking reasonable precautions to avoid a reaction. However, if the staff did not listen to your request for allergy-free food, or the information contained on the menu was incorrect, you could still suffer an allergy attack.

Allergic reaction after eating at vegan restaurant claims guide

This guide is meant for those who have suffered an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant where the restaurant was negligent in their duty of care towards their customers. It offers important information about making a personal injury claim, including what situations could lead to a claim, and how much compensation you could receive for a vegan restaurant allergy. 

We also provide a wealth of information about the laws that protect consumers with allergies, as well as detailing how we could provide you with a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor to help you make a claim.

If you’d like to begin a claim for a food allergy in a vegan restaurant, or you’d like free advice and guidance on your eligibility to claim, our advisors can be reached on 0800 073 8804.

Select A Section

• A Guide To Claims For An Allergic Reaction After Eating At A Vegan Restaurant
• What Is A Food Allergy In A Vegan Restaurant?
• Vegan Foods Which Might Trigger An Allergic Reaction
• Popular Dishes And Restaurants For Vegan Foods
• Statistics On Rates Of Allergies To Foods
• Requesting Allergy Free Foods And Menus
• Relevant Food Safety Laws
• How To Inform The Restaurant You Need Allergy Free Food
• Vegan Restaurant Allergy Damages Calculator
• No Win No Fee Claims For An Allergic Reaction After Eating At A Vegan Restaurant
• Contacting Our Experts
• Supporting Guides And Useful Information

A Guide To Claims For An Allergic Reaction After Eating At A Vegan Restaurant

Whether you’ve always been a vegan or you’ve recently made the decision to go vegan, watching what you eat is likely to be something you take care to do. This could especially be the case if you are a vegan with allergies. 

Avoiding allergies when eating in a vegan restaurant should be relatively simple. After all, you could read the menu to check for allergens contained in dishes, or you could request that your food is prepared without allergens you react to. But what happens if the restaurant fails to respond to your request or the vegan restaurant allergy menu is not correct, and you consume something you are allergic to? 

If this happens to you, and you have an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant, you may be able to make a claim for compensation.

This guide offers information about a variety of topics surrounding veganism allergies and personal injury claims. In it, we answer questions such as:

• Can you be allergic to vegan food?
• Can you be vegan if you have a nut allergy?
• How long might I have to make a claim?
• How can I find a personal injury lawyer to help me?
• Do I have to pay upfront for a lawyer’s help?

If you have questions after reading this guide and would like our experts to provide you with a free, no-obligation eligibility check on your case, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

What Is A Food Allergy In A Vegan Restaurant?

A food allergy is where your body responds to you consuming certain allergens by launching a response from the immune system. It does this because it mistakes that allergen as being a threat to you. 

The response could differ depending on the type of allergy you have and the allergen you react to. While some people suffer mixed IgE and Non-IgE-mediated food allergies, others suffer symptoms of just one or the other.

An IgE-mediated food allergy occurs when the immune system produces a protein known as immunoglobulin E and produces symptoms that usually appear quite quickly after consuming an allergen. These include:

• Hives
• Throat swelling
• Face, body or mouth swelling
• Difficulty swallowing
• Wheezing
• Nausea
• Dizziness

A non-IgE-mediated food allergy occurs when the immune system reacts to an allergen but without producing immunoglobulin E. These reactions could be harder to diagnose, and symptoms may take longer to present. They could include:

• Constipation
• Vomiting with no diarrhoea
• Cracked, red, dry skin rashes (not unlike eczema)

Treatment for an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant could vary, depending on the severity of your reaction. Antihistamines may be prescribed, or you may have to wait for symptoms to subside on their own. However, if you have a severe allergic reaction, you may need urgent medical treatment, and your condition could be life-threatening, especially if you suffer from anaphylaxis.

What Is Anaphylactic Shock?

Anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock is a severe reaction producing symptoms such as:

• Fainting
• Dizziness
• A rapid heartbeat
• Collapsing
• Mouth swelling
• Hives
• Vomiting
• Constriction of the throat

If someone is known to have severe allergies that could result in anaphylaxis, they could be given an epi-pen to carry with them. This is so they can be treated as quickly as possible if they have a reaction. If you believe you or someone else is suffering from anaphylaxis, you should seek urgent medical attention.

What Is Fruit Oral Allergy Syndrome?

Another type of allergic reaction, fruit oral allergy syndrome occurs when someone reacts to some of the proteins in fruits, nuts and vegetables as their body mistakes it for pollen. The symptoms of fruit oral allergy syndrome are usually itching or tingling in the mouth. Sometimes, these might present with mild swelling too, but there aren’t usually any severe symptoms. Usually ensuring fruits and vegetables are thoroughly cooked is enough to deactivate the allergens.

Vegan Foods Which Might Trigger An Allergic Reaction

Food allergies after going vegan could present themselves as a result of you trying different and new foods. Much like starting a vegetarian diet, you may find as you try foods you’ve never tasted before, you react to some of the ingredients contained in them. Opting for allergy testing to find out whether you have allergies is one way to find out what you react to, but many people only go for allergy testing once they have had a reaction to some types of food.

Common veganism allergies don’t usually include milk and dairy products or fish and shellfish due to the nature of a vegan diet, but they could include:

• Eggs
• Peanuts
• Tree nuts
• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Wheat
• Soy
• Cereal
• Gluten
• Celery
• Lupin
• Mustard
• Sulphur

Can You Be Vegan If You Have A Nut Allergy?

If you are a vegan and allergic to nuts, you’ll already know that there are a great many vegan foods that can be enjoyed by those who are vegan and allergic to nuts and seeds, and you could usually find allergy-free dishes on a vegan restaurant menu.

Popular Dishes And Restaurants For Vegan Foods

Many restaurants are able to offer dishes made from vegan allergy-free recipes, but if you’re unsure of where to consider eating as a vegan, why not take a look at this list of the top London vegan restaurants. You should be able to ask them for allergy information on their dishes to avoid having an allergic reaction after eating vegan food there.

• Coda by Eric Chavot, South Kensington
• Gauthier, Soho
• OXO Tower Restaurant and Brasserie, South Bank
• Pied à Terre, Fitzrovia
• The Restaurant at Sanderson, Fitzrovia
• Chakra
• Wild Food Café
• WAVE
• Itadaki Zen

Popular Vegan Dishes

If you’re not sure about what dishes you could order at a vegan restaurant, we’ve provided some inspiration below. However, we would advise you to carefully check the restaurant menu to avoid having an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant. In some cases, if you see a dish you like but it contains an allergen, you might be able to request that the restaurant leaves the allergen out when preparing your meal.

• Vegan mac and cheese
• Sugar snap pea and soba noodles
• Vegan burrito bowl
• Butternut squash linguine
• Vegetable paella
• Vegan chilli
• Spicy Thai peanut rice (if you have a legumes allergy, this may not be safe for you to eat)
• Vegan burgers

Statistics On Rates Of Allergies To Foods

Allergy UK has produced a variety of statistics relating to allergy sufferers. Those below may interest you:

• Around 1 fifth of the UK’s population have one allergy or more
• Between 1992 – 2012, in the UK, hospital admissions for anaphylactic conditions rose by 615%
• Between 3 and 6% of children in our developed world have allergies
• 7.1% of infants (breast-fed) have at least one food allergy

Requesting Allergy Free Foods And Menus

You should be able to order a dish that is free from allergens in a vegan restaurant. However, if you really would like to try a dish on the menu that contains an allergen, you could request that the allergen not be included when your meal is prepared. For example, if you were allergic to tomatoes, you could request for a vegan burger to be prepared without tomato. 

If the restaurant can comply with your request, they should, according to advice from the government, do so. However, it could be that the burger patty itself contains tomato and the recipe may not be altered. In such cases, the server should advise you of this so you could choose another dish to avoid an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant.

What Happens If I Was Not Provided With An Allergy Free Meal?

If you’ve requested an allergen to be left out of your meal, and the servers have accepted your request, you could assume that the meal served to you doesn’t contain the allergen. But what happens if it does and you have a vegan restaurant allergy reaction because of this? If this occurs, you may be able to launch a compensation claim against the restaurant, as they have served you food that is not safe for you to eat.

The personal injury claims time limit is usually 3 years from the incident date or the date you have discovered you’ve suffered an allergic reaction after eating in a vegan restaurant due to their negligence. However, some exceptions could apply. If you’re unsure as to whether you would be within the limitation period for making a claim, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our team.

Relevant Food Safety Laws

Various food laws provide a level of protection for allergy sufferers in the UK. These include:

EC Regulation 178/2002 (Articles 14 + 28) – These cover the accuracy of food information provided to consumers and the safety of foods that could injure someone’s health.

The Food Safety Act 1990 (Sections 14 + 15) – These cover the false presentation and the false descriptions of foods, as well as foods that aren’t of the substance, quality or nature the consumer demands.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 – Under this law, consumers are protected from injury, damage or loss that has been caused by defective or mis-sold products.

In addition to this, there are rules in place that mean food service providers have to give consumers certain information regarding allergens in their food. In terms of the information that restaurants must provide their customers with, it must be in writing. The information must be available on a menu, a separate allergy list, on the restaurant’s website or on other printed matter. Customers should also be able to request such information from servers. 

These rules are put in place to protect those with allergies. If you suffer an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant because they have not provided you with accurate vegan food allergy info, you may be able to make a claim against them.

Food Safety Information Which Has To Be Provided To Customers

The list of 14 allergens you must be provided with is as follows:

• Soybeans
• Eggs
• Tree nuts
• Fish
• Peanuts
• Lupin
• Sulphites/Sulphur dioxide
• Cereals containing gluten
• Crustaceans
• Sesame
• Molluscs
• Mustard
• Celery
• Milk

How To Inform The Restaurant You Need Allergy Free Food

We would advise vegans with allergies to inform a restaurant of their allergies before ordering food. This is so that they could take all reasonable steps to avoid suffering an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant. However, if you have not informed a restaurant that you have an allergy, this would not necessarily preclude you from making a compensation claim.

A restaurant owes you a duty of care to keep you safe as a customer, and if they have breached their duty and the breach has led to you suffering harm, they could be held liable for the harm you have suffered. For example, if you have not informed the restaurant that you have allergies to peanuts, and their menu doesn’t list peanuts as being in a dish, you could order that dish, believing that it doesn’t contain peanuts. If the information on the menu is wrong, however, you could suffer an allergic reaction to the vegan food served to you. Because the restaurant has a legal duty to inform you of peanuts being contained in their dishes, you may still be able to claim for your allergic reaction, even though you didn’t speak to the server about your allergy.

If you are unsure as to whether your vegan restaurant allergy reaction could lead to a claim, we would be glad to offer you a free, no-obligation case check to determine whether you could claim.

Vegan Restaurant Allergy Damages Calculator

Claiming for an allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant could be complex. It would depend on the specific facts and circumstances of your case as to how much compensation your case could result in. Therefore, a personal injury claims calculator would not be able to offer an accurate figure as to what payout you could receive. 

We recognise that you might wish to get some idea of how much your claim could be worth, however, so we’ve compiled some figures from the Judicial College Guidelines and presented them in the table below. If the injury you’ve suffered does not appear to be included below, we could offer you some further information over the phone.

Additional Damages Which Could Be Awarded

Alongside the compensation you could receive for the pain and suffering of your food allergy reaction in a vegan restaurant, you could also be eligible to claim special damages. These relate to the expenses incurred as a result of your allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant and could include:

• Loss of income – if you’ve needed to take time off work due to your reaction, and have lost out on income as a result, you may be compensated for this.
• Care costs – if you’ve needed care at home due to the consequences of an allergic reaction, care costs might also be included in your payout.
• Medical expenses – anything from prescription medicines to counselling could be included as medical expenses.
• Travel expenses – trips to see your personal injury solicitor or hospital trips might cost you money. These costs could also be included within a claim.

To claim for any of the above, you would need proof that these costs had been incurred. Payslips, bank statements bills and receipts could all be useful in helping you reclaim such costs.

No Win No Fee Claims For An Allergic Reaction After Eating At A Vegan Restaurant

Building a strong case for compensation could be complex. If you’re still recovering from the allergic reaction after eating at a vegan restaurant, you may not wish to add any further stress by attempting to go it alone with proving your claim and negotiating a compensation settlement. Luckily, there is a way for you to be able to access legal support without you having to pay upfront for it.

Making a claim under No Win No Fee payment terms means you won’t have to pay any legal fees until your claim is successfully settled. To begin such a claim, you’d have to sign a Conditional Fee Agreement to agree to pay your solicitor a success fee if they managed to obtain a payout for you. In cases where no compensation was agreed, you would not be expected to pay the success fee, and you would not be expected to cover your solicitor’s costs incurred while fighting your case either.

The success fee you’d pay would be legally capped and would only be a small percentage of your compensation. If you’d like to know more about making a claim under No Win No Fee terms, or you’d like us to provide you with a lawyer that works on this basis, you can speak to our team at any time.

Contacting Our Experts

Whether you are a vegan allergic to soy and nuts, or you follow a vegan diet after a dairy allergy incident has led you to find out you’re allergic to dairy products, if a restaurant has been negligent is serving you allergy-free foods that you have requested or were listed on the menu, and you’ve had a reaction, you could make a claim. You can reach our team for free advice and support by:

• Calling: 0800 073 8804
• E-mailing: info@legalexpert.co.uk
• Using Live Chat
• Completing the contact form.

Supporting Guides And Useful Information

Allergic Reaction Claims Against Restaurants – We offer further information about suing a restaurant here.

Specialist Food Allergy Solicitors– We explain the benefit of using a specialist solicitor for your claim in this guide.

Allergy Claims For Peanut Allergies– If your claim relates to a peanut allergy, this guide could be of use to you.

Details Of Allergy Cases– The government’s website offers some insight into court cases that relate to allergies.

Treating A Food Allergy – Some allergies can be treated in different ways. Find out more about this on the NHS website.

Further Helpful Guides:

• How Much Compensation for An Accident Causing An Injury At An Airport?
• A Guide To Slipped On Water In A Supermarket Claims
• How Much Compensation For Children’s Playground Accident Claims?
• How Much Compensation Can I Claim For A Leisure Centre Accident?
• Pothole Accident Claims
• Public Park Accident Claims Guide
• How To Make a Personal Injury Claim For An Accident on the Street
• How To Make a Bleach Burn Claim After An Accident in a Salon
• Restaurant Accident Compensation Claims
• Wedding Food Poisoning Compensation Claims
• Doormat Slip, Trip and Fall Claims

Guide by Jeffries

Edited by Billing