Posted on 06/08/2016 8:32:35 AM PDT by SMGFan
A fresh food lawsuit has emerged in Massachusetts following an incident at Panera. Boston Magazine reports that back in January, a New England family placed an online order for a meal from the chain's location in Natick. They ordered a grilled cheese sandwich for their six-year-old daughter, noting that it was for a child with a peanut allergy. The parents claim that after taking a bite, the young girl suffered a reaction that sent her to the hospital, and they discovered a dollop of peanut butter inside the sandwich.
Luckily an epi pen saved the girl's life, but the family is suing Panera and a group of franchises for negligence. Her father called the Panera location the evening of the reaction and was told that the mistake occurred due to a "language" issue. We're all for trying strange food combinations, but a request for peanut butter on a grilled cheese sandwich would definitely make us do a double-take.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
noting that it was for a child with a peanut allergy.
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What was the purpose of noting the peanut butter allergy when ordering a gilled cheese?
If they had kept the childs problem to themselves I doubt the mix up would have occurred.
It seems reasonable that the family should recover their medical expenses from this avoidable error.
They were probably worried about cross-contamination.
would like to know more details about this - because our simplistic, stupid media only wants to give us emotional generalities. How exactly was the order communicated? Does everyone speak English? Who prepared the order? Were any checks in place by store or parents - we will never know.
Overall though, I have to question the parents. I know families who have a child with severe allergies to peanuts and gluten. They would NEVER place an on-line order and simply expect it to be OK, and they would never leave their child’s life in the hands of an unknown $8.50/hour fast-food line staff anywhere. Everything gets checked and/or tasted first for their toddlers, and they focus on restaurants they know well. Its a constant struggle for them - something other parents never think about, but you simply can not trust others to get things right.
I would bet: Mexican employees.
Panera should respond that the family are racists for expecting their workers to understand English.
They were probably worried about cross-contamination.
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Well that is what they got. Now a misunderstanding or
deliberate which I hope not we’ll see.
Sad and terrible event for all involved.
I’ve sent back sandwiches because I told them: Butter! If you don’t have butter, NO oleo/margarine. No mayo, either
In my early teens I developed an allergy to pork products. I don’t know how many turkey sausages I’ve returned to the store because of hog casing, and burgers/Caesar salads I’ve sent back because the staff were “doing me a favor” by adding bacon.
I miss bacon OH, do I miss bacon, and ham sandwiches were once a go-to when I got home from school
Can’t remember exactly where I read it (sorry), but it was about a research paper that came to the conclusion that people are unable to process the word “not.”
Hillary is NOT a crook.
Listeners will associate Hillary with the word crook. The message they actually get is: Hillary = crook.
So, when the parents said: “We do NOT want peanut butter on the grilled cheese sandwich” what the person hears is “peanut butter & grilled cheese sandwich.” Thus, they put peanut butter on the sandwich.
If you don’t want something on a sandwich, it is better to list what you DO want: “I want a grilled cheese sandwich made of only bread, cheese, and butter.”
Just residual PB on a knife can trigger a reaction in the very sensitive.
So does “nein!”
I think I’d have to agree with the posters who have said that if you have a problem like this, it’s just best to stay away from fast-food and any restaurants that you are not absolutely sure about. Anything can happen.
-JT
I ordered coffee at a fast food restaurant (can’t remember which) while traveling awhile back. Clerk said she’d make a fresh pot.
She seemed to be exchanging furtive grins with another clerk, while “making coffee” in an alcove. I stepped around the counter to get a better view, and caught her spitting in my coffee cup.
Walked out, but got the 800 number off the window advertisement, and immediately reported JaQuinta with my cellphone.
Always watch the servers; avoid phoning in your order.
Illegals/third worlders that HATE gringos are not above tampering with food orders. You would have to be NUTS to eat in a Mexican restaurant or any other eatery that employs people hostile to Americans.
Natick has a very large Brazilian population, demographics changed dramatically in the last 30 years. In driving through the center of town late at night, I get the distinct impression it would not be safe on foot.
Later, she started having symptoms but dismissed them b/c she knew she had not eaten peanuts.
She died.....she did not know the famous chili ing.... peanut butter as thickener.
Well, you tell a non-native english speaker “I wanted a grilled cheese sandwich for a child with a peanut allergy”, they may hear “I want a grilled cheese sandwich for a child with peanut butter”.
Personally, I am sick of the universal allergy approach. Yeah, I know. People have allergies. God forbid someone take responsibility for their own safety.
Instead, if I ask for a dish without onions because I hate them, I have to endure a parade out to my table of the manager, waitstaff, sometimes a cook, to ask if I have an allergy. People have suggested more than once that I simply say I am allergic, and I won’t.
I don’t see it as “good service”, and I don’t blame them, because this stupid society has forced them into this.
People think that life can be made risk free, and it cannot.
“Sue the employee(s) who screwed up for all theyre worth, but the shareholders did nothing wrong.”
The employee who took the order is probably an illegal immigrant with no net worth who will jump back across the border if they get a summons. Panera, on the other hand, has deep pockets and nowhere to run...
Or man up and get a bone marrow transplant.
Don't take down a business because you are a freak with weird allergies.
If you have a food allergy which is potentially life threatening, check the restaurant out beforehand and DEFINITELY carry two epi-pens with you at all times.
Otherwise, “brown bag it”.
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