Takeaway app Deliveroo will provide customers with detailed allergy information on individual dishes in the wake of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse’s death from a Pret a Manger baguette.
The system will start in December for food delivered from Tortilla, Tommi’s Burger Joint, Mildreds and Chipotle. They will be followed in January by other chains including YO! Sushi, PizzaExpress, Pho and Byron, bringing the total to 1,000 restaurants by early next year.
It is hoped that next year all 10,000 UK restaurants on Deliveroo will use the menu tool that allows listing of allergens on the app, although it will not be compulsory.
Deliveroo is also immediately introducing a prominent warning on each menu about potential allergens and urging concerned customers to contact restaurants directly before any purchase.
Previously there was no facility for listing detailed information for each dish and concerned customers had to contact individual restaurants off their own bat.
The measures follow the publicity surrounding last month’s inquest into the death of Natasha, 15, who collapsed on a British Airways flight after eating a Pret baguette that contained sesame seeds — an allergen not listed on the wrapper. Following the inquest, Pret committed to labelling all products made in its kitchens with a full list of ingredients.
On Deliveroo, restaurants will be able to show which of the 14 EU-listed allergens each individual food item contains when customers are browsing the menu. The allergens are gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts such as almonds and hazelnuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin and molluscs.
Dan Warne, Deliveroo’s UK managing director, said: “Overhauling our menus is not a simple task, but customers with allergies need this extra transparency, which is why we are working with our restaurant partners to make it happen.”
