A severe peanut allergy at a 180-guest wedding buffet
A 180-guest wedding buffet is served at 19:30 in a hotel ballroom. The menu includes satay chicken with peanut sauce, pesto pasta with pine nuts, baklava with walnuts, and a seafood station. At 16:00 the banqueting manager learns that one guest has a severe peanut allergy and has been advised to avoid all nuts; the guest insists on eating from the buffet with friends. The kitchen has one chef and two commis on the late shift; a delivery of labelled allergen-free desserts has not arrived, and the buffet has six open stations. The guest's table is near the satay station. The bride does not want the menu changed or any announcement. The hotel has a written allergen policy requiring a named staff contact and separate service. Service is already behind because the salmon was delivered late.
1. Assess the risk and set out the service plan for this guest.
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The risk is not only peanut in the satay sauce. Pesto contains pine nuts, baklava contains walnuts, and open buffet stations create cross-contact through tongs, hands, crumbs and serving spoons. A severe peanut allergy can be triggered by very small amounts, so 'the guest can avoid the satay' is not an adequate control. The policy already requires a named contact and separate service, so the starting point is a plated meal prepared in a cleaned area with dedicated equipment, covered and labelled, and served by a named waiter. The guest can sit with friends, but the plate should not go through the buffet.
Move the guest's table away from the satay station if possible without making the guest feel singled out. Keep the peanut sauce in closed ramekins at one end of the station, with a dedicated server, and brief all six station staff on the allergen and the guest's name. Use separate tongs and a clean board for any allergen-free items. The chef should prepare the guest's meal before the main rush, not during the 19:30 service, because the kitchen is short-staffed and the salmon is late. The named contact should speak to the guest on arrival, confirm the meal and explain that the kitchen cannot guarantee the open buffet. If the guest insists on buffet food, the hotel should serve her from the kitchen rather than allow self-service.
2. How would you communicate this to the bride and to the guest without causing a scene?
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Speak to the bride privately and briefly, not in front of the room. Explain that the hotel has a legal and safety duty, that no announcement will be made, and that the guest will be served a separate meal by a named waiter so the menu and the wedding atmosphere remain unchanged. Do not ask the bride to decide the medical risk. Give her the practical facts: the guest will be looked after discreetly, and the satay station will be served rather than left open.
Speak to the guest separately, with the chef if possible. Confirm the allergy, explain the separate meal, and ask what she would like to eat from the menu. Be honest that the buffet cannot be guaranteed free from peanut or nut cross-contact. Do not promise 'this is safe' if the kitchen cannot control the buffet. If the guest refuses the plated meal, record that advice was given and offer a sealed, labelled alternative or fruit from the kitchen. The conversation should be calm and discreet; the aim is to protect the guest without turning her allergy into the wedding's main event.
3. The allergen-free dessert has not arrived. What do you do?
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Do not scrape nuts off the baklava or serve a dessert from the buffet. The bakery delivery is missing, so the kitchen must make a simple alternative in a clean area: fresh fruit prepared with a clean knife and board, or a plain dessert from sealed ingredients whose labels have been checked. If the kitchen cannot guarantee separation, offer fruit or cheese from a separately prepared plate and tell the guest exactly what is being served. The dessert does not need to match the wedding menu; it needs to be safe and accepted by the guest.
Tell the named waiter and the chef which dessert is for the guest, label it, and keep it covered until service. Record the substitution and the reason. Inform the bride only if the change will be visible; otherwise handle it discreetly. After the event, review why the allergen-free delivery was not confirmed earlier and add a check to the banquet sheet: allergen meals and their components must be confirmed as received before service, not at 16:00 on the day.