Severe peanut allergy at a busy sandwich counter
A customer at a busy sandwich counter says they have a severe peanut allergy and carry an EpiPen. They order a chicken wrap 'without the satay sauce - just chicken and salad'. The satay is made in-house with peanut butter, and the same grill is used for satay chicken; the same tongs are used across orders, and gloves are worn but not changed between wraps. The only boards are washed in one sink. The customer says, 'A tiny bit is fine, I only get a rash,' and asks staff to 'just scrape it off' if any sauce gets on. The menu has no allergen information, staff cannot find the aioli label, and a new staff member is unsure which container holds the satay marinade. The counter has a queue out the door and the manager is on a break.
1. What do you say to the customer, and why?
Read the worked answer
Be honest about what you can and cannot control.
- Say plainly: 'I cannot guarantee this wrap is peanut-free.' The shared grill, shared tongs, gloves that are not changed, a shared sink and an in-house satay made with peanut butter mean cross-contact is likely.
- Do not say 'it is probably fine' or 'we will scrape it off'. Allergen residue is invisible and scraping does not remove it.
- Do not let 'I only get a rash' override the process. Reactions are unpredictable: a person can have a mild reaction one time and anaphylaxis the next. Staff are not qualified to judge that, and the business carries the risk.
- Offer a safe alternative: something assembled from sealed, labelled ingredients with clean and sanitised equipment and no contact with the satay station, such as a simple salad with a verified dressing, or a sealed packaged item with a clear label.
- If you cannot verify every ingredient - the missing aioli label, the unidentified marinade - do not use it.
- If nothing can be done safely, decline politely and explain why.
Tell the manager: a serious allergy request is not a 'just handle it' moment.
2. How would you prepare a safe meal for this customer, and what would make you refuse?
Read the worked answer
Steps for a controlled preparation
- Wash hands and put on fresh gloves.
- Clear a bench away from the satay station. Clean and sanitise the board, knife, tongs and bench: hot soapy wash, rinse, food-grade sanitiser at label concentration and contact time, air dry.
- Use a separate board and knife, or a clean chopping sheet or plate, that has not touched satay chicken.
- Cook the plain chicken on a clean tray lined with baking paper, or on a cleaned and sanitised section of the grill, using clean tongs.
- Check every ingredient - wrap, dressing, aioli, salad. Read the label or recipe and confirm no peanut and no 'may contain traces' if the customer is that sensitive.
- Assemble away from the satay containers, keep the wrap covered, label it, and hand it to the customer yourself.
- Tell the customer what you did and what you could not control, and let them decide.
Refuse if you cannot identify an ingredient, cannot clean the equipment, cannot separate the satay station, or are too rushed to do it properly. A queue is not a reason.
3. The customer insists a rash is acceptable and asks you to scrape off any sauce. How do you handle this?
Read the worked answer
Hold the line, and explain the reasoning rather than just saying no.
- A previous mild reaction does not predict the next one. Anaphylaxis can occur on a later exposure with no warning.
- 'Just scrape it off' does not work: sauce is a liquid that soaks into the wrap, and allergen protein residue is not visible.
- The customer cannot accept the risk on the business's behalf. The business must sell safe and suitable food, and any allergen information it gives must be accurate.
- If the customer keeps insisting, restate the limit clearly: 'I cannot make that safe here.' Offer the alternative option or decline the order.
- Note the request and the advice on the order or an incident sheet, and raise the missing allergen information and unlabelled containers with the manager.
- Longer term: add allergen statements to the menu, label all in-house sauces with ingredients and date, and include allergen cross-contact in staff training.