Having an allergic reaction after eating fish and chips may be very unpleasant. You could suffer a variety of symptoms if you have a fish allergy, or a milk allergy, for example, that could cause you to be mildly uncomfortable, or severely ill. When you are aware that you suffer a food allergy, it would be wise to avoid the ingredient that you are allergic to, to avoid suffering a reaction. But what happens if you take all the precautions possible; from checking the food allergen advice on the menu, to asking serving staff to give you food without an allergen in, and you still suffer an allergic reaction after eating at a chip shop? If the staff ignored your request to leave an ingredient out, or the allergen information you were given was inaccurate, you may be able to claim compensation.
This guide offers a wealth of information and advice on what you could do if you suffer an allergic reaction after eating fish and chips due to a restaurant or takeaway’s negligence. In the sections that follow, you’ll find information about allergic reactions and why they happen, common types of allergic reactions and how food providers should act towards those with food allergies. We’ll also examine the legalities and offer insight into how to start a claim with a Legal Expert personal injury solicitor. We hope you find the information in this guide useful, but if you’d prefer case-specific advice, or would like us to assess your case to see if you could be eligible for compensation, please don’t hesitate to call our experts on 0800 073 8804.
Select A Section
- What Is An Allergic Reaction To Fish And Chips?
- What Ingredients Most Commonly Trigger Allergic Reactions?
- Legal Protections For Takeaway And Restaurant Customers
- Should I Tell The Takeaway I Am Allergic To Something?
- How Much Compensation Could I Receive For An Allergic Reaction At A Takeaway Or Restaurant?
- No Win No Fee Claims For An Allergic Reaction After Eating Fish And Chips
- Contact Us
- Useful Information For Allergy Claimants
What Is An Allergic Reaction To Fish And Chips?
There are lots of different symptoms you could experience when you have an allergic reaction, and they could present either immediately or some time after an allergen is consumed. Reactions could be broken down into 2 main types of reaction.
Non-IgE-mediated food allergy symptoms could develop over time, and you may not realise they were caused by the food you’ve consumed at first. You may experience a rash, dry, red, cracked skin, constipation, cramps or vomiting.
IgE-mediated food allergy symptoms tend to come on more quickly, and you may experience one or more of the following:
- Dizziness,
- Trouble swallowing
- Hives
- Throat, mouth, facial or bodily swelling
- Wheezing
- Nausea
- Itchy tingling in the mouth
- Hay-fever symptoms
In some cases, you may experience mixed IgE and non-IgE mediated food allergy symptoms together. Treatment would depend on the reaction you’d suffered and its severity, and while over the counter antihistamines may be appropriate for some reactions, others may require hospital treatment.
What Is An Anaphylactic Allergic Reaction?
The most serious type of allergic reaction is anaphylaxis. This is a life-threatening reaction that will require emergency medical treatment. Anaphylaxis symptoms could include:
- Vomiting
- Mouth swelling
- Hives
- Fainting
- Dizziness
- Difficulty breathing
- Collapse
- A tight, constricted throat
- A fast heartbeat
If you know you have a severe white fish allergy, nut allergy or any other allergy that causes extreme symptoms, you may have been given an epi-pen or autoinjector so that if you have a severe reaction, you can get treatment as quickly as possible.
What Is A Shellfish Or Mollusc Allergy?
While you might assume that an allergic reaction after eating fish and chips would mean you had a cod allergy, it could actually be because you have a shellfish or mollusc allergy instead. People who react to shellfish aren’t always allergic to all fish, but some people are asked by their doctors to avoid all fish in case their fish contains proteins also found in shellfish.
Shellfish are grouped into 4 main categories:
- Crustaceans – these include prawns, lobster, crayfish and shrimps
- Molluscs (Bivalves) – these include mussels, clams, scallops and oysters
- Molluscs (Gastropods) – these include snails, periwinkles and limpets
- Molluscs (Cephalopods) – these include octopus, squid and cuttlefish
If you react to one type of shellfish, it could be likely that you’ll react to others in the same group, so you would usually be asked to avoid that group entirely. If you’re not sure whether you have an allergy to all shellfish or just crustaceans, you might wish to go for allergy testing, but the safest option would probably be to avoid all shellfish.
What Ingredients Most Commonly Trigger Allergic Reactions?
There are a variety of foods that could trigger an allergic reaction. Some common allergens could include:
- Sulphites/Sulphur dioxide
- Soy oil
- Soybeans
- Shellfish
- Sesame
- Prawns
- Peanuts
- Nuts
- Nut oil (such as peanut oil)
- Mustard
- Molluscs
- Milk products
- Lupin
- Lactose
- Ghee
- Fish
- Eggs
- Dairy products
- Crustacea
- Cereals with gluten or wheat in
- Celery
If you’re not sure whether you have a fish intolerance or allergy, it might be wise to speak to your doctor about your options for allergy testing. This way, you could figure out what foods would be safe for you to eat, and what you should avoid.
Legal Protections For Takeaway And Restaurant Customers
Takeaway and restaurant customers have certain legal protections when it comes to food allergies. Laws that relate to allergens in foods include:
- The Food Safety Act 1990 (Section 14) – This relates to the sale of foods that are not of the nature, quality or substance the customer requires.
- The Food Safety Act 1990 (Section 15) – This relates to the false presentation/description of foods.
- EC Regulation 178/2002 Article 14 – Relating to unsafe food that injures a person’s health.
- EC Regulation 178/2002 Article 28 -Relating to the accuracy its traceability.
Civil law could also protect consumers from being sold foods negligently, or being sold foods that are not as described or are defective. The Consumer Rights Act 2015, allows consumers to hold food service providers responsible for damage, loss or injury caused by the misselling of foods.
What Chip Shop Allergy Information Should Be Provided?
According to food laws, if foods contain certain allergens, their presence must be communicated to customers. This could be done in different ways, depending on the way in which the foods have been sold.
- Pre-packaged food items must have an ingredient list whereupon allergens should be highlighted. This could be done by using a different font, a bold or italic font, or a different coloured font.
- Loose foods should have their allergens communicated to you in some way by the seller.
- Foods from takeaways and restaurants should have allergens communicated to customers by way of allergen information. This could be on an allergen list, an online menu, over the phone or a physical menu. You should also be able to request allergen information from staff.
Should I Tell The Takeaway I Am Allergic To Something?
It would be well worth telling the takeaway or restaurant of your fish and chips allergy if you suffer from one. That way, the staff could provide you with relevant chip shop allergy information so you could avoid having an allergic reaction to a chip shop meal.
A personal injury solicitor could help you make a claim for an allergic reaction after eating fish and chips if relevant allergy information was not provided to you, either by the staff or on the menu, or other printed materials. This is because a chip shop, like other food services providers is legally obligated to inform customers in one way or another if any of the dishes they sell contain these main allergens:
- Molluscs and their products
- Lupin and its products
- Sulphites/sulphur dioxide
- Mustard and products thereof
- Eggs and egg products
- Fish and fish products
- Cereals with gluten in
- Crustacean and its products
- Peanuts and their products
- Celery and its products
- Soya beans and their products
- Milk, lactose and their products
- Nuts and their products
- Sesame seeds and their products
If the chip shop allergy menu you are given is incorrect or the staff provide you with incorrect information and suffer an allergic reaction to fish and chips, you may be able to make a claim for compensation.
How Much Compensation Could I Receive For An Allergic Reaction At A Takeaway Or Restaurant?
If you have suffered harm due to an allergic reaction to fish caused by a restaurant or takeaway’s negligence, then you may be eligible to claim personal injury compensation. But you may be wondering how this compensation is calculated, and how much you could receive.
Every successful claimant will receive general damages. This is one of two kinds of compensation that you can pursue, and is aimed towards your injuries and the pain and suffering you experience as a result of your allergic reaction.
Solicitors value claims on a case-by-case basis, but they may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) when calculating this head of claim. This is because the JCG offers guideline compensation amounts for a number of injuries and illnesses, as illustrated below.
| Kind of injuries | Remarks | Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Mental Anguish | A claimant’s fear that they were about to lose their life could lead to an award for mental anguish. | £4,670 |
| Food Poisoning (i) | Reactions that have led to long-term consequences on claimant’s ability to work/enjoy a normal social life. | £38,430 to £52,500 |
| Food Poisoning (ii) | Full recovery would have been achieved but initially, hospital treatment might have been needed | £9,540 to £19,200 |
| Food Poisoning (iii) | Severe reaction, but only short-term effects. | £3,950 to £9,540 |
| Food Poisoning (iv) | Lasting days or a few weeks. | £910 to £3,950 |
You may also be entitled to special damages. This second head of claim aims to address the ways your allergic reaction has affected your finances. For example, if you were in the hospital and lost earnings as a result, you may be able to claim these back under special damages. This heading could also potentially cover the cost of:
- Medications and prescriptions
- Travel expenses
- Childcare
- Domestic help
However, in order to claim under this heading, you must be able to provide proof of your losses.
If you would like to know more about compensation for harm caused by being allergic to fish, contact our team of friendly advisors today.
No Win No Fee Claims For An Allergic Reaction After Eating Fish And Chips
Making a compensation claim without the help of a personal injury solicitor could be somewhat daunting. But you might worry about how you will afford legal assistance for your claim. No matter what financial position you’re in, No Win No Fee claims allow you to utilise the services of a legal professional without having to pay legal fees until your claim is successfully concluded, and compensation has been paid out.
A No Win No Fee solicitor would ask you to sign a Conditional Fee Agreement before they would start working on your case. This is a legal agreement that would effectively promise to pay a small success fee to the solicitor once they’d completed a successful claim on your behalf. The success fee would usually be a small percentage of your eventual payout, and would be legally capped. If no compensation were awarded/negotiated, you wouldn’t have to pay it. Nor would you have to pay the solicitor’s costs that they incurred while pursuing your fish and chips allergy claim.
Contact Us
Whether you’re interested in beginning a claim and would like us to provide you with a personal injury solicitor to help you, or you’d like to ask us questions about your case, we’re here to help. We could even provide you with a free assessment of your case to see if you could be eligible to claim compensation. To reach our team, you could opt to:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- E-mail the team on [email protected]
- Use our Live Chat service
- Or, complete our online contact form.
Whatever you need, we’re here to assist.
Useful Information For Allergy Claimants
- Patient Information On Fish Allergies – This patient information publication from West Suffolk NHS Trust gives some useful information on fish allergies.
- Nut Allergy Treatment Options – The NHS has published information on potential peanut allergy treatments.
- Allergy Training For Food Businesses – Here is some information from food.gov.uk about allergy training for food service providers.
- Find out how to sue a restaurant for an allergic reaction by reading our helpful compensation claim.
- More advice on allergic reaction claims can be found in our general compensation guide.
- If you have been harmed by an allergic reaction to nuts, you may be able to make a claim. Use our guide for more help.
