In the first incident, a café guest with a history of severe allergies ordered a vegan bagel and notified café staff of their condition.
The person was given a gluten-free bagel instead and suffered a severe allergic reaction.
They alerted staff, left the premises and collapsed and required treatment at hospital for anaphylactic shock.
The investigation found a communication breakdown was to blame where staff failed to record and communicate the correct allergies to the food server and cashier.
In response, staff retrained on allergies and procedures were improved to communicate between workers when a customer alerts them of their specific allergies.
In the second incident, a guest with a nut allergy visited a different café.
The person ordered a dessert item advertised as having a chocolate sauce topping. But it was actually a Nutella sauce topping, causing the customer to have a severe allergic reaction, which also required treatment at A&E.
The investigation found that the purchased item was new to the menu and incorrectly listed as having a chocolate topping.
Since the incident, that café has corrected its labelling to reflect the use of Nutella. It has also improved the checks on food when being sold, with staff retrained on allergies.
The Ashburton council’s compliance and development group manager, Ian Hyde, said the two cafes concerned had been audited in the reporting period before the incidents and were found to be operating satisfactorily.
“How often an operation gets checked will depend on whether it is a high or low-risk business,’’ Hyde said.
“It will also depend on how well food safety is managed. Those who are doing well will be checked less frequently.”
The monitoring of the district’s food services was contracted out.
