If you have food allergies or intolerances, you may have been advised to avoid the allergens that affect you. This could make eating out a little more complicated than if you didn’t have any food allergies. However, you should still be able to order food in restaurants and take-outs that does not contain ingredients you are allergic to. But what happens if you’ve asked for an ingredient to be omitted from your order, and staff have ignored your request, leading to you having an allergic reaction after eating at Subway?
Or, what happens if Subway has not included allergen information on their menus or online allergen list? Could you hold Subway responsible for the harm you’ve suffered and make a personal injury claim against them? These questions, and many more, are answered within this guide.
Here at Legal Helpline, we offer expert guidance on all aspects of making personal injury claims. We could check your case for free if you’ve suffered an allergic reaction to Subway due to their negligence to see if you could be eligible to claim compensation and offer case-specific advice you can count on.
As well as this, we could connect you to a personal injury solicitor from our panel who could help you bring a case against Subway for food allergy negligence if you’ve suffered harm due to incorrect Subway UK allergy information, or inclusion of a known allergen in your order that you have requested not to be included.
If you’d like our assistance with your claim, please do not hesitate to call our team on 0161 696 9685 and we’ll help you in any way that we can.
Jump To A Section
- A Guide To Claiming For A Food Allergy In Subway
- What Are Food Intolerances And Food Allergies
- What Proportion Of The Population Have A Food Allergy?
- I Requested A Common Allergen Be Left Out
- My Request To Leave A Common Allergen Out Was Ignored
- How Allergic Reactions Could Be Caused By A Restaurant Being Negligent
- Examining Takeaway Customer Consumer Rights
- I Failed To Inform A Restaurant Of My Intolerance Or Allergy
- Food Which Could Cause Allergic Reactions
- Subway Menu And Food Allergy Information
- Food Allergy Reaction In Subway Compensation Calculator
- How Else You May Be Compensated
- No Win No Fee Claims For Allergic Reactions Caused By Subway Foods
- How To Get In Touch
- References
A Guide To Claiming For A Food Allergy In Subway
If you’ve suffered an allergic reaction after eating at Subway, whether you’ve consumed a meal in one of their restaurants or taken your order elsewhere to eat, you may be wondering whether it could be considered Subway’s fault. This guide explains what you may need to know if you’ve had a food allergy in Subway and believe it was due to cross-contamination of ingredients, the inclusion of an allergen in your meal that you have asked to be left out, or incorrect information on the allergy menu for Subway that has caused you to consume food with an allergen in it.
In such cases, you may be able to make a claim for compensation for the harm you’ve suffered due to the allergic reaction if you can prove that the restaurant was at fault. You may also be able to recover any costs you’ve incurred because of it, such as lost wages, medical costs and more.
Below, we reveal how much compensation you could be looking to receive for such a claim, as well as how we could connect you with a personal injury lawyer who could help you fight for the compensation you deserve.
While you could make a claim against Subway without using a lawyer, you might prefer to have legal assistance when making your claim, as this could not only make the whole process less stressful and time-consuming for you, but it could also help you claim the maximum compensation possible for your case.
What Are Food Intolerances And Food Allergies
Allergies could be considered an unpleasant thing to cope with. If you have a food allergy, it could restrict what you can eat, and this is something allergy sufferers may have to think about each and every time they go to a restaurant or order food at a takeaway.
Food allergies happen when a person’s immune system mistakenly recognises an allergen as a threat to the body and launches a response to the threat. This could cause a number of unpleasant symptoms, which could range from fairly minor to life-threatening. Symptoms may present themselves right after eating food with allergens in it, or it may take several hours, or even days, for them to present.
What Could Cause A Food Allergy In Subway?
In order to avoid having an allergic reaction after eating at Subway, allergy suffers could request that their food does not contain certain ingredients that they know cause them to suffer a reaction, or they could check the Subway allergy menu for the UK before they order to make sure that no allergens are present in the dish they’re ordering.
They could also ask the server for the relevant Subway allergy info for certain dishes to ensure that what they’re ordering doesn’t contain an allergen. If the server doesn’t give the correct information, however, or it isn’t contained on the Subway allergy menu in the store or online, or a server includes an ingredient that you’ve asked to be left out of your meal due to allergies, an allergic reaction to Subway food could occur.
Allergic reactions could differ depending on the allergen consumed and the person’s intolerance or allergy to those allergens. There are three main types of allergic reaction, which include:
IgE-mediated reactions – These are one of the most common types. Symptoms could include:
- Itching/tingling in the mouth
- Swelling of the body, mouth, throat or face
- Shortness of breath
- Hayfever-like symptoms
- Swallowing issues
- Hives
- Dizziness
- Wheezing
- Breathing difficulties
- Vomiting or nausea
Non-IgE mediated reactions – these could present sometime after food has been consumed and symptoms could include:
- Constipation
- Eczema-like symptoms, including red, dry and cracked skin
- Cramps
- Vomiting, with no diarrhoea
- Itching or redness of the skin
Anaphylaxis – this life-threatening reaction could require urgent medical treatment. Symptoms could include any of those mentioned in the IgE mediated list, as well as:
- Collapsing
- Tongue swelling
- Tight-chest
- Breathing problems
- Speaking problems
- Swallowing problems
- Dizziness
No matter what kind of harm you’ve suffered from an allergic reaction after eating at Subway, if it was Subway’s fault that you suffered the reaction, you could make a claim against them for the reaction itself and any financial expenses incurred because of it.
What Proportion Of The Population Have A Food Allergy?
Allergy UK has revealed that over 20% of the UK population have some sort of allergic condition, with 44% of UK adults having one allergy or more. Nearly half of these allergy sufferers have more than one allergy. According to their website, from 1992 – 2012, there was a huge jump in the numbers for anaphylaxis hospital admissions, with a rise of 615% in that time period. Anaphylaxis is thought to be a problem for 1 in 1000 of the UK population.
Whether your allergies are minor or severe, your doctor would usually advise you to try and avoid consuming allergens. If you are given food in Subway that contains such allergens due to a mistake by staff and suffers an allergy in Subway in the UK, you could make a claim for compensation for the suffering and pain you’ve experienced as a result of their negligence.
What Types Of Food Allergies Could People Suffer From?
Certain ingredients in foods have been known to provoke a reaction in those that are allergic to them. Common allergies to foods could include:
- Celery allergies
- Cereal allergies
- Dairy allergies
- Egg allergies
- Fish allergies
- Fruit allergies
- Gluten allergies
- Lupin allergies
- Milk allergies
- Mustard allergies
- Nut allergies
- Seafood allergies
- Shellfish allergies
- Soy allergies
- Sulphur dioxide allergies
- Wheat allergies
I Requested A Common Allergen Be Left Out
One of Subway’s main selling points is that you could choose what is included in your meal. According to government guidelines, if you ask for an allergen to be left out of your meal, Subway staff should take care to ensure that they do not include it. If they fail to do so, and you suffer an allergic reaction after eating at Subway because they have included something within your meal that you asked to be left out, you could claim compensation for the reaction you’ve had.
Subway should have provided training to their staff as to how foods should be prepared for allergy sufferers. Staff should be able to tell you whether or not they can leave an allergen out of your food, and if you request that they do so, they should comply with your request.
Some of the requests you could make could include, but may not be limited to:
- No Wheat
- No Oats
- No Nuts
- No Milk
- No Fish
- No Eggs
- No Cheese
My Request To Leave A Common Allergen Out Was Ignored
If you have, for example, a nut allergy, and have asked for any ingredients containing nuts to be left out of your food, and the server ignores your request, you may be able to claim for an allergy against Subway UK if you suffer a reaction to your meal and can prove the restaurant breached its duty of care.
Making a claim for an allergic reaction after eating in Subway is something that could be difficult for you to do alone. You would need to prove that Subway had been negligent in omitting an ingredient from your food and you’d suffered harm as a result. Having a lawyer on your side when making such claims could help make the process easier and less stressful for you, as the lawyer would have the capability to put together a case that Subway may find it hard to dispute.
A personal injury lawyer could help you make a claim if you’ve requested for one of the following allergens to be left out of your meal and Subway staff have ignored your request:
- No Wheat
- No Oats
- No Nuts
- No Milk
- No Fish
- No Eggs
- No Cheese
How Allergic Reactions Could Be Caused By A Restaurant Being Negligent
The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 states that businesses owe their customers a duty of care when it comes to their safety on the premises. If they breach this duty of care towards you as a customer, and you suffer some sort of harm because of it, they could be held liable for the harm you’ve suffered and any financial expenses you’ve incurred resulting from it. If, for example, you suffer an allergic reaction after eating Subway due to any of the below, you may be eligible to claim:
- Someone ignoring your request to leave an item out of your food
- A failure to provide correct Subway food allergy information on printed or online materials
- A failure of a server to provide correct details of allergens, such as Subway cookies allergy information, for example, leading to you unknowingly consuming an allergen
Examining Takeaway Customer Consumer Rights
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 also ensures that businesses have a responsibility to provide products to their customers that are not ‘defective’. To be considered defective when it comes to allergy sufferers a food product could:
- Contain allergens that were not listed on their packaging (for pre-packaged food products)
- Contains allergens that you have asked to be left out
While foods with trace amounts of allergens may not have them listed as an ingredient, they could still provoke an allergic reaction. Therefore, if you’ve specifically requested an ingredient to be left out of your food, and it has been contaminated with that ingredient while it was being prepared, it could still be considered a ‘defective’ product and you may be able to claim compensation if you’ve suffered an allergic reaction after eating at Subway and can prove that the outlet breached its duty of care.
I Failed To Inform A Restaurant Of My Intolerance Or Allergy
If you have checked the Subway allergy menu and chosen your meal accordingly, opting for items that do not contain the allergens that you are avoiding, you may not have informed your server of your allergies. In cases such as this, you may be wondering whether this would preclude you from making a claim. However, you could claim for an allergic reaction after eating at Subway if you’ve not informed anyone of your allergies, as long as you could prove that the Subway nutrition information on pre-packaged foods was incorrect, or that the allergy menu for Subway you consulted was incorrect.
The Restaurant Failed To Inform Me Of Potential Allergens Or Cross-Contamination
It is a legal requirement for food providers to inform their customers if the following allergens could be present in their foods. This information should be included on their menus, on the food packaging (if it is pre-packaged) or on their website:
- Celery
- Cereal
- Dairy/Milk
- Eggs
- Fish
- Gluten
- Lupin
- Mustard
- Nuts
- Seafood
- Shellfish
- Soy
- Sulphur dioxide
- Wheat
If the correct Subway nutrition allergy information is not included on pre-packaged food, or if the nutritional information on Subway’s website or menu is not correct, and you suffer an allergic reaction after eating at Subway because of this, you may be able to claim compensation for the reaction you’ve suffered.
Food Which Could Cause Allergic Reactions
Depending on your own specific reaction to certain foods, there may be items on the Subway menu that you should avoid to ensure you don’t suffer a food allergy in Subway. Allergies to ingredients in Subway foods could include:
- Celery allergies
- Cereal allergies
- Dairy allergies
- Egg allergies
- Fish allergies
- Fruit allergies
- Gluten allergies
- Lupin allergies
- Milk allergies
- Mustard allergies
- Nut allergies
- Seafood allergies
- Shellfish allergies
- Soy allergies
- Sulphur dioxide allergies
- Wheat allergies
Subway Menu And Food Allergy Information
The current Subway menu at the time of posting can be found below. We would strongly advise you, if you suffer allergies to foods, that you consult the relevant up-to-date menu or ask your server for allergen information when ordering your food. For example, you could ask your server for the most up-to-date Subway dairy allergy menu information if you are allergic to dairy products.
Sandwiches
- Chicken Breast
- Chicken Teriyaki
- Chicken Tikka
- Rotisserie-Style Chicken
- Chicken & Bacon Melt
- Chicken Pizzaiola
- Subway Melt
- Turkey Breast
- Turkey Breast and Ham
- Ham
- L.T.
- Italian B.M.T
- Spicy Italian
- Meatball Marinara
- Steak & Cheese
- Tuna
- Veggie Delite
- Meatless Meatball Marinara
- Vegan Patty Sub
Sides
- Cheesy Pepperoni
- Cheese Toasted Bite
- Ham & Cheese Toasted Bite
- Steak & Cheese Toasted Bite
- Tuna Melt Toasted Bite
- Bowl of Meatballs
- Meat Feast
- Cheesy Garlic Bread
- Hash Browns
- Nachos
If you’ve suffered an allergic reaction after eating at Subway because the allergy menu was wrong, your server gave you the wrong information, or they included an item you had asked to be left out of your meal, and you can prove that this was the case, you could get a free eligibility check to see if you could claim compensation if you call our expert team.
Food Allergy Reaction In Subway Compensation Calculator
One common question regarding personal injury claims could relate to how much compensation a claim could be worth. It is difficult to get an accurate sum from a personal injury claims calculator to answer this question, so we have chosen to provide compensation information in a different format, to give you some insight into compensation amounts for injuries/illness caused by an allergic reaction.
The figures you see below have been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines. This is a publication that is updated regularly and gives guideline compensation brackets for a wide range of injuries. If you do not see your illness/injury here, please do give us a call for more information.
Type of injury Remarks Guideline Amount
Allergic Reactions that are Severe Claimants might have required treatment as a hospital inpatient for days, or even weeks. There may be some long-term consequences of their reaction. Initial symptoms could include diarrhoea, severe pain and vomiting. £36,060 to £49,270
Allergic Reactions that are Serious A serious, short-lived reaction, which should be resolved over time. £8,950 to £18,020
Allergic Reactions that are Minor Less severe than above but an initial hospital admission and treatment might have been necessary £3,710 to £8,950
Allergic Reactions that are Trivial A mild reaction that resolves within a few days or weeks. From around £860 to £3,710
Mental Anguish The claimant might have thought they were about to lose their life. £4,380
How Else You May Be Compensated
When making a claim for compensation for an allergic reaction after eating at Subway, you could be compensated for more than the loss of amenity, pain and suffering that you’ve experienced. If you have incurred expenses due to your allergic reaction, you may be compensated for the likes of:
- Care costs – if you needed to have someone care for you at home due to your illness, these costs could be compensated for.
- Income loss – if you had to take time off work due to your reaction, you might have lost out on income. This could also form part of your claim.
- Travel expenses – if you travelled to hospital appointments or meetings with your lawyer and incurred costs in doing so, you could include these expenses too.
- Medical expenses – medication and costs for treatments including counselling could also form part of your claim.
It is crucial to keep proof of any costs you’ve incurred due to your allergic reaction if you intend on claiming for them. Bank statements, payslips, bills and receipts could be used to evidence your claim.
No Win No Fee Claims For Allergic Reactions Caused By Subway Foods
In order to make a claim for an allergic reaction after eating at Subway, you may assume you would need to pay your solicitor upfront. However, this is not the case with No Win No Fee claims. We could help connect you with a No Win No Fee lawyer that would not need to be paid until your claim had been successfully settled, and compensation had been paid out.
You would initially have to sign a Conditional Fee Agreement that would promise your legal representative a small, capped success fee if they managed to negotiate a compensation settlement for you. If they weren’t successful, you wouldn’t have to pay their costs in pursuing your claim or the success fee. This could give you the financial confidence to move forward with your claim.
If you’d like us to help you connect with a lawyer who works on this basis, we’d be happy to help you. Simply call our team to get started. If you have further questions about the agreement you’d have to sign or the capped success fee, please don’t hesitate to ask. We’ll be able to answer your questions and provide the information you’re looking for.
How To Get In Touch
Ready to begin your claim, or have further questions about suffering a food allergy in Subway? We’re ready to help you. All you need to do is get in touch:
- Via phone: 0161 696 9685
- Through our contact form
- Or by using the Live Chat service on this page.
References
Food Standards – Intolerance and allergy information can be found on this page.
Food Allergy Training– This page looks at what training food servers should be given when dealing with allergies and intolerances.
Allergy Tests – If you’re considering allergy testing, this page could be useful.
Wheat Allergy Claims –We have produced a guide specifically aimed at those claiming for a wheat allergy. You can find it here.
How Can Food Allergy Solicitors Help? – This guide looks at the benefits of using a solicitor when making a food allergy claim.
Claim For A Peanut Allergy – Nut allergies can be quite serious in some cases. Find out how to make a claim for a peanut allergy here.
Guide by JS
Edited by REG