Wednesday, 28 November 2012

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR NUT ALLERGY SUFFERERS




Dear all,

Around 6 moths ago, Pembroke Catering took the decision to remove all peanuts and tree nuts from our kitchens and menus. We also took the added steps of a.) asking our suppliers to no longer send us items such as sandwiches, pastries and ready made foods containing nuts, and b.) we found a  source for herbs and spices ( a product range rife with disclaimers) that were labelled as ‘not containing nuts or traces of nuts’ .


We have been reluctant to ‘shout’ about this change for several reasons:

1)      It only takes one member of staff whom is not paying attention to order an inappropriate ingredient or food item.
2)      Our suppliers can make mistakes.
3)      We are far too aware how difficult it can be to police the vast amount of ingredients we purchase.
4)      This change has not been adopted by CafĂ© Pembroke, managed by Ken Smith.
5)      We still have products with ‘may contain traces of nuts’ disclaimers.
6)      I do not want the catering staff to be any less diligent than when we did use nuts.

Taking these reasons into account, I do believe that our kitchens are a far safer place for allergy sufferers to dine, but I would always advise  students to check labelling of non-Pembroke products and ask for assurances from staff if they are in any doubt. We will continue to be vigilant and label any food in doubt with warnings.

Items that we have not removed from the kitchens and may be of some concern are:

·         All seeds- sesame, pine nuts (a type of seed), sunflower seeds and sesame oil.


If you are allergic to any of these items, or other ingredients not listed, could you please contact me so I can discuss your needs further, and to ensure the catering staff are made aware?


Kind Regards,


Mr David Harwood
Catering Manager

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