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  • Nut-free nut

    I'm doing my usual stock-ninja thing yesterday, when a woman asks (more like demands, complete with trying to steer me over by my elbow) for help with whole wheat pasta. We don't carry that much of it, but I showed her the main brand we do have.

    SC: "And this is 100% whole wheat?"
    Me: "Yes, it is."
    SC: "What's semolina? Is that whole wheat?"
    Me: "Semolina is what the flour is made from. Durum semolina as this brand uses is the heart of red winter wheat."
    SC: "Is that 100% whole wheat?"

    Me: "Yes, winter wheat is 100% whole wheat."

    SC: "Now, before I buy this I need to make sure--if you can't tell me please find someone who can, I have a friend who is highly allergic to nuts and I need to know--I need pasta that isn't produced in a facility that uses any tree nuts. Is this pasta nut-free?"

    While we do carry a few kinds of pasta that use chestnuts, those are clearly labeled as such.
    Me: "It anything we carry is produced in a facility that uses nuts, there's a warning on the package. This brand produces only pasta and only with wheat."
    SC (mildly condescending): "I read online that if a company puts 'does not contain nuts' on the package it only means the product doesn't have nuts, it could still be made in a nut facility. They're only required to say that item doesn't have nuts."
    *then how can anyone be sure of the nut-free-ness of anything? ...and you ignored everything I just said*
    Me: "This brand makes pasta with whole wheat and does not use nuts in the production."
    J wanders by just then, and SC (literally) grabs him.
    J: "Hi to you too, I'm the grocery manager, did you have a question?"
    SC: "This person can't tell me if this whole wheat pasta is nut free."
    J: " 'This person' is my employee and you do not speak to her that way. Whole wheat pasta does not use nuts."
    SC: "I've heard that. I want to know if the facility is nut free."
    J: "The pasta does not use nuts, but as to the facility being nut free we can't and won't advise on that. The brand's contact information is on the package, you can look it up online."
    SC sputters for a bit, I don't think she was expecting the (to her) non-answer she got.
    J: "If that was all, I need my employee for an important project."
    "I am quite confident that I do exist."
    "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

  • #2
    Nut allergies can be this serious. However If this happened during normal business hours she could also have called the 1-800 number on the package and asked the PR person at the company, even if she didn't have a smartphone. If she tried to do the "but I don't have a phone" routine The store would probably let her use their landline for a 1-800 number (for those outside the US, 1-800 numbers charge the call recipient for the call and are usually used for customer service and PR type stuff).
    Last edited by WishfulSpirit; 02-04-2017, 04:36 PM.
    "I try to be curious about everything, even things that don't interest me." -Alex Trebek

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    • #3
      I've seen where it says on packages that the stuff is produced in a place where nuts are used. I would think if that's not on the package it's nut-free. And if it's really a situation where you're not sure then find something else to buy. I just love when customers get mad when they ask a question about something and I get my information off the box. Sorry, we sell thousands of products in our store (more or less I guess) I'm not an expert on any of them. And legally I can't answer any questions about medicine to a customer. Off to the pharmacist with you. If you don't like how I answer your question, too bad.
      I would have a nice day, but I have other things to do.

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      • #4
        That's my take (and experience with our products); if the package doesn't mention nuts or the warning about being produced on equipment that handles nuts, then the item is nut-free. Granted, most of the product labeling is in Italian so it can be hard to find, but I've learned to read enough for allergen purposes.

        That said, if I'm not 100% sure about an allergen I'll say that I don't feel comfortable confirming X (cover my ass so if something happens SC can't say 'but SHE said it was allergy free!') and direct the customer to guest services.
        "I am quite confident that I do exist."
        "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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        • #5
          Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
          ... (cover my ass so if something happens SC can't say 'but SHE said it was allergy free!')...
          Um...have you forgotten one of the favorite tactics of the SC? Blatant lying.
          You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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          • #6
            She's buying food, not drugs. It can't be a life-or-death emergency. Take down the damn company name, go home, and contact them, in whatever way you choose, to ask whatever questions you want.

            We get similar things where I work: "But is it organic???" We've gotten to the point where we say, "I can't guarantee that" (don't know the reason) and all the little 'organic' stickers have come off the tins. We used to have maybe half a dozen types of pure tea that were listed as organic but then we'd get people asking if the blends were organic also ... we're talking mixtures of tea, fruits, spices, flowers, you name it. I lost track of how many times I had to explain that we could not guarantee that every single item in those blends is grown organically and processed in an organic factory. I've started having to fight back the urge to tell them they're not going to live forever no matter WHAT they do.
            Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
            ~ Mr Hero

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            • #7
              If I was trying to cook for a person who had that severe of an allergy, I'd probably ask them what brands they trust. Simple. But SCs love to complicate everyone's day by ambushing employees who may or may not know the answer. On a side note, I've learned that if a person has a lot of dietary restrictions, it's not worth it try to find a recipe on my own. I like cooking, and want to find something different that they can eat, but it never works out. It's just better to ask them, they have so much more experience trying to find something that they can eat, I'm not going to do better in one meal.
              Replace anger management with stupidity management.

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              • #8
                Unless you monitored every ingredient from field to plate, 24/7/365, then you can't say for 100% certain that a nut didn't touch any of it, so you'll just have to take your chances, such is life.
                - They say nothing good happens at 2AM, they're right, I happen at 2AM.

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                • #9
                  Quoth Argabarga View Post
                  ... you can't say for 100% certain that a nut didn't touch any of it ...
                  Once the customer touches it you *must* say yes.
                  I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                  Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                  Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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                  • #10
                    It depends a bit on the severity of the allergy, too. My brother-in-law is allergic to nuts but not anaphylactic shock level allergic. He can have traces of nuts, but 'may contain' isn't good and an actual ingredient is bad. I didn't know some pasta could contain chestnuts, I'll remember that.

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                    • #11
                      The chestnut pasta (chestnut flour added to the semolina) is only a few Italian artisanal producers that one is unlikely to find anywhere outside of a specialty market in said neighborhoods...I'd never even heard of it before I started working here.

                      *puts chestnut pasta on my 'must try one of these days' list*
                      "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                      "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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                      • #12
                        Since the law in the US only requires that all ingredients be clearly spelled out or it states on the label that certain allergens are contained in this product, the SC is correct that just because it doesn't say it may contain nuts or have been made in a facility that also processes nuts, it still may have been. Of course, that isn't your responsibility, and if she needs to know, calling the company that manufactures the food is a much better option than asking anyone who works in the store that simply sells the food.

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                        • #13
                          The restaurant staff have a responsibility for allergens, but grocery...not really beyond being able to read/interpret the ingredients list. It's safer for us to direct them to guest services if an allergen isn't clearly listed or we aren't 100% positive.

                          Sometimes we punt them to guest services anyway if they won't believe that mandorle and nocciole are in fact nuts ("but that doesn't SAY 'almonds'!").
                          "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                          "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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                          • #14
                            Quoth Argabarga View Post
                            Unless you monitored every ingredient from field to plate, 24/7/365, then you can't say for 100% certain that a nut didn't touch any of it, so you'll just have to take your chances, such is life.
                            Quoth dalesys View Post
                            Once the customer touches it you *must* say yes.
                            Now, see, my mind went in a completely different direction.....

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                            • #15
                              Every time someone asks "Is the facility nut-free?" I am so tempted...they didn't say which facility, after all

                              We've given up on the "Is this organic?" question...everyone thinks it needs the USDA label/stamp and I can't convince some people otherwise.
                              "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                              "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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