Dubai cafe apologises after customer with nut allergy finds almonds in salad

A salad with almonds on it. A woman with a nut allergy has hit out against Appetite, a restaurant in Dubai, for selling a salad containing almonds without including the nut on the label.

A Dubai food company has apologised after a customer with a nut allergy reported finding almonds in a salad that did not list the ingredient on its label.

Appetite, a healthy food delivery service, reassured customers on Sunday that its popular Broccoli Boost salad no longer contains almond. It said it regretted the incident.

"With regard to the missing ingredient on the label, we are very disappointed and frustrated that something like this missed our various check points," Manar Al Jayouchi, managing partner of Appetite told The National.

“This is a case of human error and for that I am sorry,” he said.

Mr Al Jayouchi was first alerted of the issue after the complainant, who has an allergy to almonds, bought the salad from a Dubai supermarket. Shortly after, she criticised the company on social media after she noticed the salad contained the nut product, but it was not on the label's ingredients list.

She claimed the error could have led to serious health implications had she not spotted the nuts, which were clearly visible in the salad.

The company's website listed almonds among nine other ingredients in the dish.

As a result of the complaint, Appetite has changed the recipe of its salad.

“As for the action taken, the day we received news of this complaint we altered the recipe so it adhered to the ingredients list on the packaging,” Mr Al Jayouchi said.

“The salad still contains roasted cashews, as mentioned in the ingredients, but rest assured the product on the market today contains no almonds and complies fully with the existing label.”

He said the company will review and analyse the system for cross-checking labels to ensure errors like this are avoided in the future.

“As a family-run business we work hard to ensure that all aspects of our business and the products we produce meet the highest standards possible.

“Sadly, despite all efforts to run an error-free operation, we have not done so in this case.

"We wholeheartedly apologise to the customer."

Appetite has two branches in Dubai; one in Jumeirah Lakes Towers and one in Al Quoz. It also supplies pre-packaged healthy meals and snacks to several supermarket chains across the UAE.