Allergens found in JustEat listed takeaways

A new investigation has found that a number of restaurants listed on food delivery app JustEat, have been selling food that could cause allergic reactions.

The research by the BBC’s Panorama programme, also found that over 100 restaurants listed on the app had a food hygiene rating of zero, despite some being promoted by JustEat as “crème de la crème” or a “local legend”. The investigation found that restaurants were serving food with a number of discrepancies to what they advertised.

One restaurant was unable to provide allergen information required by law when asked by the programme’s reporter. The programme said that the app did not require its restaurants to provide any allergen information on its app or website, and expects customers to contact the restaurants directly to find out allergen information.

JustEat says it has launched an investigation into the matter and said that it was concerned to discover restaurants were not giving accurate information, saying it had “we have already offered further support and training”. The company told Panorama: “We are investigating how this has happened to stop this from happening again.”

Shirley Cramer CBE, the chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, said: “The food hygiene rating system is vastly important for us understanding how good a restaurant is. I don’t think in anybody’s mind [a zero-rated restaurant] would be a ‘local legend’.”