Economy & LaborNOV 15, 2023

Waiter Learns He's Been Lying To Customers About Vegetarian Food After Checking The Ingredients

Mantas Kačerauskas and Robertas Lisickis

If you think someone spitting in your food at a restaurant is bad, then you haven’t worked at one to understand the true potential of culinary evil.

All jokes aside, saliva on your steak is probably the least of your concerns if you’re experiencing an allergic reaction to something you were assured is not there. Like, ordering something at a vegetarian restaurant and suddenly experiencing symptoms of allergy to shellfish.

While that didn’t happen, it’s definitely a likely true potential scenario, though.

You can never truly know what chefs might put in your meal. And snot isn’t the worst thing out there

Image credits: Sabri Tuzcu (not the actual photo)

Now, claiming you’re a vegetarian joint all the while using seafood in your sauce might be much more problematic. Especially if customers are allergic

Image credits: Bimo Luki (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Yente Van Eynde (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Cristina Anne Costello (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Blaise242

So, when this waiter found out the vegetarian restaurant he worked at isn’t purely vegetarian, he had to do something about it

Image credits: Martin Lopez (not the actual photo)

A Redditor by the nickname of Blaise242—a waiter by trade—recently shared a story that left him in a bit of a dilemma.

You see, OP works at a vegetarian restaurant. Some of the dishes are even vegan. So, you’d think everything there is vegetarian at the very least. Well, it came as a surprise when OP found out that some things weren’t truly vegetarian.

Turns out, many of the dishes OP orders himself, and even recommends to customers, are made with oyster sauce. And while there are vegetarian versions of it, this was, unfortunately, not that. It did include actual oyster and fish products. Heck, there was a history of using imitation crab in some meals that had non-veggie products in them.

So, now OP was conflicted. Obviously, they felt like they should address the issue, but decided to talk to folks online about it first.

The waiter turned to the internet for advice because this issue can lead to serious trouble

Image credits: LinkedIn Sales Navigator (not the actual photo)

Folks online were quick to point out the restaurant’s liability in several ways. For one, non-vegetarian ingredients like fish and oyster products can also be allergens and hence can potentially harm the customer. Quite a lot, actually. This is besides being accused of lying about being vegetarian, but not really holding to that. Either way, it could mean some serious legal repercussions, and that’s if the customer doesn’t sue.

Many suggested talking to the staff responsible for such decision-making. If anything, to let them know about these issues and that it’s not right. Because nothing truly gets a job done with an unreasonable boss like a swift explanation on how this or that might very likely hit profits.

OP did note in the comments that some things aren’t labeled as vegetarian in the menu. But the restaurant does market itself as such, and nearly all dishes can be made vegetarian. So, it’s probably not a case of being in legal trouble for something, but it’s still low.

There was also a debate on whether fish and seafood are vegetarian. Well, the bottom line is that it’s not, that would be pescatarian. But there are still folks, like the ones in this restaurant, who think it is.

And if someone does get, say, food poisoning, it might become worse from a legal standpoint because it’s hard to prove things

Image credits: Farhad Ibrahimzade (not the actual photo)

Things like food poisoning from a legal standpoint are a bit tricky. Lack of food safety is in a bit of an imbalance when it comes to who needs to prove what. If a person gets food poisoning, their lawyer has to prove that it was due to the restaurant’s negligence or recklessness. Sure, it’s easy to prove that you were poisoned, but there are many—many—factors that don’t necessarily allow one to prove that it was that particular thing that poisoned you.

In other words, it’s hard to prove who was responsible. Was it the food manufacturers? Was it the food distributors? Was it really someone in the restaurant? Was it because it was undercooked or were the utensils dirty? Heck, it also depends on whether you’re trying to eat something dangerous. Like one of those squids that are still alive and could suffocate you. All of these variables are hard to track and it’s all down to the poisoned bloke’s lawyer to prove all of that.

Now, if you can prove that it was truly the restaurant’s doing, then there are a lot of things that you can ask for as compensation: to cover the cost of medical expenses and future medical bills, lost wages and lost future income, property damage (if any), emotional distress, pain and suffering, and punitive damages. Judges don’t usually reward that last one, but if your lawyer is good, they might.

So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Leave a comment explaining your reasoning and approach in the comment section below!