Plamil boldly proclaim on their website that their factory is now a 'no nut zone' - well good for them we are so fed up of this 'may contain' stuff - you can read their nut free declaration on their website. Accordingly we then marked their dairy free chocolate as 'nut free' on our website. So, not surprisingly, a customer with a nut allergy contacted us after having purchased a bar of their chocolate being very concerned that it said 'may contain traces of nuts' on the label. I then e-mailed Plamil with my concerns and this is their reply:
Dear Helen
Thank you for your recent e-mail.
The bar that your customer purchased was made after our factory went to a 'no nuts used here' factory, but as stated clearly on our website there may still be some products made whilst the labelling is changing.
You may like to purchase from us directly therefore shortening the supply chain and getting the newer production, which would minimise problems like this for yourselves.
Unfortunately in this instance we would not be able to fulfill your request of a refund of the £4.00 due to the statements we do make on our website.
I note from your mail that you have labelled our products as 'nut free' as per the Anaphylaxis campaign guidelines the expression 'nut free' is one that they would not recommend being used for any products. So we have adhered to this by labelling bars with the 'no nuts used here' or from our 'no nut factory' which may be an alternative also for yourselves.
A cop out or what? And how irresponsible just to cut corners they are still using the old packaging. And what of the other allergens, can we be sure that they are really dairy free and suitable for vegans? We would like to hear your feedback (especially if you or a family member have a nut allergy). We are reconsidering whether we should stock their products and if we have a concensus we shall discontinue them.
Thanks for sharing your opinions!