It was labeled not anywhere and the oil was used to bake the bread as far as I believe.
Either the baker never told anyone what ingredients they used, or Pret never bothered to find out.
According to the reporting I've read, it was listed in the shop's allergens book.
An aside for people who don't know about this aspect of selling food - businesses that sell food (in the UK, anyway) have to keep a book listing everything they sell and everything in it, specifically highlighting certain substances that can trigger fatal allergies.
Everything must be in there, and I mean
everything. In addition, every food outlet section in the business must have a complete copy which must be available at all times. To give an example from my own workplace: in addition to drink vending machines and prepackaged milk substitutes we also use locally purchased milk in some drinks for customers. It's just standard milk bought retail at a local supermarket, same as any person could buy it. We have to fill out an allergen form for the milk. In triplicate because there are three food outlet sections in the business. The form has to clearly state that the milk contains milk. I am not joking. One copy of the form is placed in each allergen book, one at each food outlet section. If we happen to buy a different brand of milk, we have to fill out an allergen form in triplicate again and add a copy to each book. Stating that milk contains milk. Not just that one brand of milk contains milk, but that each specific brand of milk contains milk. Every food item we sell or has sold is in there, whether it's a standard order item from a big supplier or a local purchase. It's a very large book.
Why should a coffee shop staffer confirm if there are allergens in the sandwich or not when they don't know for sure. Especially when they only put the sandwich together, they didn't make the bread from scratch or mix up the bought-in sandwich filler, etc.
See above. If a customer at work asked me what allergens were in any food item sold at my workplace, I should and could confirm a complete list for every food item down to the smallest ingredient. If someone wanted to know if there was a miniscule amount of nut oil in some bread or some mustard or anything else, that information would be available within a minute. Including for the sandwiches we sell, which are hand made. The employee won't know for sure, but they should have access to the information.
However, the onus is on the customer to ask.
Would it then be OK for the min wage employee to be blamed?
Only if they knowingly gave false information or if they were supposed to update the allergen book and didn't do so.
