‘I still feel sick’ - Zizzi apologises after serving vegan families dairy meals

Jennifer Davies and her daughter Eve ate at the Zizzi restaurant in Braintree Retail Park Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: JENNIFER DAVIES)

Jennifer Davies, 29, who had been eating at the Italian restaurant with her two-year-old daughter Eve, a friend and her little boy, said at the start of the meal they made it very clear they were vegan.

Despite this one of the children, who had previously never eaten an animal product, was served a non-vegan pizza and Miss Davies was given pasta that contained Parmesan.

When she realised what she had eaten, Miss Davies said she started crying.

A Zizzi spokeswoman said: "Zizzi takes any matter relating to the safety and welfare of its customers extremely seriously which is why we have strict procedures in place to prevent incidents of this nature.

"Unfortunately, on this occasion human error occurred and we apologise for the distress caused to the customer.

"In response to this incident, we have worked closely with our Braintree restaurant to reinforce the need for accurate checking of all dishes that have dietary and allergen requirements as well as implementing re-training to the team."

Miss Davies said: "I still feel shocked and really quite upset."

She warned eaters to double check what they are eating, adding: "I was too polite and I didn't want to be that 'annoying vegan'.

"I think it's so important that people and companies, especially in the food industry, are aware of the importance to not only health implications, but the impact on that person mentally.

"People go vegan for a very good reason and do so because of a passion for either the environment, their health or animals. The incident affected me so much more than I thought it would."

Read more: 8 recipes to get you through Veganuary - from chocolate cake to vegan black pudding