We are excited to introduce to you a key stage of our project, the sampling, and analysis of meals delivered to you as a person with food hypersensitivity. We are awaiting to see whether the food businesses are actually supplying safe-to-eat foods to all of us here in the UK.

Watch the video to help you out with the process

These instructions are important to consider before you complete the work involved to ensure :

• your safety while taking part in this stage of our study, and

• the validity of the results that will be produced coming from your meal.

Please note that the instructions on the reimbursement have been updated and you can find details below on this page.

How can I participate? (UPDATED FOR SEPT 2022)

We have different options for you to participate in this stage.

If you have a food hypersensitivity in MILK, GLUTEN, or PEANUT:

Order two or three food samples of your choice by mentioning your food hypersensitivity and post them to our laboratory for allergen analysis. You can find some outlet options to help you decide on a local takeaway as well as how you will be reimbursed for your contribution further down on this page.

If your food hypersensitivity is NOT in MILK, GLUTEN, or PEANUT, you can have the following options:

1. EMAIL US YOUR INTENTION at citizen.science@qub.ac.uk TO VALIDATE THAT WE ARE ABLE TO COMPENSATE YOU PROPERLY.

2. RECORDING THE DATA ONLY: Order a meal of your choice by declaring your food hypersensitivity and recording all information we ask in the MS Forms. We will collect your responses and include them in the results as they are very important. Unfortunately, we will not be able to analyse your sample due to our existing agreement and quota so please do NOT post it.

3. RECORDING OF DATA AND POSTING SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS: You will need to order two or three meals of your choice, along with declaring your own food hypersensitivity. We would be pleased if you could also ask for your sample to be suitable for someone with milk, gluten, or peanut allergy. In this way, the restaurant will prepare the meal according to your hypersensitivity and at the same time, it will be eligible for lab analysis. If you are going for this option, post your samples to our lab and follow the instructions provided for this stage. You will be compensated £40 pounds if you order either 2 or 3 meals as outlined below.

Full detailed instructions

Ordering the meal

The first thing to do would be to order a food item from a local takeaway. In order to do so, please consider one of the following ordering options:

1. Online through a Food Delivery Platform (eg Just Eat, Uber Eats, Deliveroo app or website)

2. Online through Restaurant's app or website

3. By ringing the restaurant directly

4. By visiting the takeaway restaurant

Regarding the analysis of your sample, we would be pleased if you can follow the outlet recommendations given below. However, these recommendations are not limiting and you are still encouraged to take part by visiting another takeaway restaurant of your choice.

Outlet options

Samples ordered by outlet 1 and outlet 2 will be analysed for gluten

Outlet 1

Visit: a “chippie” (fish and chips etc) that would offer any deep fry meal that normally would not contain gluten (eg a deep-fried sausage with chips)

Ask for: this meal to be gluten-free.

Outlet 2

Visit: any outlet making a claim to offer gluten-free meals (eg a pizza outlet claiming that they can make a gluten-free pizza)

Ask for: a meal that is claimed to be gluten-free by the restaurant.

Samples ordered by outlet 3 and outlet 4 will be analysed for milk

Outlet 3

Visit: a more ethic outlet preferably a Chinese or an Indian takeaway

Ask for: ask for a meal to be suitable for someone with a food sensitivity/allergy to milk.

Outlet 4

Visit: any outlet making a claim to offering vegan meals

Ask: if a meal that they claim to be vegan would be suitable for someone with a food sensitivity to milk. If they respond ‘yes’ then please get this meal

Samples ordered by outlet 5 and outlet 6 will be analysed for peanut

Outlet 5 & Outlet 6 (same instructions for both of them)

Visit: a Thai, Chinese, or Indian restaurant

Ask for: any meal on their menu to be suitable for someone with a food sensitivity to peanuts. Please note that this should not be a meal that mentions peanuts in their main ingredient list but any other meal on their menu.

If you would like your sample to be analysed for more than one of the allergens mentioned above please contact us at citizen.science@qub.ac.uk and we will help you with how to do so.

Type of ordering

1. If you decide to VISIT THE TAKEAWAY:

In this case, you would need to visit THREE (3) RESTAURANTS.

• visit any restaurant that could prepare a food sample according to the recommendations for Outlet 1 or Outlet 2, if you would like your sample to be analysed for GLUTEN.

• visit any restaurant that could prepare a food sample according to the recommendations for Outlet 3 or Outlet 4, if you would like your sample to be analysed for MILK.

• visit any restaurant that could prepare a food sample according to the recommendations for Outlet 5 or Outlet 6, if you would like your sample to be analysed for PEANUT.

2. If you decide to ORDER ONLINE OR ORDER THROUGH TELEPHONE:

In this case, you need to order from TWO (2) RESTAURANTS.

• Order 2 samples from the same outlet (eg 2 samples from Outlet 1 if you would like your sample to be analysed for GLUTEN, or 2 samples from Outlet 4 if you would like your sample to be analysed for MILK).

Compensation

Regardless of how you will decide to place your order, you will receive £40 as an Amazon Voucher. this should be enough not to be out of pocket and make £5-8 profit factoring costs involved.

Handling the meal (sampling)

When you place your order, we would like you to act in the exact same way you normally do. This means that since you (or someone you care for) has a food hypersensitivity, we would like you to try and mention this either through the app you will use to order the meal (e.g., Just Eat, Deliveroo, local websites) or by ringing up the restaurant when you place your order. We leave up to you the decision on how to declare your food hypersensitivity, but it is important to do so.

Please note that the only allergens that can be analysed by our laboratory are milk, gluten, and peanut. This means that if you have multiple food hypersensitivities, your sample will only be tested for these three allergens. For those of you who do not have a food hypersensitivity to any of these three allergens, you are still very encouraged to take part in this stage, and please find more information on our website on how to do so.

Please note that the following steps are really important to avoid the contamination of the sample and follow its trail the whole way from the restaurant to your house and then from your house to the laboratory for analysis. #This is also called chain of custody in formal terms.

While you wait for your order to arrive

STEP 1: Choose a table or kitchen bench to place the meal on and remove any food or other items from it.

STEP 2: Clean the table by removing any food residues or crumbs and wipe using, for example, clean cloth and warm soapy water or wipes.

STEP 3: Dry with a piece of kitchen paper or towel.

STEP 4: Ensure your clothes are free from food residues such as crumbs.

STEP 5: Wash your hands in warm soapy water for around 20 seconds and dry with a kitchen (paper) towel.

When the meal you order arrives

STEP 6: Place the meal on the clean table or bench.

STEP 7: Using your phone, take a photograph of the label that comes with it presumably containing allergen information provided by the restaurant.

STEP 8: At this point please only fill out the Online Form with the questions for this stage but please keep the photos safe, as you will need to send them over with an email after you finish with the sample preparation.

STEP 9: Take the meal out of its wrapping.

STEP 10: Open its containers and keep the lids food side up, close to the container.

STEP 11. Important: photograph the whole meal, this is to verify what was delivered.

STEP 12: Take a note of what was inside the meal. This will help you fill out the Form.

STEP 13: Please do not handle or consume any of the food

STEP 14: Repackage the meal in its original containers as soon as possible.

STEP 15: Wrap the meal in a new clean plastic bag and secure it (e.g., with a Sellotape, masking tape, or tie with string).

STEP 16: Label this plastic bag with your name, the date, time, and the name of the meal. You could write the information on a piece of paper and Sellotape it to the bag

STEP 17: Take a photo of the labelled bag.

STEP 18: Place a second plastic bag around the packed labelled meal and secure it as above

STEP 19: Place in a freezer (or if no freezer is available in a fridge) until you have time to post it to the lab (preferably the sample should remain in the freezer overnight, or for sufficient time to become fully frozen).

STEP 20: Please make sure you have captured all information asked in the Online Form and that you have submitted it successfully.

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