Uncooked and cold food

Use the government site for this town. Go to the health departmrnt
site. Yo will see inspection reports of this restaurant. Write the
restaurant with copies of the last two reports, especially if
negative. Also, send to the newspaper. You can also let the health
department know about your illness. I had a similiar experience with
a restaurant. The restaurant was closed untl they corrected the
unsanitary conditions. We have a responsibility to report unsafe
practices.. Find out where the Red Lobster headquarters are and notify
them along with the inspection reports. I assure you you will get a
response. The criteria for food poisoing vs 'flu' or stomach upset by
other causes is that food poisoning causes symptoms about 6 hours
after eating the food. Occasionally, you might get aymptoms even
three hours after eating especially in children, but on the average it
is six hours. Restaurants do not want you to know about the health
department's reports. If you can't find them and you want to pursue
this, you caqn get them under the authoriy of the 'Freedom of
Information' Act. This info is online. Good luck.

The next question is did you eat strawberries that same day? I know
several people that have had "seafood allergies" when combined with
strawberries! P.S. Red Lobster & other chains are not a good option
when looking for quality.

I think this letter was well-written, without attitude and claimed
exactly what we're looking for. She only wanted the money back that
she paid for the undercooked food, and stated she would use it at
another location since she was afraid to eat at the same location
where it had originally occurred.

I think that's a heck of a lot better than what we're hearing on here
lately.

Cheers- (hope they respond.)

Problems like that are difficult to claim. Your best bet would have
been to go to the hospital. With blood and stool sample tests they
could have pinpointed the type of bacteria involved, if indeed it was
food poisoning, as well as the most likely source. Myself, I have had
a touchy digestive system all my life, and can get the symptoms you
described above just by eating or drinking something my system didn't
like, even if it's perfectly good and safe. Questions:
Did you eat something you'd had before or was it new?
As soon as you noticed the problem, did you say something to the
waiter, the host/hostess, the manager, anyone before leaving? I don't
care how busy a place is, if something's wrong, esp. with seafood,
then I'm waiting around until I get some results.

I ate at a Red Lobster here in South Bend, Indiana. Several hours
later, I began violently vomiting. My stomach completely cramped, and
I was unable to hold down even water. Yesterday, the same thing. My
limbs ached, I was unable to get comfortable. My joints felt like
they were going to come out of socket. That is how uncomfortable it
was. I had a fever w/ diarrhea and passed out several times. Today,
I am still unable to hold anything down. It is a disgrace. I have no
food allergies. The people handling the food know that if not
prepared correctly can cause serious harm to the customer. It isn't
always the fault of the handler, but in such cases...

About 2 weeks ago I was given uncooked shrimp at our local Chili's.
Fortunately I caught it. But my tongue touched the meat and that was
enough to give me a complete food aversion.

I think you're right in seeking compensation. The cooks need to be
more careful. It isn't your fault they did not do their job
correctly. Don't listen to feedback saying you're just doing it for a
free meal. They are lucky to be still retaining your business. As
for "what you're teaching your son", you are teaching him not to
settle for bad service, and food poisoning. I know that personally, I
will never eat at either establishment again.

You shouldn't be expected to settle and PAY for all "the extras" that
you received. And if my child were to have gotten sick b/c of
someone's lack of professionalism trust me...they would be getting
more than a demand for a gift card.

Good luck, I am in full support of your view.

One night in February 2000 I ate at a Red Lobster.

The next day I had a lot of pain and had to go to the hospital.

I delivered a healthy 7 pound 9 ounce baby boy.

Just because you get sick the next day does not equal food poisoning
just like eating at Red Lobster did not make me 9 months pregnant.

But you did do the right thing by calling them and saying you might
have gotten sick. Restaurants need to know.

Why do you want free food from them if the food made you sick. Sounds
like you just want free meals. What a good lesson you are teaching
your son.

I am back to 100% and feeling so lasting effects of the food
poisoning. Sonya from Red Lobster called me and requested some info
from my receipt. She then apologized and thanked me for bringing this
matter to her attention. They will be sending me gift certificates for
a new visit. I must say though, it will be quite a while before
Lobster looks good again! Thanks for all the good wishes and
interesting points of view. You were all GREAT!

SHE DID ALL THE RESEARCH AND GOT NONE OF THE CREDIT!!!
Sorry for the mix-up. Thanks for the great info. I thought it was
worth sharing.

Symptoms of food poisoning depend on the type of contaminant and the
amount eaten. The symptoms can develop rapidly, within 30 minutes, or
slowly, worsening over days to weeks. - www.emedicinehealth.com
______________________________________________
Salmonella- symptoms (after eating): Onset: 6-48 hours; nausea,
fever,
headache, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting lasting 2-7 days.
Can be fatal to infants, the elderly, the infirm, and the
immune-compromised.
Botulism- Symptoms (after eating): Onset: 4-72 hours; nervous system
disturbances such as double vision, droopy eyelids, trouble speaking,
swallowing, breathing. Untreated botulism can be fatal. If you or a
family member have botulism symptoms, get medical help immediately.
Then call health authorities.
Perfringens food poisoning- Symptoms (after eating): Onset: 8-24
hours; diarrhea, gas pains, nausea, and sometimes vomiting lasting
only a day. Usually mild, but can be serious in ulcer patients, the
elderly, ill, or immune-compromised.
- Virginia Department of Agriculture
_________________________________________________
STAPHYLOCOCCUS (caused by meat, eggs and fish products)- Onset of
Illness 1 to 6 hours (usually 2 to 4 hours). - www.ccc.govt.nz
_________________________________________________
Symptoms typically begin several hours to several days after
ingestion
and depending on the agent involved, can include one or more of the
following: nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea,
gastroenteritis, fever, headache or fatigue - www.wikepedia.com
_______________________________________________
Sometimes feeling sick from food poisoning shows up within hours of
eating the bad food. At other times, someone may not feel sick until
several days later. - www.kidshealth.org

Since your husband is a doctor, is he not aware that all cases of food
poisoning are to be reported to the CDC? Federal law mandates this
report.

The terminology 'food poisoning' is tossed about willy-nilly by anyone
who develops a belly ache and has the runs. Although I don't doubt
you developed these symptoms, I highly doubt it was food poisoning.
This can only be determined (as others have stated) through lab
tests.

Another reason I believe the wrong term was applied to your symptoms
is the fact that within 24 hours of ingesting what you determined to
be undercooked lobster, you were feeling 'better.' Recovery does not
come that quickly.

A few years ago I developed these same symptoms. There was no relief
within 24 hours and the next day I visited my physician. Even with
the prescribed medications, I was very ill for four days. During the
time I was ill, a history of all foods consumed (that I could
remember) prior to my becoming ill was taken. It was during the
summer and I had made myself a tuna salad sandwich. One of the first
things checked was the mayonnaise in my refrigerator. Negative
results, along with several other items. Since I had consumed all the
tuna salad I made, that could not be tested. However, I still had
some of the tuna itself left. Eureka! The canned tuna was the
culprit. The remainder of the tuna was removed from my refrigerator,
sent to the CDC, where they contacted the packer. From there, it was
in their hands.

Do not ASSUME because you have a stomach ache, the runs, cramping,
etc., that you have food poisoning. That is a very strong and
dangerous claim to make if nothing was done to prove it so.

Bambi, I'm sorry you were sick. I hope that you are feeling better,
and that an important lesson was learned from all this. If your food
was undercooked, you have to speak to the manager at the time. I know
you are not one to be assertive, but restaurants can't honor claims of
food poisoning/bad food after the fact.
Even if your husband is a doctor, and all your symptoms point to food
poisoning, you really do need lab tests to prove it was food
poisoning. THEN, it is almost impossible to prove where it came from.
Unless multiple people got sick at this location, you are probably out
of luck. I know; my son and I had salmonella (confirmed with blood and
stool samples), and OMG, does the CDC do a thorough investigation
after that diagnosis!! But they pretty much told me that unless there
were reports of multiple people with the same illness that had eaten
where we had, that they can't go placing blame on restaurants.

Hopefully, when you notice your food is not cooked properly in the
future, you won't eat it, send it back, and ask for a refund then.

So your husband is a doctor and you can only afford to eat out at a
cheap restaurant chain? Ya know......there are way better restaurants
out there. And to think that you expect a coupon equal to the value
of your cheap meal......get real! Not going to happen. Just because
you got the poopers after eating.......doensn't sound like food
poisoning to me. It sounds more like "I like cheap food syndrome" to
me.

Upgrade dear. Upgrade.

In answer to some of the questions regarding whether or not it was
food poisoning. I do not have irritable bowel syndrome and I have not
had diarrhea for at least 7 months or so, when I had a bad case of the
flu. I had a light lunch that contained no meat and ate this meal at
6pm on 4-19-07. I felt somewhat nauseous around midnight at bedtime
and woke up with full stomach cramps around 8am which were then
followed by diarreah most of the day. As mentioned my husband is a
doctor and as to my husband's medical ability to diagnose this as food
poisoning, most physicians are able to recognize it by the symptoms I
have just described. If the patient has no prior history and no other
flu like symptoms, it would be foolish to order lab tests to confirm
what is fairly obvoius to any basic med student. For some good news,
I am feeling much better today. I just have a sore stomach from the
cramping.

Bambi, I wish more letter writers on PFB would respond to criticism
with the same level-headed, calm attitude you have displayed. I've
seen letter writers freak out because some had legitimate problems
with the complaint -- some get pretty nasty and ridiculously defensive
and take things personally. In my opinion, you have been great.

Can you imagine how quickly businesses would go under if they
reimbursed everyone who had diarrhea after eating in their
restaurant?

It is dangerous to make assumptions on what caused an enteric illness
unless a stool sample has been taken and an investigation done by the
local health department.

There are 1001 things you encounter each day that have the potential
to cause diarrhea and stomach cramping. It may not have been the food
at all - the person opened the door to the restaurant right before you
did might have had the norovirus on their hands and it was transferred
to you when you opened the door. This is also a valuable lesson that
you should ALWAYS wash your hands right before eating.

Was the lobster the only food you ate that day? While it definitely
COULD have made you sick, there is no proof that it definitely IS what
made you sick, and if your husband is indeed a doctor he should know
this.

Well, I just have to add something...

People do eat raw lobster and fish. It's called carpaccio.

My husband tried to make lobster one. He didn't cook it enough and it
was nearly raw. I ate a few bites, like you did. I didn't get sick.

I am also curious as to how your husband diagnosed your food
poisoning. Did he take stool samples or blood tests?

Shellfish is transluscent when it is undercooked that's what she meant
by describing it as "clear". It would be very rare to see a case of
food poisoning present itself as early as the next morning, it takes a
minimum of twelve hours for symptoms to begin. Besides the likelyhood
of contracting food borne illness through undercooked fish doubtful,
it would have to be cross-contaminated to ellicit those symptoms.

So you took the food to a lab to have it analyzed? Is that how you
know it made you sick?

Bambi, do you realize that anyone can make this kind of complaint. Do
I even need to tell you what would happen if restaurants honored
everyone's request for a refund, with no proof whatsoever provided by
the customer?

After you took a few bites of the lobster and realized it was raw,
what did you do? Did you continue eating, or did you tell someone
that the food was raw? Did you let your son eat the cold food? If
you ate the food knowing it was not properly cooked or not at the
proper temperature, without letting your server or the manager, or
anyone know, then I think you must take responsibility for the
consequences. If you did not eat the food, then certainly you
wouldn't have paid the bill, right?

Do you see why your complaint just doesn't add up?

From what you have described, I am inclined to believe your food was
prepared/served improperly.

You should have let them know immediately that your meal was uncooked.
If you son's meal was cold; again, that should have been mentioned
immediately. Crab legs aren't cheap either.

Unfortunately, you have to be a squeaky wheel sometimes. If you
really couldn't wait for the meal to be prepared again, you should
bring that to their attention. They probably would not charge you. I
can't imagine if you didn't finish the meal they would charge you and
then offer a coupon for your next visit. If I were the manager, I
would do the former.

Ultimately, I can't understand why you would you pay for this meal.

I agree with others who said you should've contacted the manager at
the time of the meal. You said you chalked it up to a bad meal, but
that's precisely why you should've spoken up at the time. The manager
could have done something for you then, and it would also have given
him/her a chance to correct any problems they might be having in the
kitchen.

In the meantime, I would contact the mananger-on-duty at the
Strongsville retaurant. I don't know how long it takes PFB letters to
reach corporations (and how long it takes corportations to contact
individual branches), but if this were me, I'd want to make it didn't
happen to anyone else.

What was "recently"? Last night? Last week?

If it wasn't important enough to complain to the waitperson or
manager, it isn't important enough to send a letter to corporate
headquarters.

By the way, lobster isn't clear when it's cooked -- it's white, so I
have no idea what you mean by that.

I also find it impossible to believe that it took "a few bites" to
figure out that you were eating raw shellfish.

You were unhappy with the quality of the food you and your son were
served, and it sounds like you have some valid complaints. However,
you didn't give the manager an opportunity to resolve the situation
and you paid the bill. You may have been "unable to wait for new
meals" but surely you had time to speak to the manager. Since you
paid the bill and left without saying anything, I see no reason why
you should receive a gift certificate.

How many times do people need to be told that the time to discuss food
quality and service issues is while you're still at the restaurant and
before you pay the bill?