if you get sick from a restaurant meal

[Tiggeroo]

would you call and complain? I got very sick eating at Olive Garden on Sunday. I was so sick the whole night and part of the rest day. I thought I would die, it was awful. Would you call and what would you expect them to do?

 

[ChrisnSteph]

YES. Because they need to know that they have served spoiled or contaminated food, and other customers might be affected. It could help prevent others from getting sick.

 

[Tiggeroo]

that's why i decided to call there. I had a drink that was their house specialty of the night called a caramel apple. It has an odd texture and just seemed odd. It seemed to have some sort of dairy in it but it seemed like egg whites. I wonder if that was it. I called and they said, of course, that nobody else had called. Since it was a Sunday I would have had to go to the emergency room which I didn't do. So of course their thought is, well you didn't go to the dr. I love the Olive Garden and hate to complain but I was really sick.

 

[CathrynRose]

that's why i decided to call there. I had a drink that was their house specialty of the night called a caramel apple. It has an odd texture and just seemed odd. It seemed to have some sort of dairy in it but it seemed like egg whites. I wonder if that was it. I called and they said, of course, that nobody else had called. Since it was a Sunday I would have had to go to the emergency room which I didn't do. So of course their thought is, well you didn't go to the dr. I love the Olive Garden and hate to complain but I was really sick.

You should ask for Corporates (Daren Industries) Phone Number. I worked for OG years ago, and their corporate is VERY good about acting on Customer's Complaints - and OG has a VERY strict food mait policy.

Oh, and it's not egg whites in that drink. It's made with the cream from an Island Oasis http://www.islandoasis.com/ and those *do* go bad really quickly, theyre all natural and no preservatives - but the bartenders should be all over those dates of storage etc. We were throwing full quarts out constantly.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Thanks. The man I just spoke to who claimed to be the manager barely spoke English. I had to spell my name to him several times as well as my address and i'm not sure he got it right because when he read it back I couldn't understand him. I didn't think the drink had egg in it. To be nice it tasted snotty like egg white, uncooked. And it was very strong, like they put too much alcohol in it.

 

[mum4jenn]

You should call the Health Department and file a complaint. They should go to the restaurant and investigate and /or do an inspection. There may have been other incidents but the restaurant may not want you to know.

 

[bicker]

Alcohol is unlikely to be the cause of any problems -- it is a mild anti-bacterial actually. Eggs are much more likely to be the culprit.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

No I don't. Simply because I can never pinpoint what exactly made me sick. It could be out-of-date chicken, or it could simply be a spice my stomach can't tolerate like chili powder (I know, that completely sucks).

 

[bicker]

That's really the problem: How can one determine that something specific got them sick? By the same token, how can a public health hazard be isolated?

The answer is simple: The hospital emergency room. When someone comes in complaining of gastro-intestinal trouble, they often try to determine where and what people ate. When they see a trend, they initiate action. (If the trouble wasn't significant enough to seek medical attention, then presumably any health threat would be less critical to isolate anyway.)

 

[aprilgail2]

I don't......who knows if it was lunch, dinner, maybe just an upset stomach. Unless its bad enough for me to have to go to the hospital then I don't bother...plus its pretty hard to isolate what it is that got you sick in the first place. I had Taco Bell yesterday and 2 hours later my stomach started gurgling away and then all heck broke loose (literally LOL!!) today I am fine...who knows if it was the chicken or just the spicy sauce that set me off....

 

[goofyforlife]

My DH and I have gotten sick one too many times from eating at OG.....We don't go there anymore..... My DSis and I get sick from Carabbas...

Recently we've been going to Macaroni grill and none of us have had any issues.

 

[Nancy]

I don't because I could never say that is what made me sick...what if you just came down with a virus that just happened to start after being there?

My SIL swore left and right that she had food poisoning from a local place...she wanted to call everyone she could to complain...the thing is she was not the only one to eat that particular dinner and no one else got sick...plus her whole family ended up sick a few days later...but she will tell you to this day that she will no longer eat there because they gave her food poisoning.

 

[MeanLaureen]

Go to the Olive Garden's website and write them an email. They are huge on customer service. I wrote them an email once because we got takeout and the chicken parmigana was hard as a rock. They apologized profusely and said they would be mailing me out something. When it came, to my surprise, they had mailed me a $50 gift card!

 

[NJBlackBerry]

I never call because it is impossible for me to state what made me ill. In September we had dinner at Alfredo's. Three adults at the table had the same entree, and two shared an appetizer. I was the only one who sick. So was it my stomach or did they serve me "spoiled or contaminated food?"

 

[goofyforlife]

I did also get definate food poisoning from a meal at western sizzlin. We went out with my DH boss and his wife.... We all ate similar items (steak, salad bar) but within 15 minutes after we left both me and my dh's boss got really sick (we had gone to the mall afterwards to walk around)....

I was never so sick in my life....

My DH and bosses wife were fine though....

 

[barbeml]

My BIL got violently ill shortly after eating shrimp (he said it tasted off) at an Uno. He wound up in the emergency room. He is not the type to stand up for himself, so I went to their website and reported the incident. I did not accuse them of anything, I simply provided the details of what happened, the time he visited, what he ate, when and how he became ill, etc. I made it clear my BIL was not looking for anything, but that I hoped they would look into the incident, since it was a brand new store and they might have food handling or supplier issues.

I got a phone call from the Regional VP. He thanked me profusely for letting them know. He said they were having problems at that store. He insisted on sending us a voucher for any of their restaurants, and he followed up in writing.

 

[ericamanda01]

I would call in a heartbeat. My friend went to a local diner and got very sick. When she went to the DR. the DR reported it to the health dept. She was then contacted by the Health dept about where and what she ate. If the diner doesn't know about the problem others could get sick as well.

 

[Geoff_M]

However, keep in mind that food bourne illnesses usually don't hit that quickly after ingesting the contaminated food. Rarely is it the last meal you ate. Go ahead and report your illness, but don't assume it was the establishment you last visited. A lot of innocent restaurants get tarred by people's assumptions when they go around telling people things like "The chicken at XYZ made me sick" when it might have been the leftovers they ate at home the previous day. But it's still a good idea to report it to your Health Department and talk to the restaurant(s) if you have a problem.

 

[pjlla]

Geoff M..... I just have to comment on the line under your signature. My family and I LOVE that show! I believe all four of us can sing every line in every song word for word!.............P