An old girlfriend Patricia and I were living in a shared flat with a bunch of other people. One night someone volunteered to cook a meal for everyone. Soon after the meal both Patricia and I were violently ill. Clearly the cook had not been sufficiently hygienic. We just shrugged it off as a typical shared-flat situation.
Another time Jenny and I were at a friend's wedding, and we gorged ourselves at the wedding reception afterwards. When we got home later we were both sick as dogs. Of course we didn't tell our friend about the food poisoning, she would have felt very guilty and it would have spoilt the day for her. I imagine some of the other guests must have had food poisoning as well, but when we saw the friend later she never mentioned it.
Then I got food poisoning on a flight to Australia. By a weird coincidence, the woman sitting next to me also had food poisoning, so we were able to deduce the cause - the egg sandwiches we had at Costa Heathrow. Boy, was I glad when that flight was over!
I love peanut butter and eat loads of it, but I read that peanut butter can easily be contaminated by salmonella, either during the growing period or during later processing. There are regular recalls of peanut butter in the States. Well, I've never heard of a peanut butter recall in the UK, so I guess it's safe for me to go on eating the stuff.
It's only happened to me once, after eating something I later realized had been sitting in the refrigerator for months. A very unpleasant memory, though. Thank goodness modern hygienic standards and inspections protect us most of the time.
ReplyDeleteInfidel: Yes, eating must have been a risky business before all our present-day hygiene regulations came in.
DeleteI’ve been sick from dairy products a few times right after eating it at a restaurant. I’m assuming it sat out too long. But the worst was when I had a tuna steak that must not have been cooked all the way through. It’s the reason I won’t eat sushi.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Well, I'm safe enough with tuna steaks since I'm a vegetarian and don't eat them! I also have my doubts about sushi.
DeleteThe one time I had food poisoning was from eating a sandwich spread that was too old. I really liked that spread and there was only enough left for one person so I selfishly fed our daughter something else. So glad I didn't have to cope with a toddler having food poisoning.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: So much for being selfish! Yes, a toddler with food poisoning would be an ordeal.
DeleteNick, I never had food poisoning, I try to be careful outside and avoid to eat street food. Saïd got once very sick after eating oysters . When I was a student a friend died of salmonella poisoning which turned into a sepsis. Just terrible.
ReplyDeleteHannah
Hannah: I wouldn't eat street food either. You don't know what hygiene standards they're following, if any. A lot of people are dying from sepsis nowadays, because medics don't always recognise the symptoms until it's too late.
DeleteNick people have always died of sepsis.
ReplyDeleteIt was once a death sentence and now that it can be survivable, we hear about the ones it actually kills
Kylie: It sometimes kills because medics aren't always familiar with sepsis. A friend's partner died of sepsis and I wonder if it wasn't recognised in time to save her.
DeleteI've had food poisoning a few times. Not a good time.
ReplyDeleteMary: It's a pretty awful experience.
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