Originally Posted By allygator206 I hate to say this because I'm a huge DL buff (I'm AP living in Seattle) but on my holiday trip 12/14-12/17 my sister and I both got food poisoning from salads we ate at the French Market on the first day we were there. Needless to say the last 2 days of our trip were not quite what I had in mind. I really hate to think this is even semi-normal for DL. Has anyone else had a similar experience? (FYI still love DL and the food just as much-- I know it can happen anywhere)
Originally Posted By SuperDry How did you determine that you got the food poisoning from salads at the French Market?
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka My husband, son and daughter got food poisoning from a turkey leg that we got in DCA. It was a miserable trip. Thankfully, I didn't eat any but I got to clean up the messes and get the entire family home, all while wondering if I was going to get sick too.
Originally Posted By Kurtisaurus Yeesh, sorry to hear you got so sick. When I was there in October my girlfriend got unbelievably ill from food she ate at Tomorrowland, but I managed to not get sick even though we pretty much ate the same stuff. Also, nice to know I'm not the only AP in Seattle!
Originally Posted By JeffG The question in #2 is a very good one. Specifically identifying the origin of food poisoning, or even clearly distinguishing it from a bacterial bug or a virus, is exceptionally difficult unless there were widespread cases reported. I know it is commonplace for people to hone in on some specific meal as a likely cause of illness, particularly when more than one person gets sick at once, but the chances really are pretty low that food served at a major dining venue like the Disneyland restaurants was the true cause. If it were, we would likely be hearing news reports about it. -Jeff
Originally Posted By dlkozy >>>"but the chances really are pretty low that food served at a major dining venue like the Disneyland restaurants was the true cause."<<< Not really. Food poisoning happens all the time-luckily most cases are not serious and pass through a healthy system quickly,(literally). Facts found on the web: "Every year about 5,000 people die from pathogens in food in the United States out of about 76 million become ill from food" I have been at the DLH when they had to shut down the conceirge lounge because they were getting complaints of a large number of the guests where showing signs of food poisoning. Many times food poisoning goes undetected because people think that they have the stomach flu-when in reality it is food poisoning.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***>>>"but the chances really are pretty low that food served at a major dining venue like the Disneyland restaurants was the true cause."<<< Not really.*** Yes, really. The chances are pretty low. That's a fact. And as SuperDry wrote, it's difficult to pinpoint an origin of something like this. And even if it "appears" that food poisoning was the culprit, it doesn't necessarily follow. There was a case of true food poisoning at DisneySea once, affecting only a small handful of people in the same tour group (and even then, they couldn't determine EXACTLY whether or not the situation had actually happened at DisneySea or at one of their other stops along the way). They shut down food services for the entire park save for pre-packaged stuff, and offered complimentary admission to all into Tokyo Disneyland for the day (in order to get food, essentially...though it amounted to a rare "free pass" between the two parks). I would imagine a true case would amount to something similar in Anaheim. And we'd have heard about it. ***I have been at the DLH when they had to shut down the conceirge lounge because they were getting complaints of a large number of the guests where showing signs of food poisoning.*** It's spelled "concierge". In ANY case, AllyGator, very sorry to hear about your bad experience! Getting ill on vacation is NEVER a fun thing...ugh. Hope you and your sis have fully recovered!
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Foodborne illnesses can have an incubation period of anywhere from hours to days. It's entirely possible that you could have contracted an illness before your trip that started to show symptoms halfway through your vacation. Not defending Disneyland because I think it's entirely possible that people have gotten sick from eating there and there have been Disneyland food safety controversies in the past. But those people usually show symptoms after they get home and blame it on something else
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "but the chances really are pretty low that food served at a major dining venue like the Disneyland restaurants was the true cause." You know, you'd think the chance that a major venue such as Disneyland would employ managers who would check off on maintenance work that was never done would be small but then again... It's odd to hear people defend Disney just because they are a major company. It's not like they haven't done some messed up stuff in the past, from theme park safety to labor practices to ruthless IP protection (daycare centers watch out!).
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>It's odd to hear people defend Disney just because they are a major company.<<< When was that said? It is defended because of fact. Food poisoning is not an immediate happening. It takes time to develop. When a person gets sick they will blame the last thing they ate when in fact it was something they ate days ago. If someone starts a "rumor" that they got food poisoning, from one place or the other, without absolute proof that it actually happened there it is a very bad and irresponsible action. It hurts innocent food sources and causes doubt about the mentioned establishment. I'm not saying that it didn't happen, what I am saying is how do you know, with absolute certainty, that it came from that source? Whether Disney is big or small does not mean it should be open to unsubstantiated, potentially damaging accusations.
Originally Posted By Zwitek I once ate chicken at a Tony Romas in a low lighting situation, and sure enough, when the lights were better at the end of the meal, the meat was pink. Guess what? 2 hours later I was in the bathroom, and not well for the next several days. To say that it cannot develop quickly is untrue. On topic, Disney food makes me ill just on the lack of flavor, but that's a personal type of illness.
Originally Posted By aktink Not trying to defend anyone, but thought I would share my very current situation. About a week ago my grandpa got terribly sick and we all immediately started to figure out what food it was since no one else was sick. Well, for the next couple days six of us took turns getting ill. Needless to say it was from a stomach bug but at first we were just sure it was from food. Moral of my story, use precaution when caring for those people around you who have food poisoning. It may very well be food poisoning but it may also be from a bug. You just never know, until you are hanging over the toilet then you pretty much know. Hope the rest of your trip was more magical! Merry Christmas!
Originally Posted By ophellia when I was a CM at Rancho I noticed no one ever took the food temps...I asked a manager and was ordered to take food temps as 'punishment'. They thought if they had me hassle with taking temps I'd hush about my worries of making folks ill. Until I tossed out all the offending food, and there was a LOT. They Never had me do it again, or anyone sadly enough. I switched to bussing from front of the house because I could not sell this bad food to people. The Dept of Health shut the BBQ side down one night for food not kept at the right temp...the manager opened back up as soon as they were gone. Same with the dishwasher one day, it wasnt hot enough and was ordered closed down...Health Dept left, the managers opened it back up. It's a sweet thought that it couldnt happen at DL, the reality is food at the wrong temp = sick people...even at DL
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka Sometimes it's not that hard to figure out where the food poisoning comes from. And there are tests that prove what type of food poisoning you have.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "Food poisoning is not an immediate happening. It takes time to develop." And I said that. "If someone starts a "rumor"" Oh, no. A rumor? God forbid someone start a rumor on a Disneyland forum! "Whether Disney is big or small does not mean it should be open to unsubstantiated, potentially damaging accusations." The post wasn't at all damaging. It's simply a recount of one experience, which is kind of the point of coming home Disneyland and posting these "trip reports", isn't it?
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "It's a sweet thought that it couldnt happen at DL, the reality is food at the wrong temp = sick people...even at DL " Thanks for sharing what you claim to have seen. If what you claim is true, then the sweet widdle angel of a corporation that is Disney isn't such a saint on the food front now, is it? As a former foods CM, I believe it. Food temps were hardly checked, until we got a complaint about food poisoning of course. We'd be perfect for a few weeks and then it'd be back to our old habits. Leads and managers never checked. I was always confused that while we were indoctrinated with literature about food safety, no one actually did the things they were supposed to do. When I threw out food for being too old I was questioned and singled out until it became too uncomfortable to follow the rules anymore. The dining situation at DL isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones The fact is, food safety isn't much of a priority at most establishments, and it's not just fast food. The best course of action is to practice good food safety habits at home. Cook your own meals. It'll save you time, money, and a little bit of time in the bathroom.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I once ate chicken at a Tony Romas in a low lighting situation, and sure enough, when the lights were better at the end of the meal, the meat was pink. Guess what? 2 hours later I was in the bathroom, and not well for the next several days. To say that it cannot develop quickly is untrue. On topic ... >>> But what you said is very much on topic. Not everybody that eats pink meat in low-light conditions develops food poisoning. Although it sounds like you're sure that Tony Roma's caused your situation, I'm not so sure. <<< My husband, son and daughter got food poisoning from a turkey leg that we got in DCA. >>> How did you determine the turkey leg was the source of the food poisoning? <<< Foodborne illnesses can have an incubation period of anywhere from hours to days. >>> We have a winner! This is the problem with tracing the source of food poisoning. Since it could be anywhere from the last meal to something you ate 2-3 days ago, it's extremely difficult from a small sample of data to determine exactly what made you sick. For example, look at the turkey leg example above. Father, son, and daughter all got food poisoning "from the DCA turkey leg" but it's very likely that this was the last thing they ate, they got sick a few hours later, and drew a conclusion about the turkey leg. But depending on the bug, it could have very well been something else that they happened to all eat the same of the same item for breakfast 2 days prior - nobody knows. There's just not enough information at hand to come to any conclusion, other than it was probably from the same contaminated food item that all three of them ate within the past few days. <<< There was a case of true food poisoning at DisneySea once, affecting only a small handful of people in the same tour group (and even then, they couldn't determine EXACTLY whether or not the situation had actually happened at DisneySea or at one of their other stops along the way). They shut down food services for the entire park save for pre-packaged stuff, and offered complimentary admission to all into Tokyo Disneyland for the day (in order to get food, essentially...though it amounted to a rare "free pass" between the two parks). >>> Another good example. It could have been anything that the tour group ate in the past 2-3 days, well before they got to the Disney resort. If it had been something that happened in the park, other guests would very likely have gotten sick as well, but perhaps they would be unlikely to report to First Aid individually so a pattern may not have emerged. In this case, OLC certainly acted proactively to minimize any chance of additional guests getting sick, but from the sound of it, there was really no way to tell that their food was responsible. Let me relate my two personal experiences with food poisoning. In the first case, I worked at a company of about 500 people, and we had a Friday afternoon party with catered buffet food. I left for a 3-day vacation early the next morning, and got mildly ill on Saturday night. I didn't feel very well for the next two days, but wasn't vomiting or anything extreme, so it was more of just being uncomfortable rather than anything else. When I got back to work, I learned that something like half the company had gotten sick. Based on this, there was no doubt that the food at the buffet had been responsible. Of course the caterer was fired. The Health Department gave out a questionnaire to every attendee, asking for detailed information such as what we ate at the buffet, and what and where we had eaten in the previous few days. Unfortunately, so few people returned the questionnaire that they were unable to pinpoint exactly what on the buffet line had caused the sickness, but there was no doubt due to the number of people involved that it was something at the buffet. Interestingly, at a departmental meeting the next week, someone from HR showed up to tell us the results of the food poisoning investigation, and that because so few people completed the questionnaire, that they really weren't sure what caused it, or even it was from the buffet. The president of the company, who had a scientific background, happened to be at the meeting, and called the HR person on it (I think the words he might have used were "That's a load of crap. The source was clearly the buffet."). As a side issue, I really enjoyed seeing an HR department and the junk they tend to pump out being dismantled by the company president in front of everyone. My second situation was on a visit to Hong Kong. I had been on a flight from LAX, and arrived at 6am or so. I went straight to the hotel, had breakfast from the buffet, and almost immediately started to feel ill (even before I was done eating). Although I guess it's possible a particular foodborne illness could strike that quickly, I think it's much more likely that it was something I had eaten earlier, and the prior 3 meals had all been on the 15-hour airplane ride from LAX. So, although I can't know for sure, I think it's likely that it was something served on the airplane that made me sick. I was in Hong Kong for 5 nights, 4 of which I was bedridden in my room, not being able to be away from the bathroom for more than 15 minutes at a time. It was the most brutal sickness experience of my life. Fortunately, I was very tired, so I slept through most of it, but it didn't make for a very interesting visit. Making matters worse, I was never able to adjust to the time zone shift, so for the 3 hours or so that I was awake, it was the middle of the night there, and the only source of food within walking distance was a 24-hours McDonald's. However, pancakes do feel good to a sick stomach.
Originally Posted By RockyMtnMinnie Several years ago, my son who was still in diapers and I got home from our trip and two days later developed salmonella (yes we were tested). DH was fine. Turned out that cantalope was pulled off the shelfs within days in California due to salmanella contamination. The only place that DS and I ate cantalope was in fruit salad at Goofy's Kitchen on the last day of our trip. DH did not have any fruit salad. Nothing like being horrendously sick and taking care of a sick toddler.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka I've had food poisoning a few times. I know how it works. They didn't get sick from the turkey leg a few hours later. More like a day or so. And they got sick in order of size. First my 4 year old, then my 10 year old, then my husband by the end of the week long trip. It was the ONLY thing that all three had eaten that I did not eat over the period of two or three weeks. If you must know, their fecal matter was tested and they definitely got it from poultry...there was only one meal of poultry that they ate that I didn't eat and I happen to be the one who gets sick the most. Is it really so hard to believe that a piece of poultry at Disneyland might have some bacteria? It's not like I sued them or even wrote them a letter about it. I just won't be eating any turkey legs. Not after the stuff I had to clean up. LOL
