This whole week I was extremely sick from food poisoning. It all started on Friday, I had lunch at one of my favorite places (won’t say which for now) and then that evening I started getting the chills and after that it just got really bad. It was a horrible experience and I can’t recall ever getting that sick from food. I sadly won’t be ever going back there again. It’s not like I have a ton of places I visit on a regular basis so it’s disappointing I now have one less.
The picture above is of one of my favorite places in Lebanon called Canadian Burger. I eat there very frequently, last time I was in Lebanon I actually ate there daily and not once did I ever get food poisoned in the 20 years or so I’ve been going there. It’s a tiny store located in one of the slums where sweaty guys with no gloves work over the food all day and where their special burger costs only 300fils. So how do I get food poisoned at an international franchise that’s open in the best mall in Kuwait?
59 replies on “Food Poisoning”
Its happened to me a couple of times back in college, most cases the offender was the salad. Try to remember what you had for lunch, I’m sure it must have been the salad.
one of my dishes was a salad.
aha! told ya! now all we have to do it narrow it down to either an unwashed lettuce leaf or a bad tomato.
tomatoes were diced and not much. I took a picture of the salad actually. I was playing around with my G11 and took a few pictures of the salad dish hopefully I didn’t delete them from my computer still!
and now you have evidence! the plot sickens!…er.. thickens!
where is that canadian burger? i had seen it somewhere in lebanon but can’t recall where
My husband and I had food poisoning a while back from a fast food chain in kuwait, we were horribly sick for a week with chills and insane stomach cramps. Its really the worst feeling in the world. Hope you feel better soon, and most importantly drink lots of water!
The chef or his assistants may have forgotten to wash their hands after using the loo. Don’t blame the vegetables.
SLIM: In one of the back streets of bourj hammoud.
I’m sure it was at P.F. Chang’s ! I have indigestion from that sugar and fat laden Americanized “ethnic” food.
P.F CHANG`S
I said a place I visit on a regular basis. I’ve only been to PF Chang once.
probably nando’s
Salamat oo I hope you never get it again.
No need to guess, its probably the same one I got my worse poising from a year ago, McDonald.
Mine was so bad (escalated to a rare syndrome that potentially could have killed me) that I have not had fast food from them or any other franchise fast food chain ever since.
Reply to NUmber 8 ORANGE.
Most of the time food poisoning is caused by a bacteria called salmonella. This is transfered from chicken/meat to vegitables by using a knife/chopping board ( or handeling) raw meat, then handiling ( or chopping /cutting on the same knife/ board) veetables, which the salmonela will grow on. the reason this is dangerous is because we will cook the meat which will kill the bacteria, but the bacteria on the vagetables we innoculated will not be cooked and we will eat a large number of salmonella bacteria if the lettuce was left in room temp for more than 2 hours.
BTW going to the loo and not washing your hands will transfer bacteria and molds found in the parts you touched, usually this bacteria is enterobacter. and staphylococcus. as far as i know you can not get food poisoning if your cook did not wash his hands.
lorenzo? I had a bad experience in the new branch in 360
I was so disappointed
Why all the mystery? Why not just say where you ate?
Cuz I like the place and I am waiting to see how they handle my complaint which I emailed them earlier
tsk tsk no more chicken for u
I had fish not chicken
Dude, sue them. You pretty much have a perfect case, which means a sizable payout if you get a good lawyer. Oh, and sue for legal fees so you can actually keep what you get out of it.
@SULHA…thank you for clearing that one!! I think I’ll start eating out again..!
Salamat !
Mark, outta curiosity, how can one be 100% sure that a particular meal is the cause of food poisoning?
Ok I would understand if I have something outta the blue (something not regularly eaten) or at a totally unknown place or a dish from a totally new type of cuisine which I might have tried to experiment or just to taste – and get the loosies late in the night or next morning – then I would blame only myself.
IMO – if its just me getting sick from a meal in a decent restaurant, and the rest of the customers are fine (for which of course, there’s no way to find out), then I wouldn’t make a big deal out of it and carry on with things. You just can’t guarantee that all your life, if you have the cleanest, most hygienic meal every single time – you will NEVER have food poisoning/dehydration/dysentery.
And ofcourse, I would never email anyone, “I ate your food on friday, did poo poo all week 🙁 “
undercooked food.
That’s simple though, your stomach is quite resistant to the sweaty hands of that Lebanese restaurant.
😉
Mark since you had fish, maybe it wasn’t cooked well enough! anyway I should advise you to inform us of the place in all cases if they did not handle your complaint well because one of us might be the next victim.. i am guessing Mc Donald too
People are always sick here because it’s such a filthy and polluted place. I recall getting really sick within a year of coming back here from the US where I hadn’t gotten the flu in 4 years.
i havent had mcdonalds for like over 6 months now, or any other fastfood place.
salamat Mark
i think it’s bcoz u mixed dairy stuff with fish .. some stomaches can’t handle it .. anyways .. good that Nat diden’t have it .. to take care of u :”)
I get the “loosies” only when I order from KFC (the Farwaniya Branch) and that too home delivery! Happens almost every time.. when will I learn? :-/
Anyway, get well soon!
You can never avoid it, but then again certain food operations are very crappy. I dare you go to Al Forno and take some random pics of the kitchen ! You wont go back again.
ok not McDonald! anyway Hamdella 3al saleme w I know this terrible feeling of poisining i’ve been there!
Mark incase they didn’t handle it well and ignored it what will you do then?
i know you can’t sue them because we’re not in the US :S I think the best way is to post it and post all the images you can get.. I bet all the blogs in Kuwait will support your cause and post it! much better then sueing them 😉
Realist: Al Forno is one of my other favorite places, what goes on in the kitchen??
dude… say it dont get kuwait all food poisoned !
Mark, was the fish you ate Kuwaiti fish? If so, it is completely understandable that you got very sick. For the past 5 months all of Kuwait’s raw sewage has been dumped in the gulf. You probably ate a fish, that ate shit (quite literally) for the past few months. You probably got typhoid or para-typhoid from that. STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM KUWAITI FISH.
“international franchise that’s open in the best mall in Kuwait”
This one is not hard to figure out.
Salamat! Hope u feel better!! I know how much it sucks 2 be food poisoned, all u could do is starve it.
Once in the UK my friend and I ate from the same dish, I got food poisoned and she didn’t, and once in q8 my wgole department at work ate from the same thing we ordered and again I was the only one that got extremely sick.
Maybe they should check the cleaning and enforce more quality control.
One more hint, I had grilled salmon
Is it the restaurant in IKEA. I bet it is or it could be Shrimpy.
Sounds like Dean & Deluca.
It’s TGI fridays or Chilis for sure… grilled salmon….seems to be on their menu…
International franchise or not, doe snot make a difference all it takes it bad management or expired food and your in for a ride.
I know how it feels Mark, the chillis you feel like your going to die, then you sweat like hell then you feel ike vomiting and nothing comes out.. yup had the same feeling when I ate at MC’ds in France paris a few years back, really shitty feelin.
Hey mark its for sure Ruby Tuesday im positive
urgh doesn’t anyone read my blog??? lol
Bingo. https://248am.com/mark/kuwait/the-healthier-lifestyle-macaroni-grill/
OUCH MSM
u were faster in seconds :p~~
It could be due to a variety of reasons. Mostly it happens when you are exposed to the cold weather, without enough warm clothes. I give 50% for this and 50% food poisoning…..
Mark: That’s what I said, just observe the kitchen carefully and you will see all the tell tale signs. I don’t need to explain, it’s all infront of you. I’m sure once you do, you will reconsider how favorite this place is 🙂
macaroni grill!!! no way! man he is one of my favorite places 🙁
why! whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Mark are you sure u didn’t eat anything before or after this meal?
moe: No man nothing. Nothing for breakfast nothing for dessert. All I had was their garden salad (which is my favorite fucking salad in the world), the grilled salmon with mashed potatoes and a coke. Oh and the red and white mint they give you on the way out. Nothing else that day.
Realist: one kitchen you don’t want to look into is Johnny Rockets. I always sit on the bar so I see everything. One thing I noticed in Kuwait people think as long as you’re wearing gloves then you’re clean. I saw a Johnny Rockets employee take something, shove it down the garbage with his hand, then push it in even further. And then went back to handling burgers. like wtf? couldn’t you swap gloves?
I also don’t get olives from carrefour anymore after i saw there. Really gross.
SLIDER STATION 100% sure! Happened to many people I know!
mark ..
as i know salmon + milk is a disaster to stomach
so i think they “zadaw elchailah” of milk in the mashed potatoes
ZooZ, it wasn’t my first time having that combo. I have it maybe once a week for a few months now.
eating fish some times , brings other ailment to surface .
since long time I hardly eat out . If I’m traveling only eat at certain places
or cheese and bread .
also it might be some virus going around .
Mark ,
Ever Hear of the term ” Tabooli Tummy “
My wife and I really enjoyed Macaroni Grill in the states. It was pretty good for a chain; we were never disappointed in a dozen meals there. After about the fourth meal at the one here in Kuwait we swore off that place. It made us sick a few times too, some friends of ours as well.
ONe more thing to think about ,,,,
If somone gets E coli Poisoning ( which is a higher risk when people use hands not TP ) its from the persons poop.
E coli ( which if you get a hint from the name lives in the colin) is found primarily on Fecal matter ( poop).
so when one goes to the “shitter” and uses ones hands then forgets to wash his hands there is a chance he will transfer E coli to food.
When ever I hear about E coli poisoning I cringe for this reason!!!!!!.
Mark,,, tell me its not E coli?
From Wiki
”
E. coli are not always confined to the intestine, and their ability to survive for brief periods outside the body makes them an ideal indicator organism to test environmental samples for fecal contamination.[6][7] “