Last time I order from there

[Nurian]

Tonight, my gaming group ordered from a local Chinese restaurant. My stomach was already feeling a little queasy, so I ordered chicken fried rice. After eating, I noticed my tongue, lip and throat started to swell.

"R (my friend and DM), didn't you order the combo fried rice? The one with shrimp?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Because I'm having a reaction. Fuck, it's cross-contaminated."

Luckily, I got an anti-histamine in me and drank several glasses of water. I still felt sick, so I had to bail on game.

I still feel sick but I'm improving. So I'm sucking down another bottle of water.

This sucks.

[Whiskey]

I'm not surprised, chances are they just throw everything in the pan and cook. If I was allergic to food I'd probably make a point not to eat places that served said food at all. I found out on accident I was allergic to aspirin, now I'm paranoid taking anything.

[Amina516]

I'm not surprised, chances are they just throw everything in the pan and cook.

Ditto.

Just watch yourself. Hope you feel better.

[Whiskey]

Same for vegetarians eating fast food. Yeah, our fries have their own fryer, but guess what? if the oil is gross in the other fryers, we throw EVERYTHING in the fries one. Theres meat all in that fryer, they're not veggie friendly.

[AdminAssistant]

Um, would you care to PM me the name of that restaurant so I know to never go there?

[Food Lady]

Same for vegetarians eating fast food. Yeah, our fries have their own fryer, but guess what? if the oil is gross in the other fryers, we throw EVERYTHING in the fries one. Theres meat all in that fryer, they're not veggie friendly.

That doesn't bother some of us, BTW.

[Whiskey]

Um, would you care to PM me the name of that restaurant so I know to never go there?

You're at risk at pretty much ANY restaurant. No one is watching the pans all the time. What if a new cook gives the old cook a break and accidentally drops shrimp in the chicken pan? I'm pretty sure they didn't intentionally cross contaminate

[AdminAssistant]

I live in the same place as Nurian, and the Chinese restaurants here are all pretty terrible, so I just needed another one to cross off the list. I prefer to spend money at a place where they have the presence of mind to cook chicken in the chicken pan...or even *gasp* wash pans after using them.

[draggar]

Unless you're allergic to shellfish, cross contamination shouldn't cause this issue. Look at most Mongolian BBQ / hibachi grill places - they're coking 3-5 meals at one time.

As long as the food is properly cooked then it shouldn't make you sick. Something else made you sick (many things could have).

Also, when you look at the reports in the newspaper, cross contamination is the most common violation. I even got bagged for it once.

The cooler I had for the seafood department had shelves along 2 (opposing) walls and one corner was open for the door. The walkway between them was about 6 feet by 12 feet (roughly). Normally I only have cooked products on the top shelf on one side and nothing else on the top shelves (cases of fish can be heavy and these things are over 6 feet high). Naturally, they came in when I had a great sale on one species, plus I got in a very large shipment.

So I had to put some raw product on the top shelf on the other side of the cooler form the cooked product. They're about 6 feet away from each other, no continual shelf for something to crawl along.

I got bagged for cross contamination because they were on the same level.

[MaggieTheCat]

Unless you're allergic to shellfish, cross contamination shouldn't cause this issue.

After eating, I noticed my tongue, lip and throat started to swell.

Luckily, I got an anti-histamine in me and drank several glasses of water.

Sounds like an allergy to me. This is exactly what happens to me whenever I eat something I'm allergic to.

[Nurian]

Unless you're allergic to shellfish, cross contamination shouldn't cause this issue. Look at most Mongolian BBQ / hibachi grill places - they're coking 3-5 meals at one time.

As long as the food is properly cooked then it shouldn't make you sick. Something else made you sick (many things could have).

Also, when you look at the reports in the newspaper, cross contamination is the most common violation. I even got bagged for it once.

The cooler I had for the seafood department had shelves along 2 (opposing) walls and one corner was open for the door. The walkway between them was about 6 feet by 12 feet (roughly). Normally I only have cooked products on the top shelf on one side and nothing else on the top shelves (cases of fish can be heavy and these things are over 6 feet high). Naturally, they came in when I had a great sale on one species, plus I got in a very large shipment.

So I had to put some raw product on the top shelf on the other side of the cooler form the cooked product. They're about 6 feet away from each other, no continual shelf for something to crawl along.

I got bagged for cross contamination because they were on the same level.

Sounds like an allergy to me. This is exactly what happens to me whenever I eat something I'm allergic to.

Yeah, I'm allergic to lobster and shrimp. Why so specific, I'm not sure. I may have issues with iodine...

[Eric the Grey]

With that serious an allergy, you should make a point of politely letting them know, so they can take extra precautions.

Generally, when ordering food for pick-up, and my Bro is going to be eating, I'll make a point of telling the place about his allergies (Mushrooms, and any other kinds of fungus) and ask them to make a point of being careful. Never had a problem.

Generally, this is with Pizza (game-group food). Papa Murphies always makes a point of wiping their counters down before making mine (I've watched) to keep the cross-contamination down, and the scoops place down the street from me is one of his favorites because they haven't ever caused any problems for him.



Eric the Grey

[Magpie]

Yeah, I'm allergic to lobster and shrimp. Why so specific, I'm not sure. I may have issues with iodine...

Actually that's not very specific. My uncle is allergic to only one or two types of shrimp. He was given basically an epi-pen (this was before they were common), told that most people are only allergic to one or two varieties, and to go have fun. He says it's difficult to test though, because you get an adrenaline rush even if you're not allergic to the variety that you just bit, because you know you're eating shrimp.

[phantasy]

Actually that's not very specific. My uncle is allergic to only one or two types of shrimp. He was given basically an epi-pen (this was before they were common), told that most people are only allergic to one or two varieties, and to go have fun. He says it's difficult to test though, because you get an adrenaline rush even if you're not allergic to the variety that you just bit, because you know you're eating shrimp.

Actually, I have a cousin that is allergic to crabs. We're not sure if it's just one type of crab (in this case, it would be Maryland blue crabs) or just every type of crab. She can however, eat lobster, shrimp and all other shellfish.

[Jester]

When my mother was younger, she had a bad reaction to crab, so assumed she was allergic to it. She never actually found out if she was allergic or not, but simply never ordered crab again. Due to her avoidance of it, I did not try crab until I was 15 or so, when we were on vacation and I ordered shrimp stuffed with deviled crab. And even though my mother advised against me ordering it for fears I had the same issue with crab she (may have) had, I went for it anyway. And discovered my favorite seafood.

Mom still doesn't eat crab. We still don't know if she is allergic to it or if it was a one time thing. (She has no other food allergies that I am aware of, and shellfish in general don't bother her at all.) I continue to eat crab whenever and wherever I can, and however it is prepared.