I suppose enough time has passed and the story is funny enough – once I could distance myself from the pain – that I should at least blog it as a warning to my future self.
It may not have escaped regular readers of the blog’s attention that I like a lot of things about Taiwan but the standard of cleanliness in food handling leaves quite a lot to be desired… And that standard, to some degree, is continued when they come to this country and open restaurants.
As a side note, my Japanese teacher once commented about the California law that requires restaurants to prominently display their “letter grade” health department rating on the door.
She commented on it because, if you visit California you could be forgiven for thinking “C” stood for Chinese.
Anyway, I’m a little fastidious about food handling and always wary of Chinese food both here and abroad.
Last weekend, the local Taiwanese association held a mid-autumn festival gathering in South Mountain park. It’s still quite warm and prepared food, in the form of bien dan (boxed meal) was being served from a local restaurant that I know to “authentically Taiwanese”.
Rather than risk it, I opted instead to pick up a sandwich at Fresh & Easy on the way.
I alone got salmonella poisoning that night.
I lost 9 lbs. in 24 hours. I was completely incapacitated for 2 days and under-the-weather, at best, for 3 more. It’s only today that I feel “normal” again.
Fresh & Easy’s “fresh” sandwiches are now firmly removed from my menu.