Hi all. I did a shop this weekend, and within three hours of eating the food (for a required part of the shop) I became very ill. Let's just say its gastrointestinal. I very rarely get this sick in fact it's been at least 15 years since I have. I am doing okay now, but I put this in my report. I put that I could not say to 100 percent but noted what occurred. I know with food poisoning it's hard to pinpoint an actual cause but to have it come on that immediately when I was feeling perfectly fine leads me to believe that was the cause. Did I do the right thing? I did not report to the client directly obviously but I did report to my scheduler on top of putting it in the report. I was with another person who did not get ill but did not eat the same thing. Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks.

YES, and I know it came from my job. I ordered na Ahi tuna sandwich and it was raw when I got it. I brought it back and said wasn't this supposed to be grilled, and the stupid said, "that;s how they make it". I took a few bites,
it was awful.....got home and had severe stomach pains and food poisoning. I never complained to the restaurant, but put it in my report (they should know the fish wasn't cooked properly). I have not been able to get another job with them although I do get emails, usually late, go figure. I still would like to do there other places, their burgers are good, but it's been months....the truth doesn't always pay!!!!!

Thanks for sharing your experience and I am sorry that happened to you. I suppose if I don't get another shop from the company I will deal with it. I'd rather the client know someone got sick so they can potentially remedy the situation then have it continue and have others with compromised immune systems get sick. I sure hope the shopping company does not edit that from the report.

Yes, I did a ff shop, and was cramping and sick before I even got home.

Reported it.

Client barred me from doing any more shops for them. MSC backed me up, but client was adamant.

Really.

I know another shopper who got food poisoning (confirmed) and ended up in the hospital! She, too, was barred from doing any more shops for this client. I think the MSC banned her, too.

I don't understand this. Don't they want to know that people are getting sick from their food? Are shoppers supposed to just ignore their illness and not report it? Why do they have a mystery-shopping program in place if they don't want to know these things? It's stupid.

I'm quite the YELP'er outside of my shopping gigs. Food poisoning is the worst! Strangely, I've traveled a bit - some to 3rd world countries, eaten from street carts, and never, ever, gotten sick or contracted anything. I've only had food poisoning here in the US.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2018 10:25PM by Monk-N-Nut.

I believe there is one MSC that has in there agreement that we cannot hold liable the MSC nor the client if something happens to the shopper. It is for that reason that I don't use that MSC. It's the MSC that tries to bundle shops. If I get severe food poisioning or something drastic happens I want some kind of recourse. I could be wrong in how I interpret their shopper agreement but that's what I get out of it.

I am a lawyer in my full time job, but I am not looking to sue anyone! I totally understand where you are coming from though. Thankfully it's just a minor case, but still something I really thing the company would want to know rather than banning the person from the mystery shopping company or the client. Honestly though I would never shop that client again, I would not want to eat the food!

I totally agree with you on all fronts, that the msc and client should know and that I would not eat there again. There was one well known restaurant where I did a take out and got severely sick 2-3 hours after eating it. Needless to say, I will never do take out there again and am very reluctant, although I have, eaten in the restaurant. I am very cautious about where I eat. In places where I know I can do a food shop for $10-20 fee plus reimbursement, but I've seen unsafe food handling, I just don't go. It isn't worth it.

@Lisannez wrote:

I am a lawyer in my full time job, but I am not looking to sue anyone! I totally understand where you are coming from though. Thankfully it's just a minor case, but still something I really thing the company would want to know rather than banning the person from the mystery shopping company or the client. Honestly though I would never shop that client again, I would not want to eat the food!

Problem is my shop was a burger shop with this one Ahi tuna sandwich...the burgers are great, never had a problem in my years with them. They should want to know the correct way of cooking this dish, so was disappointed in their banning me in this disrespectful way . They could have told me something, but they did refund my funds for this lunch. Happy to see a Lawyer on the forum.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2018 06:28PM by Irene_L.A..

What was the item you ordered that made you so sick?

It was a turkey club.

I once did a lunch shop and was sick within 3 hours. I knew that it had to be that food since all I had for breakfast that day was some fruit and that was it. I had eaten nothing else that day. I reported exactly that and was not penalized by either the MSC or the client. I still do jobs for both the MSC and this client.

I'm not as comfortable with the certainty people feel about how they acquire their food born illnesses. It is easy to blame the last meal eaten when out but the most common types of gastrointestinal illnesses from food take longer than a few hours. Norovirus takes around 30 hours from contamination, Campylobacter is usually 2 to 5 days but can be as long as 10 days, Salmonella can take up to 72 hours. I would not have put the info in my report but would have sent a private note to the MSC letting them know just in case. We learned more than we ever wanted to about this when the Health Department took a food history from us after being part of a Norovirus outbreak at a local restaurant.

Irene_L.A. I'm confused how was the Ahi supposed to be served? It's seared on the outside and raw in the center everywhere I order it.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2018 10:02PM by wwin.

I agree that some illnesses take a long time to appear and that everyone reacts different. From my personal experience, I'll know within 3 hours if the last thing I ate bothered me.

It was not seared, I love Sushi, very different than this sandwich......and I did get sick from it (I should know). Getting Ahi tuna in this manner needs to be seared, raw fish must be very fresh and is not placed in a sandwich.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2018 10:23PM by Irene_L.A..

I believe the reason they ban these shoppers is that they fear they may be biased toward the client after such a bad experience. It's not to punish the shopper.

This makes total sense.

At what point should we report suspected food poisoning to the relevant health department? If no one reports cases, they can’t do anything to correct the situation and prevent others from suffering. Chipotle comes to mind. I believe however, if it’s serious enough to warrant an ER visit it would get reported by them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2018 02:47AM by kenasch.

My husband and I both ate burgers on a shop and both got sick, not puking but horrible stomach cramps and other gastrointestinal symptoms within 12 hours that lasted 2 days. We had shopped this location many times before with no problems.The food tasted great, so I dont think the food was bad, but I believe it was a cross-contamination issue. I had already submitted the report but reached out to the msc. They notified the client. The location management contacted me with an apology and a $100 certificate. I'm still allowed to shop them and though I waited several months, I have been back a few times. I haven't had any issues since.

You are both very brave to eat there again. Although chances are slim it'd happen again, if I had gotten as sick as you, I wouldn't go back there.

The one time I got sick from a take-out several years ago is catering a happy hour this week that I am invited to. Am I going to go ? Heck no !

@JASFLALMT wrote:

My husband and I both ate burgers on a shop and both got sick, not puking but horrible stomach cramps and other gastrointestinal symptoms within 12 hours that lasted 2 days. We had shopped this location many times before with no problems.The food tasted great, so I dont think the food was bad, but I believe it was a cross-contamination issue. I had already submitted the report but reached out to the msc. They notified the client. The location management contacted me with an apology and a $100 certificate. I'm still allowed to shop them and though I waited several months, I have been back a few times. I haven't had any issues since.

I think reporting to the health department would be necessary if someone received a formal diagnosis by a doctor or if someone was hospitalized due to the severity. Otherwise after reading all of the comments (thanks everyone), I think the best thing to do is to mention in your report that you got ill, and suspect it could be food poisoning related to then tell them what you ate. And to also report to your scheduler. As someone who defends companies for a living I am well aware of the chaos that reporting potential food safety issues can cause for the company. I am also aware that often people do not have food poisoning, it's a stomach bug, or they just ate too much. And yes there are people just trying to get things for free, although this usually does not apply to mystery shoppers as it is already free! But on the flip side if I represented a client who had food safety issues, I would want to know even if it was a potential issue, so my client could work to address it before it got out of control. That's why I reported it. I would rather spend the time investigating or being investigated then have a customer die or become very ill, the latter costs a whole lot more.

I do not take alleging food poisoning lightly by any means. That's why I did not say for sure that's what it was just that I suspected it. But I think we as shoppers are hired because of our integrity and most grown adults know their bodies and know when something has gone wrong. I've had the stomach flu and I've had food poisoning and trust me when I say it was the latter. I have been told by doctors that I have very strong stomach acid. I have been places where entire groups got sick, and I ate the same exact thing and was fine. Nothing upsets my stomach, so I knew something was wrong, even my fiance who was with me was in shock and knew it was really bad if I was sick. I totally get that a company may not schedule you for another shop at that client due to potential bias, had not thought of that. But I don't think it would be any different than other bad experiences with a client, and I hope we can all put that bias aside as part of our jobs. I do however take issue with a MSC not giving you any more work for it, that to me implies they really don't want an honest opinion or they are calling you a liar. So far this MSC has not done anything to me so I am hopeful it will not be an issue. But this information and discussion has been so helpful for me.

My husband got food poisoning from eating oysters on a shop. He got sent home from work the next day, because he had really bad GI symptoms and his boss told him he looked green. I didn’t put it in the report, but I did mention it to the editor. I still do shops for this MSC and client, we just don’t order the oysters anymore!

@Lisannez wrote:

I do however take issue with a MSC not giving you any more work for it, that to me implies they really don't want an honest opinion or they are calling you a liar. So far this MSC has not done anything to me so I am hopeful it will not be an issue. But this information and discussion has been so helpful for me.

I can understand, though I hadn't thought of it before, why a specific client might not want a shopper who had become ill after eating at one of its locations not to shop there again, for fear of bias. But for the MSC to ban the shopper from all future shops implies, to me, that the MSC doesn't want to hear about these issues at any restaurant. Or thinks the shopper is lying.

I did a shop at the end of June and have been fighting to get well from food poisoning since then. I know where I got it from and it was the only place I ate that day. I took a bite of the entree and smelled sewer. My windows were rolled down at the location so I couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from. I took another bite and smelled sewer again. I then realized it was the entree. I go to the bathroom to try to throw up but, I couldn't. Of course, I threw the food away and reported it. When I went to the bathroom on the other side of the building, I saw a demolished menu board beside the building. So, I began wondering what happened.

Within two hours, I was sicker than I ever have been in my life. The following day, I had loads of shops scheduled out of town. The morning after eating the entree, I was so sick but, tried my best to go out of town to do my shops. I ended up having to come back home minutes after getting dressed and leaving. I tried explaining this to the companies I had shops with and some were understanding but, some gave me "flake" citations (One company, I received such an offensive reply that I deleted my account).

Since June, I am just now finding out what was causing my problems. I found out I got H pylori infection and also got a parasite. It took tons of testings and three doctor visits. I am just now getting halfway back to normal. If I would have eaten the entire entree, there is no telling how my health would have suffered. Needless to say, I had to foot the bill for the cost of being sick since I am an IC, lost respect for some MSCs, and was horribly sick for three months. That was a lose-lose situation for me. Of course, I will never eat at that location again. The company has called me to do it and I refuse. Now, I am scared to death. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Wow, hope you get back to the way you were prior to getting sick. I just will not do a shop where the food handling is questionable. I read yelp reviews prior to eating a restaurant to see what people say.

I hope you feel better soon. I am so sorry.

The establishment I got sick at did not have such a reputation and although I cannot mention the client's name obviously it is not a place one would ever suspect to get ill. That's why I was so surprised.

Thank you! Yelp, Yelp didn't help me much on this one. I've eaten at this location in the past, as well. I think whatever happened there with the demolished menu board must have happened recently. I am guessing that since the restaurant is close to an interstate, that someone must have wrecked into the restaurant; maybe burst a sewer line that caused sewer to get on stored buns or boxes of meat. Instead of throwing the buns (or meat) away, they served them. It's just my guess and do not know for certain but, something bad happened and things were not controlled. As of two days now, I am feeling like the old me finally. I am going to ask for another round of antibiotics they have me on just to be sure this doesn't come back after finally getting on the right antibiotics.

I can surely testify to being careful of what you are eating. If something doesn't seem right or look right, stop. I ate one bite and spit out the other bite and was destroyed for three months. So, be careful. If you do get food poisoning, I recommend getting tested because it was some type of bacteria, parasite, or something that made you sick to begin with. It could stay in your system without knowing it.

I do have to give a shout out to my IPSOS scheduler. Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! I even received a "Get well soon" and "I am sorry this happened to you" along with the cancelation of my shops. That wasn't the response I received from another MSC scheduler.

@wwin wrote:

I'm not as comfortable with the certainty people feel about how they acquire their food born illnesses. It is easy to blame the last meal eaten when out but the most common types of gastrointestinal illnesses from food take longer than a few hours. Norovirus takes around 30 hours from contamination, Campylobacter is usually 2 to 5 days but can be as long as 10 days, Salmonella can take up to 72 hours. I would not have put the info in my report but would have sent a private note to the MSC letting them know just in case. We learned more than we ever wanted to about this when the Health Department took a food history from us after being part of a Norovirus outbreak at a local restaurant.

Wwin, your answer comes close to what I was thinking so thank you for it. I really think that sometimes what people call food poisoning is going a little too far just like some people I know calling a bad cold the flu. Not to say that anyone here is exaggerating their illness but if you are reporting that your stomach felt queasy or some other words like that vs saying you got food poisoning which is a very subjective statement if it is not backed up by medical confirmation then I can see a bad reaction to your report. I certainly think any types of illness that you suspect being connected to the food you ate should be reported to the scheduler. Whether you put it into the report would depend on how the report is structured. Some reports have a place for personal feelings or for more narrative than others. I would play that by ear. But I certainly would not report "food poisoning " unless you are confirmed with that diagnosis and you are perfectly sure that is where you picked it up. There are some people too who have much more sensitive stomachs than others and if you are one of them you are probably aware. I remember a time when I went to a fast food burger place with 8-10 people. 6 of us had the same burger, two got sick and those 2 were friends who were always getting sick. Both of them said they had food poisoning....My kids who ate the same exact thing had no reaction whatsoever. So remember to be objective in your reports....you can report subjectively outside the report itself.