Are any restaurants safe to eat at?

[Twizel]

I've had increasing issues with some of the local restaurant (I live in west coast US) chains the last five years or so. Food that never made me sick ever before now sometimes makes me run to the bathroom, where grossness ensues.

Today was the last straw. I know McDonald's is crappy food, but my husband wanted something easy and ordered McDonald's breakfast from UberEats. Despite the crappiness of their food, its never physically bothered me before and I've eaten there occasionally since childhood (all about those Happy Meal toys), but today - today there was a ONE INCH long CHICKEN BONE in my OATMEAL 

I am angry and more than a little worried that I might get sick. I'd made it through half the oatmeal before I found it. It was blackened, so I'm assuming it was fully cooked - but how on earth did a bone get into oatmeal???

I'm afraid to eat anywhere but at home now 

[BlackCurtains]

That's so gross! The oatmeal is one of the few things I'll eat at McDonald's too. I would complain in person if I were you. But you're right, how DID a bone get into it???

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I would call or email the corporate office, they might give you some coupons or a reimbursement.
I haven't eaten at any restaurants since finding out I can't have gluten, so I empathize with your title. It seems like some people are saying they've gotten glutened at restaurants some people will say never gluten them, so it sounds a lot like a gamble...
Maybe there's something to do with the way the food is cooked? I have problems with oily or fried food myself (outside of the breading, this was before I was diagnosed).

[Broken Irishwoman]

That's beyond disgusting.

I like eating at McDonald's, even though I'm fully aware of the fact that they only serve chemical garbage. I try not to think too much about what restaurants put in their food and how good or bad their hygiene is, otherwise I'd be too scared to eat anywhere.
Supermarkets can be awful too. I once found a massive fishbone in a cupcake. In a CUPCAKE. I also had a green, translucent fluid coming out of a milk carton once...

[Aflame]

  . iiieewww

[Ponyfan]

I'm sorry that happened to you Twizel. I would complain to the manager at the McDonald's your husband ordered food from.


One time I found a piece of plastic wrap in my food at a restaurant. On the same trip another person that was with me was given a very dirty spoon with food still on it. We complained to the manager and they didn't make us pay for our meals.


Ponyfan

[SaraMari]

Hmm I don't go out to eat often but my husband does everyday. He travels all across the state so he stops at a lot of different places and he has never had issues like animal bones in food that is clearly not an animal. Or even just getting sick. I've never gotten sick off of fast food. I know the taco bell near my childhood home did get in trouble for fecal tainted food, I just wasn't eating there then. And Chipotle had a few debacles with that too tho (I know someday I will get food poisoning it's just a matter of time esp as I usually order salads)

I would recommend avoiding that particular location, someone had to go out of their way to do that. There's logically no way for that to happen on accident, I mean they just microwave the oatmeal.

And if you are finding you are always sick from fast food, it might be good to look into any possible food allergies like tealeaf mentioned?

[brightberry]

I used to eat out pretty often and... things can go wrong.  I’ve found tape in my spaghetti, cockroach in my soda, cleaning powder in my fried fish and all kinds of bad tasting food.  Most of my experiences have been ok and some have been excellent.  It’s just, if you eat out long enough, you’re going to have a bad experience eventually.

These days, I prefer to cook my own food.  But even at the grocery, I’ve had some bad experiences.  Weevils in my new oatmeal, meat that was sold spoiled, fruitflies in my apricot and so on.  It’s rare, but it still happened.

I guess we just have to stay vigilant.  It’s all we can do.

[Twizel]

Talked to my husband about it this morning. He thinks the issue might not be with that McDonalds location, and was more likely an error in the factory that packaged the oatmeal. I suppose he has a point, I can't picture a human randomly inserting bones into oatmeal unless they're some sort of psychopath.

Which reminds me, I did find metal wire in a bag of pretzels once...

[Barnacle_lady]

Up here it's very very strict if it comes to food hygiene. If thats not well arranged it can mean that the restaurant/café will be closed until it's fixed. Having a cat around is not sufficient.  So I trust most of the places.
If its something in a package or between vegetables I am pretty sure the place where I bought it wants to know. Maybe I am not the only one. Most of the time they offer a replacement.

[StayGoldPonyboy]

op, the first half of your post sounds like you might be lactose intolerant. it’s in more stuff than you think, and one of the most common symptoms is having to suddenly use the bathroom about 10-20 minutes after eating the food. it kicks in super fast for a lot of sufferers (myself included). in the rush to keep up with demand, restaurants have increasingly started sharing prep spaces between things that used to be separated (like dairy) and it’s also used in more things now.

[tikibirds]

I live in China. Need I say more? I doubt the majority of the places here would pass a NY food inspection. That being said, I have yet to get seriously sick for the food and I literally eat out every day. Its cheaper then cooking for myself. Honestly, I think the lack of dairy and whatever the crap is in US foods is not present in the food here and therefore I dont have the stomach issues I had in the US.

Never found anything gross in my food either - well, that wasn;t supposed to be there.

[mlp4me]

Ackity ack!! I try to avoid fast food, but Taco Bell is my kryptonite and even then I try to limit myself to 1x a month indulgence.
Find a good 'ol mom and pop sit down restaurant and you'll probably have better results. So much goes into processed food it's not even funny.
Lettuce is a good stomach turning culprit and you don't even realize it until after a recall has gone out.

[bright rabbit 1]

On holiday in September 2019 my family and I including the dog were in a pub  in Great Yarmouth. We had a cavalry and the meat was so thick you couldn’t cut into it (they (the carvers) gave me the grizzle part of the beef). I couldn’t eat it all so my mum had to buy donuts so that I could eat something.

[Taffeta]

(At the moment) there are some pretty strict food standards here but there have been some horror stories as well. Some to do with allergies and mislabelled information, some to do with meat in vegan stuff (that one is a preference diet but you still should get what you order).

I have always hated restaurants for reasons other than the ideas of food hygiene but I do remember once on a train when someone bought a bag of crisps off a trolley and there was a dead spider inside it.

If that had happened to me I swear I'd have not have eaten crisps ever again. I have a terror of dead bugs.