SeoulMan

From the International Herald Tribune, July 14, 2000
"ASK ROGER COLLIS" By Roger Collis

From Carina Pierre-Rochard in Paris:

QUESTION: I suffered serious food poisoning after eating a cheese and ham omelette on an Air France flight from Paris to Stockholm. Apparently I came down with campylobacter and have never been so sick in all my life. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and sent me for hospital tests. The experience cost me 1,500 Swedish kronor ($170) and three days off work. I wrote twice to Air France with a copy of the medical bill, ticket and a note from the doctor confirming food poisoning. The only reply I have had so far is a call from someone to say they will get back to me! I am a member of the airline's Frequence Plus program traveling at least 12 times a year. I find this kind of treatment appalling. I expect to be reimbursed for my costs at the very least. Do you hear similar tales?

ANSWER: Yes, but not as dire as yours. Whatever class you travel, surviving airline food is not just a matter of taste, it's also a matter of hygiene. For those who want to be as careful as possible: Avoid shrimp and Russian salad and anything swamped in mayonnaise, a breeding ground for bacteria. Never accept juice served from a jug, only from an unopened can. Consider bringing your own food and bottled water as many travelers are doing. Traveling on EasyJet or British Airways, I buy a cellophane-wrapped bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich at the airport or
on the plane.

Urs Schindler, in-flight product manager at Swissair in Zurich, says: ''We are very much behind the sandwich philosophy. Passengers get more quality with two nice sandwiches than a lousy hot meal on a tray.'' Hotels around the world are now providing ''gourmet meals to go'' for travelers. But that's
another story. Travelers need to be vigilant about food and water hygiene in five-star hotels as well as business class.

According to Dr. Richard Dawood in London, who specializes in travel medicine, as many as a third of travelers become ill from gastrointestinal problems when they are abroad - 30 percent of whom are confined to bed - and 40 percent are obliged to change their travel plans.

Let me know how you get on with Air France. If you get no satisfaction, I'll take your case up with them.

RichG

A great gastronomical dilemma:

Poisoned French food.

Ventures

Don't hold your breath for a satisfactory reply. You might turn blue! It figures that it would be Air Chance!

doc

And the food was their strong suit!

Sadly this is not as uncommon an occurrence as we might imagine.

davistev

My wife and I are now recovering from severe food poisoning from eating food from Air France. We just completed travelling with Air France and only ate Air France food. We travelled from Cairo to Paris and the from Paris to Toronto.

My wife became severly ill while on the flight to Toronto. We were in business class and we each ate liver pate (the only common food we ate). Within hours, my wife was vomiting on the plane. Within one two hours of touch down in Toronto, I found myself on the curb at the limo stand puking on the road. People must have thought I was a drunk from Christmas cheer.

For the next five hours at the hotel in Toronto, I hugged the toilet and had the runs. I really thought I was going to die.

There you have it - Air France must do something about their hygene. We should not have been exposed to poor quality food.

Terrible experience.

Efrem

Sorry to hear about your experience and hope you're both fully recovered now.

Did you contact Air France, since in this case it seems that the finger points directly at them? If so, what did they say/do?

As a side comment, I think it's great that you found this four-year-old thread for your post, instead of starting a new one. Puts an interesting perspective on it. Makes me wonder whatever happened with Ms. Pierre-Rochard, though.

USCGamecock

You can bet your bottom dollar (euro) that AF will deny everything. Instead, they will blame it on the pax from some other eating episode and because they will claim that their food preparation is second to none. I'd almost be willing to stake a big wager on it. Please let us all know what the result is from your complaint.

Arthurrs

Wow, sorry to hear of your experience. You might want to visit a doctor. Perhaps he/she can refer you to the local health department, who in turn might investigate what happened in your case, considering your flight ended in YYZ. You might get a better response from the airline as a result of any pending investigation. I had a friend contract a parasite from his food while visiting the USA, it was quite remarkable how far reaching the investigation became once the health authorities became aware of it!

MapleLeaf

I got food poisoning on a UA flight from IAD-LHR (in C), UA was extremely accomodating. They offered to cover any medical costs, provided me with a voucher and sent me a note after the fact that their health department was investigating the infraction to ensure it never happened again.

^ to UA for how they handled the situation.

davistev

Well it is now the day after Xmas and I have crawled out of bed and am feeling much better. Needless to say, no Xmas for me and I was too sick to visit a Dr and do all the "stuff" needed. I basically just crawled up and died for a few days.

The good news is that this is the first Xmas where I have lost weight. Go figure: I live in Sudan which has a million and one health warnings and i get sick in Business Class on Air France to Canada. Maybe my stomach was not used to the "clean" food.

Now that it is 50 odd hours after the fact, I do not think there is any point visiting the Doc (none will be open until tomorrow and I am not an emerg case).

Just another episode in modern day travel!

DTWLGACDG

I too have been ill from the economy class food I ate on Air France flying from Beirut to Paris CDG. I had the fish. What started as an initial stomach ache upon landing has now turned into a flown blown week of diareah and intense stomach cramps. Finally went to the doctor today to get some tests done and see what it is. I have written to AF twice and I doubt they will respond or take responsibility (it took them a week+ from my initial note just to say that they had received it). I told my friends what happened and they had similar stories of getting ill from AF food. Lesson learned. Eat before you get on the plane, or bring your own food.

cblaisd

I see little reason to re-open a twelve-year old thread in this instance.

cblaisd
Moderator, Travel News