YVR-LHR ....Food Poisoning!
 

Just returned from a very short London trip.
Friday evening depart Tues evening return...Flight was okay, nothing spectacular just plain.

I had one major problem though...........


On the Friday my flight was at 6.10pm, I had eaten lunch at about noon and didn't eat again until the flight, we had Lobster and a salad starter, followed by beef and veg.
I slept for a few hours before arriving into London at noon (One hour Late)

Anyways....Later that day I start to feel ill, then I got sick, really sick..I was staying with family, luckily...
It was the worst case of food poisoning I have ever had, I was flat out for 3 days, I did no work...Yesterday I got up, feeling a little better and drove to LHR to come home....half a pack of Imodium got me through it...I am starting to feel better today...the last thing I ate before getting sick was the food on the airplane...I wonder if anyone else got ill.?

I guess it had to happen one day!

Do I have any recourse with the airline?.

The only upside, I think I lost 10lbs.!

I fell ill a few hours after a JFK-FRA-MXP flight in February on LH metal in Business.

I ended up eating only on the FRA-MXP leg (preferred to sleep on the JFK-FRA leg), when they served a cold lunch, consisting of a small seafood salad and sandwhich. Against my better judgement, I ate the seafood salad, and shortly after landing in MXP, my face turned green (I have a picture to prove it!) and I had the worst night of my life. Not a lot of fun.

On my return the next day, I stopped in at the LH lounge at MXP, and submitted a letter to LH Management detailing my experience.

2 weeks later, LH responded via a letter that they couldn't possibly have been at fault because nobody else on the plane was ill, and the fact that they have a new food facility, and take their food issues very seriously, blah blah blah.

I did ask for compensation in the form of miles, they responded with nothing.

You might have more luck with AC, especially if you weren't the only one who decides to write in.

yes do write it because if someone else
had the same experience then you stand a
better chance of getting compensated. Also
it reinforces my arguement that people shouldn't eat cold seafood.

Ferrari: Did you go to the doctor? Do you have anything to show that had really had food poisining? If so, was the doctor able to determine what kind of food caused your illness?

Thanks for the heads up ferrari, I'll be flying that route Sunday--maybe they will have told food services based on your reported problem and they will be doubly scrupulous.

I have never in hundreds of airline meals gotten food poisoning nor in all my travels around the planet. As luck would have it, the only two times I have had bad (read hospitalized) food poisoning was "self-inflicted". Once when I was a short order cook I was cooking myself a steak from a new shipment and the other I was eating canned foods (perhaps over a year old), both in Calgary.

Another track you may want to include. If this food was prepared in YVR. CC a copy to the public health authorities. I am sure they would be interested as well. You can check them out at
http://www.foodinspectionweb.vcha.ca/Default.htm

I was going to call the doctor if I didn't improve, at one point I could even keep water down....Both ends !...My mother, where I was staying is a retired nurse so she was more than sure what it was....

In hindsight I should have but that was the last thing on my mind trust me !

Like you BB I have had hundreds of trips without a problem, I am normally pretty good when it comes to food on the move, this was just my time I guess.

The only bit that gets me was the trip was only for 3 days, I was going over to close a property deal and we had to work the details out Sat/sun and meet the clients Monday...

We had to cancel the whole deal and re arrange, I have to go back in a couple of weeks when we can get everyone together again, I hope the deal doesn't fall out of bed.

I have written to AC via the SE email, I got an answer back in 5 mins, the normal thank you we will look into it....My Business partner wants to sue but I think that's a pointless expense...Problem with seafood, it could be just one prawn !...so I may have been the only person on the plane that got sick...I can't remember how many pax were in J, we were on a 747, I was in the upper deck about half full...I has 58k...That's seat needs a 50" wide screen TV and a coffee table. in front of it....

Nice to see you still have your sense of humour ferrari!

------------------
BlondeBomber's Star Alliance Gold Comparison Chart 2002
Dorian's Star Alliance RTW Price Chart

Maybe they knew it was me !!!

Sorry to read about this. So much for getting an upgrade [I assume] to J.

By all means, you should contact AC immediately, if not for a claim right now, but to at least advise them and their caterers that this occured. As others have mentioned, if there were passengers who came down with similar effects, this will help in identifying the source. At this stage, I am of the view that the public health implications are more important than any personal claim. You can deal with that once verification is made that it was, or was not, an isolated occurance.

By the way, what did you have for lunch? Is it possible that this may have been the cause, coming on 12-hours later?

I came down with a mild case of "Delhi belly", from something I ate on the AC flight back on New Years Day, 1996. We had just finished a film shoot, and were celebrating the longest New Years Day we would ever experience with champagne [departure ex-Delhi was 4:30am!] in J. [Flew us over in confirmed J, but bought full fare Y back, gambling correctly that we would have a pretty empty front cabin going home, and could use a handful of Elite upgrades I had brought along. Since my DOP was also Elite, as was my director, we were able to cover off the rest of the crew.] I was the only member of the production that did not get sick during the two weeks we were there, but it was a mild breakfast curry that did me in on the flight. Thank goodness, I had a few Imodium tablets left over after having distributed the best of four boxes to my colleagues over the preceeding weeks.

Is 58K on that plane everyones favourite AC seat? I had it coming back from LHR last month, and very nice it was too - though I do like video on demand. Maybe we could see how many people on this board have sat there at some time? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif (Then again maybe we don't want to know....)

Keep in mind that depending on the type of food poisoning, the symptoms may appear anywhere from 30 minutes to 72 hours later, or sometimes even longer.

SH....Lunch was a bagel.!

I am convinced it was the seafood...I think I tasted it on the way up.
I had lunch at noon, and was sick 12 hours later, I guess there is an outside chance that the bagel was the culprit, though the other five I ate were fine...

We had dinner at 7.30pm, PST I was sick at 2 pm GMT so that's 10-11 hours after...

I agree with the health issue that's what I said in my email to AC....That being said I am pretty pissed off.!


With regards to 58K...we should campaign for some extras like a lap pool, pool table, balcony.....

Its a great seat...I had an empty seat next to me which was even better...the crew were pretty good too, we had a few laughs, I complained about the leg room at one stage and they all laughed..

I have never had food poisoning from a flight.

However about 15 years ago I took the train from YYZ to YWG. They served a chicken dinner about 3 hours before arrival in YWG. Two hours after arriving I couldn't walk, and stumbled to the hotel. I ended up at the doctor's office in YWG, and he said it was a classic case, about 5 hours after eating and likely from chicken left out of refrigeration.

I should have reported it, and I wondered about some elderly people who were eating the same meal I was. But the illness was so severe it sapped my will to do anything. I was confined to my hotel room for I believe 3 days, and then flew home in F class on an AC 727. I remember this because they served a large steak, and I couldn't even look at it.

Last year I got poisoning at the Fairmont in YYT. This was from a seafood salad. Cooks will often put dubious items in a buffet and pour the oil or mayo on them.

But you should report it, even late. Remember last month in YYZ there was a large breakout of food poisoning from Greek Salad in YYZ hospitals.

My favourite seat as well. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif They could build a little suite there complete with TV and bath tub. Too bad AC doesn't fly those 747s to HKG anymore. It was quite well known at the old CP ExP desk that I liked that seat and it was my preference whenever I call to book my YYZ-HKG flights back then. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Ferrari, that is one sad story and I hope you had a full recoevery - but the reaction sounds like it might go beyond simple food poisoning from spoilage and into either a serious infection (which could have taken a while to incubate) or a serious and previously undiscovered food allergy. I know of other people who suddenly developed this kind of reaction to shellfish. You might still have detectable antibodies to the infection or you could be tested for the possibility of allergy. You should be thinking of preventing this in the future first by ruling out an individual reaction.

The equivalent to 58K on the combi 747 is 8K.My favorite across the atlantic. I suggest just putting a mattress and having an early prototype of the upcoming sleeper seats. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

For some reason, that partition thing that AC put in front of row 8 on the Combis really makes the upper deck look cramped compare to the ex-CP 744s.

I flew UA IAD-LHR on the 11th of this month, had the monkfish and ended up spending the last 2 hours of the flight in the facilities. Food Poisoning~ It stayed with me for about 36 hrs then I started recovering.

Still in Europe but once I am back I will be writing UA and letting them know of my experience.

In a way I am glad I am not the only one

Is that the flight you got bumped to? Maybe they'll give you vouchers for the flight's value again! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

But very sorry to hear of the poisoning. I always think it's especially bad when you stuck with a little shared washroom like on a plane, at least at home (or even hotel) there's no line and sometimes a cool shower will make you feel better.

andrew

That would be the same flight. I am hoping they offer more than the value of the meal. FYI there was 2 washrooms on the upper deck, well actually only 1 for the others as I tended to hog the other.

Wow... your flight got switch from a 777 to 747, what a treat! Too bad the food ruined it. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

The tales of food-poisoning woe are sadly familiar. A few years back, I had a great flight in business class on AC from YVR-YYZ, and then a night from hell, with hallucinations (!) and stuff erupting from almost every orifice. What misery!

Duckman, it may just have been a normal reaction to having to spend the night in Toronto. Such behavior has been known to happen to people visiting our city for the first time.

The vast majority of food poisoning cases originate from home cooking. It is very unlikely that the last meal you ate was the cause of your food poisoning.

I received a really nice letter from UA yesterday apologizing for the food poisoning along with an MCO for future travel. The letter outlined the steps they will be taking to check the source of contamination and what they do to minimize the chances it could happen at all. Nice gesture from UA. From every dealing I have had with them, they are a class act.

Ferrari.....

My sympathies go out to you and your colon http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I have never had airline food poisoning before....but rather from poorly cooked food at a mexican style restaurant once. Death would have preferable.........

I have emailed and written to AC, its been over a month since the incident.

I heard back from a very nice lady via email, stating that somone will contact me...guess what ...nothing...

No apoligy...no compensation...nada.!

I have emailed the lady back a few times, she just keeps apoligizing for AC that no ones contacted me....

Lousy service....

I am wondering whether i have a case through the small claims court.!

Ferrari:

I am still trying to follow-up on a letter I sent in Feb 5. They cancelled 2 flights of mine due to weather and have refused to refund the money for each ticket saying they were non-refundable. I agreed with them but they didn't operate the frig**n flight so I deserve a refund. 4 follow-up notes and 1 fax later all I have received so far is a "we are looking into it" kiss off letter.

How do I hate AC... let me count the ways.

According to most health authorities and organizations, home cooking is the most safe, followed by restaruants and then "street vendors" which are the most risky.

After having something similar occur on an SFO-LIH flight about 10 years ago (shrimp for me), I instituted a new rule: Never, ever eat shellfish on an aircraft.

I called the airline after my evening worship to the great god porcelain, and their response was of course, "why no, no one else has reported any problems."

You have to smile...

2 months since I had the bout of food poisoning, I wrote, emailed, and emailed, and emailed.
I got a reply from a very nice lady, I was told that it will be dealt with by general claims.
For 2 months I heard nothing from general claims....I mean Nada!.

What do i get in the same day....

A phone call and an email...

The call was to inform me that the person dealing with the claim in on hoilday !.
Why tell me that!......

So I heard nothing for 2 months, I start to wonder what is going on, then I get a call to say the person is on holiday for 2 weeks..

So Strange!

Nothing about my claim.!

Your file came up on a BF list, so somebody decided that some action had to happen--no matter how trivial.

(shrug)

I was on the AC NRT-YYZ nonstop yesterday (19FEB) and the meal did not sit well with me. About 2 hours after the meal I woke up and did not feel well. My stomach was upset and my head was now hurting. I was tired when I boarded but I was not sick. I asked the FA for some tylenol and tried to go back to sleep. Add to that the J cabin was full and I don't know if it was me or the cabin but it felt warmer than normal (I suspect it was me).

Well...an hour later I started throwing up in the lavatory. After going through bouts of sickness for 30 minutes I felt awful. Headache was gone but I was sweating like a dog and sat in the galley area where it was cooler with my stomach doing sommersaults.

The flight attendants were great. They cleared some space for me on their FA seats at the last row of the Y cabin where I could lie down flat. (This is wish AC had the flat/near flat beds in J already installed). I slept there for about 4 hours. When I woke up were were about an hour away from landing into YYZ.

Felt good walking off but 10 minutes later, as I was going up the escalator to baggage claim I felt light headed. Very happy to see Concierge there at baggage claim waiting for me. I had not asked for any assitance but she had seen that I was on the flight and wanted to see if there was something I needed.

When I had approached the baggage area all I was doing was looking for a seat to sit and get my bearings but I did not see any and that's when I saw Miss Conceirge. When I explained what happened she said it explained why I looked so awful and this the worst she had even seen me. She made sure I left the airport safely.

But...I went into the office for a quick mtg this morning (20FEB) and slept from 14h00 to 23h00 which is why I'm wide awake now! I finally had some food today and it's staying down which is a good sign!

But I was fine on my SQ and UA flights...eating everything for the meal and worked away on a few files on the UA flight...but now....I just have to feel better before I leave for MUC on Saturday!

Cheers

PS...the Y cabin was empty. Almost every row had people sleeping flat in the centre.