Eating Out at Fast Food Places

[Eddard]

I never worried about eating at fast food places until my friends brought up different times/places that they had eaten at and gotten food poisoning as a result. Each place they say is basically X'ed off my list of places I will go to now; however, in reality, is any fast food place that safe as far as food born illnesses? I don't eat out often but worry each time I do because I recall all of the stories I have heard about how miserable the results of such an illness can be.

[sunnyskies]

I think you always take that risk anywhere you go, even if it was a nice restaurant and not a fast food place. I worry about it too but then I have to remind myself that I've never gotten food poisoning from one before, so the odds must be slim! And I've worked in many of those places and been eating that stuff for.. all of my life, ha. If you're not prone (I would assume not if you haven't gotten it before!), you will be okay.

Those places, especially depending on what time of day you go to them, produce food at high volume and if you special request things, some things are made to order. It's pretty fresh and made fast while under pretty safe, standard procedures and you're unlikely to get really ill from it. I worry more about buffet-type places or takeout restaurants; places where food just sits around for an freakishly unknown amount of time where different bacteria can fester. Or take caution with uncooked foods that are prepared with bare hands like salads, sandwiches, etc. That stuff can be suspect too but also gotta remember that your body is designed to fight a lot of things that could make you sick. We have an immune system for a reason, thankfully! It prevents us from getting a lot of stuff.

So, don't live in fear of it but it isn't bad to be a bit cautious too. If you're really wary of something or some restaurant, you can avoid it. Otherwise, if you're used to eating at them and without any results of illness, you should be fine. Don't let other people's stories scare you. I do that too sometimes and it just isn't very rational. If I know someone that got sick once from eating pizza at a place I've eaten pizza from a hundred times and never been ill from, what really are the chances of me inevitably getting sick the next time? Very slim chance, I think.

[lilwng]

I'm the same way. I absolutely refuse to eat a one restaurant in particular because my dad got sick there... he's an emet too and watching him go through that without actually v* was intense. Anyway, after he was ill I researched fp rates from that restaurant and they're sky high!!!! Never ever eating there again!

[noleguy]

I'll eat out, sure. Only at the handful of places I trust. I've had full blown freak outs before when trying new places... It's kind of bad. I have an open mind to trying new things, but the emet suppresses it.