How to avoid Food Poisoning....

[Nikkila]

I have obviously been reading too many of the what can go wrong threads. So prep me please. Are there any "known" places to avoid? Any certain meals to avoid?

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

We were unlucky, I guess. My daughter got salmonella poisoning in 2009 at Flametree. It was bad enough we had to take her to an emergent care center. The doctor there said it's very common to get food poisoning in the parks. He said that he treats cases regularly. You have to consider the number of people and the number of restaurants though. It's probably no more common than outside the parks. We were lucky that it was the day before we were to leave. And, yes, we can pinpoint Flametree. We are very calorie conscious so we shared all our meals except the one at FT. We ate all meals in the parks or resort, and we had been there over a week. I wasn't eating meat, but she ate the chicken. I assumed the "not quite right smell" was just me not liking the smell of meat. She got very, very sick. It took her almost a week to get over the weakness.
We still go back and we still eat without fear, but we are much more conscious of how things look and smell. We also make sure and take some chewable Pepto to take a few times during the trip to help keep anything from taking hold if we do happen to get something bad.

 

[DManRightHere]

Always use hand sanitizer right before you eat. I think Disney is very clean when it comes to food. I'm especially amazed how I never smell gross old grease like other theme parks. I think second hand illnesses are much more likely.

 

[copcarguyp71]

I would hazard a guess that the number of threads ABOUT food poisoning and the number of cases of PROVEN food poisoning caused by eating at WDW are vastly different. First off food poisoning is very difficult to prove but easy to allege and secondly how many handrails, ride vehicles, door pulls, bus seats or water fountains do you typically come into contact with during an average trip and how many other hands have touched them that day alone before you got to it?

IMO the risk of food poisoning is negligible at most and I would not really worry any more than if you stopped at a Red Robin or any other such eatery. If you have concerns about GI viruses carry a personal Purel and use it frequently.

 

[danpam1024]

I would avoid buffets, although I would HOPE Disney's are monitored better than most, still food sitting out that MANY people touched, coughed, sneezed on- ew, you get my point

 

[hsisthebest]

We've never had a problem with the food, but sometimes the tap water at the resorts can give someone the runs. So we always buy big jugs/bottles of water at the snack shops to avoid the unpleasantness.

 

[luv]

Do the same things at WDW that you do everywhere else.

 

[JerseyDad]

....here's a way NOT to get food poisoning: Don't Be A Cheap Pain In The A$$ Like My SIL!!

....last year ..her family's first WDW trip ...and she did stuff at meals (both TS and CS) like ...take the leftovers ...and put them in her bag (in ziplock bags) to take back to the resort. Now ..if it's french fries ...or a cookie ...I think that would fly. But to put PIZZA with all that cheese ..in a baggie ...and then in a tote ...and carry it around in August Fla. heat ...was basically like putting it in an incubator!!

....I shudder at the stuff she did ...both from the potential health hazard aspects ...and the embarrassment of being at a table with her and have her shovel food into a purse.

 

[Hakunamatata]

In 43 trips to WDW, I have never once gotten food poisoning.

Neither have I. But I did freeze a popsicle to my lips one time....

 

[Cesar R M]

I would hazard a guess that the number of threads ABOUT food poisoning and the number of cases of PROVEN food poisoning caused by eating at WDW are vastly different. First off food poisoning is very difficult to prove but easy to allege and secondly how many handrails, ride vehicles, door pulls, bus seats or water fountains do you typically come into contact with during an average trip and how many other hands have touched them that day alone before you got to it?

IMO the risk of food poisoning is negligible at most and I would not really worry any more than if you stopped at a Red Robin or any other such eatery. If you have concerns about GI viruses carry a personal Purel and use it frequently.

and washing hands very well before eating!

and of course, dont overheat! overheating over-eat= acid reflux = sore throat burn= cold or stomach flu symptoms. D:

 

[Hakunamatata]

and washing hands very well before eating!

and of course, dont overheat! overheating = acid reflux = sore throat burn= cold or stomach flu symptoms. D:

I thought eating properly heated food was one of the major ways to kill germs?

 

[wdwmagic]

I have never come across any confirmed cases of food poisoning at WDW.

However, a far bigger problem is http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/

 

[steviej]

Thank you. I needed this.

never had food poisoning in 17 trips

 

[Gabe1]

We have had a few issues at WDW. That said we've been to WDW hundreds of times. I have had food related illnesses 3 times in my life. 2 of 3 confirmed, the one at WDW, the hospital didn't run the same confirming tests that were run and investigated by the Board of Health like the other two in Illinois and one in Wisconsin. My DS 14 then had a more major food issue at WDW than I did and the stomach damage lasted more than a year to fully heal. The issue I had in Wisconsin, came from butter on table for toast that wasn't kept at proper temp. Likely it went from table to fridge many times over many days. I was so ill I though I was going to die and didn't care.

Until a few years ago the Board of Health reports were easy to find online for WDW. I read them to look for restaurants that had a pattern. Most were ticky tacky infractions, mostly as if the the inspector had to find something. There was one buffet at the time in the WS that kept popping up for temperature being too cold for hot food. We didn't eat there.

When I got really ill it was at a resort, QS, I had a burger that was ready almost immediately. My gut is it had been precooked and was hanging around too long and some cheese plopped on, warmed up and there you have it. Like I said there were not tests to confirm run or follow up from Board of Health.

From the issues we have had I have two pieces of advice. Trust yourself. If something tastes odd or off, don't eat it. Repeat, don't eat it. 2 of the 3 times I've been ill had I listened to myself I would not have eaten the burger and the toast did taste weird. I don't eat butter from most restaurants anymore and I ask for dry toast. I can spot cold hard fresh butter, it is very light in color, it tends to darken the older and longer it has been out. If the buffet food is not HOT, don't eat it. Watch if they take the food from the buffet and replace or if they just keep dumping more and more food on top of uneaten food at buffet. Cafe May had the best practices I've seen, taking away a tray and replacing with new trays. Pecos is pretty good too about keeping things hot on topping bar and removing old trays and replacing with new. Cream that is warm on a table another issue.

For the most part I avoid buffets. Eating at busy times pretty much ensures food is being turned over quickly. For our table service meals we generally try to order from a menu which cuts down the chances of food being old. At the Inn in Mexico I was served a perfectly square portion of fish, that had obviously been kept warm for a long time. We scored a ressie because of guest bolting the park due to heavy rain. Thinking they pre cooked too much and kept it hot under a warmer. It was crunchy and dry. I didn't eat it though I paid dearly for it.

 

[Cesar R M]

I thought eating properly heated food was one of the major ways to kill germs?

sorry, typo.. I mean overeat as in do not eat way too much.

 

[taz0162]

The best thing that works for me and my family now is Not going back to Coral Reef. There are so many other choices it's not a hard decision to not go back to there ever again. UGH it was bad.