Is it safe to eat Chicken Salad or Tuna Salad from a hospital?

[Anonymous]

I have worked in a hospital for 25y and have eaten everything from cold salads to sushi through the cafeteria. No issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand your concern, OP. The hospital has refrigeration. You know the whole hospital isn’t getting food poisoning from the chicken salad every day, right?

I beg to differ, hospital-borne infections are commonplace and now that there is no federal agency to report and monitor - it’s a lost cause.
The refrigeration is not happening between cafeteria and patient room. Any number of things can delay the cart significantly. I’d be careful.

+1. Hospitals should be avoided at all cost. It's just too dangerous.

[Anonymous]

I won’t eat tuna or chicken salad from anywhere but home. They are a high risk dish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand your concern, OP. The hospital has refrigeration. You know the whole hospital isn’t getting food poisoning from the chicken salad every day, right?

I beg to differ, hospital-borne infections are commonplace and now that there is no federal agency to report and monitor - it’s a lost cause.
The refrigeration is not happening between cafeteria and patient room. Any number of things can delay the cart significantly. I’d be careful.

Sigh. Good Lord. Hospital-borne pathogens are mostly RESPIRATORY and CONTACT BACTERIA that come from the ventilation systems and lapses in disinfection of instruments, respectively. Hospital cafeterias operate on the same system as any other workplace or hotel cafeteria. The risk of food-borne illness in a hospital is negligible.

I know you can't fix stupid, but please, make an effort. Or stop posting, so we don't get annoyed with your idiocy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand your concern, OP. The hospital has refrigeration. You know the whole hospital isn’t getting food poisoning from the chicken salad every day, right?

I beg to differ, hospital-borne infections are commonplace and now that there is no federal agency to report and monitor - it’s a lost cause.
The refrigeration is not happening between cafeteria and patient room. Any number of things can delay the cart significantly. I’d be careful.

Sigh. Good Lord. Hospital-borne pathogens are mostly RESPIRATORY and CONTACT BACTERIA that come from the ventilation systems and lapses in disinfection of instruments, respectively. Hospital cafeterias operate on the same system as any other workplace or hotel cafeteria. The risk of food-borne illness in a hospital is negligible.

I know you can't fix stupid, but please, make an effort. Or stop posting, so we don't get annoyed with your idiocy.

+1. You said it more diplomatically that I would have.

[Anonymous]

OMG, having worked in a hospital, some of the cafeteria options are so delicious, if the presentation lacking. Do you know how many people a hospital feeds a day? The food areas are usually so far out of the way, and have pretty strict practices, though I can’t speak for every facility.

Foods like tuna and egg salad don’t sit for very long, as they’re popular comfort style food, and suitable for most soft diets. Those sandwiches would be fed in a huge number of areas and would be made daily.

I know YMMV, but I’m usually a food safety freak and I’d eat these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m currently hospitalized and one of the meals if a trio of Chicken salad, egg salad and tuna salad.

I know this often makes people ill at events but would you wager the hospital has a way to prevent food poisoning or illness ?

Are you dim? This might be the dumbest question ever asked here.

[Anonymous]

It's an old myth that mayonnaise salads are hotbeds of food poisoning. The problem dates way back to when mayonnaise was homemade with raw eggs and left unrefrigerated. These days, nobody is serving people raw eggs (especially in a hospital) and commercial mayo is highly pasteurized. The food is very likely safe.

[Anonymous]

Do you think the hospital is intentionally feeding people something to make them ill so they stay in hospital longer? I hope you remembered your tin foil hat when you packed your hospital bag 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG, having worked in a hospital, some of the cafeteria options are so delicious, if the presentation lacking. Do you know how many people a hospital feeds a day? The food areas are usually so far out of the way, and have pretty strict practices, though I can’t speak for every facility.

Foods like tuna and egg salad don’t sit for very long, as they’re popular comfort style food, and suitable for most soft diets. Those sandwiches would be fed in a huge number of areas and would be made daily.

I know YMMV, but I’m usually a food safety freak and I’d eat these.

But what if the person with the food cart is called away for an emergency and the food cart is near a door on a very warm day and the food worker didn't quite get that one spot on their hands clean and door doesn't shut properly and the chicken salad is exposed to a blast of 105F air from the parking lot for an hour? Use your brain people!

[Anonymous]

No op order pasta if you can

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. I am sorry that you are not well and don't think it's a weird question. I would wager that you are far safer eating those in a hospital than at a random pot luck event. However, my assumption would be that they are not making them fresh, they are using a prepacked commercial product which can always have a contamination risk. If you are specifically worried about something like listeria, you might order something else that will be cooked hot. If you are just generally wondering and having trouble finding something else you like to eat, then get it.

I hope you are able to go home soon.

[Anonymous]

I had the trio at Sibley and liked it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No op order pasta if you can

If you’re worried about fake mayo, I hate to tell you about pasta.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand your concern, OP. The hospital has refrigeration. You know the whole hospital isn’t getting food poisoning from the chicken salad every day, right?

I beg to differ, hospital-borne infections are commonplace and now that there is no federal agency to report and monitor - it’s a lost cause.
The refrigeration is not happening between cafeteria and patient room. Any number of things can delay the cart significantly. I’d be careful.

Those aren't from food.

In 1986 a report was published of food poisoning in a hospital staff canteen:
Eighty-two confirmed cases of salmonella food poisoning arose among hospital staff due to consuming contaminated tartar sauce served in the staff canteen. Many key personnel were affected and the hospital was closed to non-urgent admissions. In order to maintain the accident and trauma services, the normal policy of excluding infected persons from work had to be modified. Staff returned to work 48 h after they had become asymptomatic provided that they did not have contact with patients' mouths, food or drink. There were no secondary cases. During the investigation of the outbreak, lack of national guidelines for the preparation and handling of mayonnaise-based food products became apparent.

If food poisoning was happening to patients from hospital food,
1. it would be in the news
2. it would trigger investigations by health department, The Joint Commission, and probably others
3. Notice what happened to the hospital itself--no non-urgent admissions.
4. You can bet those guidelines were developed.

Having said that, given how awful hospital food is, I stick to yogurt and french toast.