QP Food & Health Issues

[dean_au]

Hi Everyone,

For VirginiaF to help you rule out any other cause, I was also in the SYD QP on Sunday Afternoon for the 20.05 BNE Flight. I got to the lounge at approx 18.00.....

Sorry to be graphic in my first ever post but,

I had two pieces of the ham pizza on offer nothing else but fruit before arriving and then only pretzels on the flight.....

I woke up feeling really unwell and had diarrhoea at approximately 4 a.m. - experienced fever and headaches all day monday and was sweating profusely.

Even spent most of Tuesday in bed recovering....

Apparently a classic case of food poisoning from the pizza as it was almost exactly ten hours after I had consumed it.

Have only recently joined the QP, is this type of thing common?

Does anyone have any general advice for using the QP?

 

[VirginiaF]

Re: Domestic Qantas Club Sydney

Thanks for the info Dean.

From what you say, a whole new spin is put on the food quality of the QP at Sydney domestic. The reason is that I had my experience on the previous day (Saturday), so I would guess that the problem may not be a one off.

As for your question about the standards in the QP, I must say that I have been a memeber for over 5 years and have never had this problem. That said, I have also got to say that the food quality (if you could attribute that description to the food), the dress standards, and general behaviour has declined.

What surprises me is that "back in the old days" you would read about warnings to travellers about dubious food and water quality in third world countries and that you should be careful what and where you eat. Never would I have though that those warnings may actually apply to the QP, let alone anywhere in God's own lucky country.

So, caveat emptor, I will be very wary about the food I eat in QP from now on, and be a little more assertive regarding unacceptable beahviour. I don't think it is up to me to move elsewhere just to escape someone who doesn't have the decency to treat the lounge as a place where you would behave better than you would at home.

 

[tuppaware]

Hi Everyone,



Have only recently joined the QP, is this type of thing common?

Does anyone have any general advice for using the QP?

Sorry to hear that you got sick. I would be ringing Qantas to let them know of a possible food safety issue you had.

Personally I avoid anything with meat in the QP, I've never gotten sick from the beer ... so your fine with that

 

[reductionist]

A week ago today I comped a friend into the QP lounge in MEL. We both wanted some breakfast. It wasn't until after our flight that he told me the bread next to the J lounge entrance was mouldy.

Embarrassing.

Did not bother complaining to Qantas as I had already contacted them in the previous week to let them know that I wouldn't be renewing my QP membership (due to the removal of access to priority domestic check-in counters).

 

[yohy?!]

I thought typically food poisoning did not kick in until significantly longer after ingestion -like 24 hours?

Edit: seems it can vary depending on the type of nasty! http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/problems-with-food/food-poisoning/

 

[Mal]

Qantas would be stupid to not be ensuring that the food being served in the QP is of a good hygiene standard. Plenty of negative recourse available if it's proven otherwise.

That said, I have experienced some issues in the QP which has concerned me over time. For example, in the J lounge - the bain marie type meat dish of the night being a lot cooler than I would expect it to be for good hygiene, the pizza slices coming out lukewarm and some of the other foods being left out for a very long time. Also, the general hygiene habits of the other guests wouldn't help ....

But I can't recall ever experiencing any type of food poisoning from a QP. Headaches the next day, sometimes - but that's a different type of poisoning

 

[Awesom Andy]

Headaches the next day, sometimes - but that's a different type of poisoning

Strange... I always seem to get this type of issue after QP visits as well. :shock:

I'll definitely have a good look at the catering... I'm due in for my next Syd dom QP visit in about 2 weeks time.

 

[ric_melb]

Well in defence of food safety in Qantas Club, I have never had a problem in the 20 or so years I have been visiting the Clubs. Personally I think the new food options in the Club are an enhancement.

If any members do have instances of food poisoning I would also suggest they report it to Qantas. Large organisations have to take food hygiene seriously.

My sympathies are with the members. Food poisoning is most unpleasant.

 

[mannej]

Food poisoning can occur anywhere, even where you don't expect it the most.
My colleague and I both had food poisoning at the Hilton PJ, yet when we raised it they were very dismissive to the point of how dare you question our standards.

I would imagine that if it was raised in Australia, you would have the leverage of reporting it to both QF and the relevant health department. It is not pleasant so you should report it.

 

[JohnK]

I thought typically food poisoning did not kick in until significantly longer after ingestion -like 24 hours?

Edit: seems it can vary depending on the type of nasty!

It sure can.

The body can react very violently to scrombroid fish poisoning as the body shuts down the food digestive system and tries to remove bacteria from body.

I had a couple of tuna bagueetes and some beer in the SYD T2 Qantas Lounge back in Oct 2007. About an hour or so later I was in a taxi on the way home when I started to have headaches and dizzy spells. When I got home I had to lay down as I could not stand up and drifted in and out of sleep for a while. And when the nausea started shortly after I could not keep anything down. All this had taken around 2-3 hours from eating the tuna baguette and I felt extremely sick that night.

Sent a letter to QF and got a reply a couple of weeks later that their food preparation are up to the required health standards and explained the process to me. Apparently food preparation is done off site and then delivered to the lounges. To me I got the impression that QF were not really interested in my feedback and were asking me for proof from the doctor. I guess they were more worried about legal issues but I did not have any time to get to the doctor as I was very ill.

Have stopped eating tuna unless I am preparing it from the tin or I know that it was prepared very recently.

I am not so sure about food preparation for the lounges. Tuna is taken out of a tin, make tuna baguette, refrigerate again (possibly but who knows?), deliver to lounge, keep registrated (hopefully) and then put out on buffet shelves. The tuna baguette could have been out on the buffet for a few hours at least and was it actually made that day anyway? Hopefully they throw away any leftover baguettes and not regrigerate and use again the next day. :shock:

 

[oz_mark]

Sent a letter to QF and got a reply a couple of weeks later that their food preparation are up to the required health standards and explained the process to me. Apparently food preparation is done off site and then delivered to the lounges.

[..snip..]

I am not so sure about food preparation for the lounges. Tuna is taken out of a tin, make tuna baguette, refrigerate again (possibly but who knows?), deliver to lounge, keep registrated (hopefully) and then put out on buffet shelves. The tuna baguette could have been out on the buffet for a few hours at least and was it actually made that day anyway? Hopefully they throw away any leftover baguettes and not regrigerate and use again the next day. :shock:

A few of us recently had a tour of the in flight meal preparation at the SATS facility in Singapore. In the case of Singapore at least, lounge food for Qantas at least is provided by the same facility - so it is on a par with the care taken with in-flight food.

As far as I am aware food is delivered to the lounge each day for that day.

 

[JohnK]

As far as I am aware food is delivered to the lounge each day for that day.

That is what QF told me but still does not explain why I got sick. Which leads to the next question and that is food handling in the lounge. Who knows and don't expect anyone to tell you the truth especially if they are likely to get in trouble?

I have never had an issue with tuna before or after that incident. Perhaps I was just unlucky....

 

[drmikki]

To be honest, it's not the QP food servers and preparation staff that get me worried, its the people who use their grubby hands to touch food, either touching other food when taking their serve or taking something and putting it back. YUCK! And those with kids running around putting hands god knows where.... :evil:

That said, I'm sure that aircraft seats, toilets, tables, etc all carry a nice bacterial and viral load, so I don't know that the QP food should take all the blame. All hail alcohol hand gel....

 

[Sprucegoose]

:-|

Well in defence of food safety in Qantas Club, I have never had a problem in the 20 or so years I have been visiting the Clubs. Personally I think the new food options in the Club are an enhancement.

If any members do have instances of food poisoning I would also suggest they report it to Qantas. Large organisations have to take food hygiene seriously.

My sympathies are with the members. Food poisoning is most unpleasant.

+1. never a problem with me and I have quite a short QFF number.