One woman shared how a cost-saving tactic for a Christmas meal backfired when all her guests ended up with food poisoning.
The anonymous women, who shared their warning anonymously, detailed how she typically took charge of all holiday celebrations in her family network.
As such, I had amassed an arsenal of party planning tactics to help mitigate the cost of hosting festivities.
This includes shamelessly boxing leftovers from events such as corporate functions.
While this usually proved successful without anyone noticing, on one fateful Christmas in 2017, everything went wrong.
writing in women’s weekly detailed how she convinced a caterer at a friend’s work event to let her have all the leftover holiday spreads, as well as luxury “party items.”
“He was worried about the hygiene and quality of the food, but I convinced him by telling him that it was only for my large family and that I would not keep it for more than a day,” he wrote.
But this was a lie, as the woman was saving the food for her extended family’s Christmas party a few nights later.
One woman’s efforts to have an affordable holiday feast backfired on her family when most of the attendees ended up with food poisoning.
Experts have said leftovers should be stored in the top section of the refrigerator, away from fresh meat. Food safety authorities also warn against leaving leftovers in the refrigerator for more than two days before consuming them.
That same day there was nothing but praise from the guests.
‘The honey baked ribs and turkey tasted delicious and everyone loved the elegant table setting. “I was very happy to receive so many compliments from my loved ones,” he wrote.
But it all came crashing down when many of the attendees suffered food poisoning the next day.
Her own daughter became so seriously ill that she had to be sent to the hospital.
‘My husband, my youngest daughter, my in-laws and several of my cousins and family friends suffered from food poisoning. I even had to send my daughter to the ER that night because she was vomiting and had a high fever, while the rest of the family rested at home,” she said.
Compounding her guilt over the incident was the fact that she was one of the only family members to escape food poisoning.
Food poisoning, including infections such as salmonella and campylobacter, is a common ailment with an estimated almost 2.5 million cases a year in the UK.
The vast majority of these are mild cases, but for some people, such as the elderly, it can be much more serious, with around 200 deaths per year.
While there are no figures on what proportion of cases are caused by festive period dishes, experts consider the post-Christmas glut of leftovers to be a prime time for bouts of food poisoning.
Food poisoning has numerous potential causes.
Undercooked meat, contamination in the processing or storage of foods such as cheese, poor hygiene practices such as failure to wash hands by those preparing it, and improper reheating are just some of the possible sources.
Britons have previously shared nightmare stories of Christmas food poisoning, including one woman who fell violently ill after eating leftover turkey and vegetables on Boxing Day.
The bacteria that cause the dreaded food poisoning symptoms can grow quickly in hot, cooked foods left out of the refrigerator.
Experts recommend cooling foods as quickly as possible (and making sure reheated meat is piping hot) when eating leftovers.