Every mouthful may be 'a bit of a concern' in TRNC?

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 20:49

According to the front page article in today's 'Cyprus Today', up to a third of restaurant/cafe diners could be going home with crook guts - or words to that effect!



Surely not - where could these statistics possibly be gleaned from?



Is this a deliberate attempt to further damage the touristic reputation of this wonderful country?



If so, why would the editor of this most popular TRNC newspaper allow such a scandalous allegation to be published - and as 'front page news', too?



Our favourite Australian bard has - 'Hic!'- covered this subject - albeit in Bali!



Unfortunately, I can't source the actual song on 'YouTube' - but, for the less squeamish amongst you, here's the lyrics:



http://www.lyricsvip.com/Kevin-Bloody-Wilson/Bali-Belly-Song-Lyrics.html

Jeannie


Joined: 04/08/2009
Posts: 3283

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 20:57

Can't speak for others, obviously, but I can honestly say that having visited TRNC for well over 20 years, I have never (OK - once) had an upset stomach.



I have no idea why the Cyprus Today would publish such a thing - it beggars belief.

Turtle


Joined: 28/05/2007
Posts: 2669

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 21:00

I have to agree Jeannie never had a problem, if I go to Spain now thats a different matter ,...I lose weight every time I go

Tootie


Joined: 28/08/2008
Posts: 2037

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 21:06

Totally agree, I have only once had a dodgy stomach but it was nothing serious.

Also most kitchens I've seen have been very modern & clean also Butchers the same.

But what does worry me is the supermarkets and their freezers!!

Jetski


Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 584

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 21:28

Amateur barbecues worry me!

dalartokat


Joined: 14/04/2008
Posts: 734

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 21:43

Wheres the proof in all of this. To get "crook guts" or alleged food poisoning one has to complain first of all and also attend doctors. If its affected ex-pats I'm sure they would have shouted from the roof tops by now if it was the same restaurants that kept being mentioned. One assumes that goes for TC as well.



Dirty ice in drinks, eating melon, drinking beer and wine, eating fresh fruit after a meal can also affect your stomach and give symptons of a bad stomach. Food poisoning takes 48 hours to surface and fish etc. can be immediate.



However, if preparation of food by individuals is not up to par then problems will occur.



Why dosn't someone ring up the Editor and ask why the article was printed and ask for the proof to be printed also, after all she's not a stranger to articles about restaurants being printed in this newspaper having exployed Hilary Jemal in the past to go around being the Island critic.

dalartokat


Joined: 14/04/2008
Posts: 734

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 21:49

Sorry last paragraph should read "having employed"

Marion


Joined: 06/03/2011
Posts: 1816

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 22:33

Guess I am blessed with a cast iron constitution as |I have never had food poison ing. It must be all that dirt I ate as a child has built up my immune system. And I don't know anyone personally that has been so affected. I guess the statistic has come from somewhere, but where? But, come on guys, do tell if you, or anyone you know has been affected. Just because I don't know anyone doesn't mean it isn't true - but it does seem a VERY high percentage.

susief


Joined: 06/11/2008
Posts: 529

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 22:57

If you actually read the article it states in the first two paragraphs that it is from a study by the Turkish Cyprus Chamber of Food Engineers who claim that 35 per cent of people eating out during the past two years had fallen ill.

Marion


Joined: 06/03/2011
Posts: 1816

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 23:14

Thanks susieF - don't have the paper in front of me, but my argument still applies for myself. Never had food poisoning in my life, including being in india where a lot of folk get a Delhi belly. So, who, i wonder was a part of the Food engineers and where did they go? Strange.

Blackbird



Joined: 11/08/2009
Posts: 1432

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 23:23

Never had any problem in TRNC. However I did get food poisoning in Turkey - thought I was going to die....

BizziLizzi


Joined: 02/08/2011
Posts: 855

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 23:38

I have lived here for 15 years and have only once had a stomach upset that was attributable to bad food in a resteraunt.





I agree though , I have wondered about the supermarkets - not so much the freezers (which will keep frozen for a long time in an electricity cut) but things like animal fats , butter, milk etc. which are kept cool on the shelves, but where are they stored and for how long and in what conditions before they go on the shelves? And presumably most restaurants get their staples from the supermarkets.

Glasbury


Joined: 13/08/2010
Posts: 268

Message Posted:
20/08/2011 23:45

When I am over I eat out morning, noon and night literally and have never had a problem.

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 06:37

It does appear to be somewhat of an overstatement of the statistics... maybe a decimal point has been misplaced.

There's the world of difference between a 'loose digestive system' and food poisoning. The former can be the result of a change in diet when abroad and your body adjusting to this. Food poisoning is a much more serious and debilitating affair. So which are they classifying and who provided the evidence?

swyflot


Joined: 07/11/2008
Posts: 916

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 09:12

Not "food poisoning" as such but my son in law visited us for 9 days and returned home with severe diarrhoea and vomiting and was diagnosed with "gardia" a parasitic illness assocciated with infected water supplies. He is still taking antibiotics (started the course early in June) and has lost 12Kg in weight......I now use only bottled water for everything !!

Deniz1


Joined: 28/07/2009
Posts: 3829

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 09:15

All our local restaurants have regular visits from the health police (Catalkoy) and they even check the water in the bottles.

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 11:09

How do they check the water in sealed bottles..?...And when have you seen them check Restaurant or Supermarket Chest Freezers..etc Health Police ,I think not.....

Marion


Joined: 06/03/2011
Posts: 1816

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 11:39

If you have too many extra food inspectors, someone has to pay, and so there could be yet another rise in the cost of living. Personally, I LOVE the fact that we are not OTT on 'elf and safety'. and if it got like other places, then that is time to win the lottery and buy my own desert island and live in my own dirt. I LOVE the fact that this is Not Brtain with its paternalistic laws that is creating a nation of wimps. In fact I read an article the other day that 'sell by dates' will soon be abolished as they have found a chemical that will make things last for ever. Yea, but, I wonder how harmful that chemical is !? And so it goes on......

dalartokat


Joined: 14/04/2008
Posts: 734

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 12:10

Swyflot, Giardia is normally associated with back packers, because they would be out and about and drinking water from streams etc. In your son-in-laws case that sounds to me like someone has filled up water bottles with well water and is not filtering. It sounds also like your son-in-law has caught Giardia very badly for it to go on as long as it has.



If it were me I would have reported this, especially if he could have back tracked the places he frequented. Its not uncommon for restaurants to fill up water bottles with tap water thats why you should always check the seal when buying water and where possible avoid anything that has to be washed beforehand.

Deniz1


Joined: 28/07/2009
Posts: 3829

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 15:55

I was referring to the 19ltr bottles on coolers and i said restaurants i was not talking about shops.

daisy dukes


Joined: 06/09/2008
Posts: 3815

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 16:03

In 9 years i have had food poisoning 3 times!!! Trouble is, on all occasions it was me that did it!! Not re-heating thoroughly is the main contender and forgetting about the prawns that i left out to defrost for far too long was likely to be another reason.....but never once have i been poorly from a restaurant!



DD

paddywack


Joined: 04/05/2009
Posts: 959

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 16:25

Been coming here 2/3 times a year for 8 years, eaten from a soup house, every type of eatery right up to Efendi`s, never had a dodgy meal yet.

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 18:51

If salads, or fruit, or any foodstuffs, are washed in mains supply, or well water, it may as well [pun intended!] be washed in the 'night bucket'!

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 18:59

And don't forget to wash yourself in iffy tap/well water when you have been E-coli sea bathing.....

paddywack


Joined: 04/05/2009
Posts: 959

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 19:27

Now Negative Nick has gone (or has he) it appears martin d41 hqas taken over with the smart***e remarks.

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 23:07

paddywack, As far as I know, tap water should not be drunk here in TRNC, and the sea has been contaminated with sewage and is rich in E-coli.....so drink up and have a nice swim..Not smart a***e remarks ,just simple facts for those who don't wear the rose tinted eye-ware.. .........

Johnatcastle


Joined: 23/07/2009
Posts: 163

Message Posted:
21/08/2011 23:51

I too have been coming for around 7 years now and have eaten out regularly on every trip. In the last five years my wife and children have been coming too. We have never (touch wood!!) been 'ill' from a restaurant meal. Maybe we have just been very luck or those stats are miles off and misleading.... Don't believe everything you read in the papers, they'll be talking about direct flights next......

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
22/08/2011 07:37

Despite all these CY44 members protestations of:



'We've never had crooks guts from Turkish tucker!'; according to 'Cyprus Today', these postings conflict with their allegation that:



* 'Behind some restaurants' posh exterior, lurk chefs with habits most inferior!'



*Please note: not CT's wording - but you get the gist!

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
22/08/2011 07:59

But they are allegations, we see little or no evidence other than daft figures put out that, if true, would have had the hospitals full to the gunwales.

I seriously doubt the veracity of these statistics... even if they did poll tourists leaving did they also ask how many had over-indulged in:-

Drinking

Sun

Swimming in the sea near sewerage outlets/pools not properly maintained

Before they cast their aspersions on the restaurant trade?

Was there an science to back-up their claims?

How were there not hundreds of people debilitated lying in the streets crying for help?

The claims do not add up...

I'm not saying that all establishments have perfect hygiene but numbers that could lead to such a bout of poisoning surely do not exist.

Rottolover



Joined: 21/06/2009
Posts: 519

Message Posted:
22/08/2011 09:10

If there really is a "Turkish Cyprus Chamber of Food Engineers", then whoever is responsible for issuing those statistics has made a gross error. They simply can't be correct, and failing any mention of how they were determined, no credence should be given them in any way.



Additionally, any government controlled department would have to be managed by morons to allow figures like these to be published, so damning are they to the tourist business of the TRNC.



Oh, hang on...

blade


Joined: 19/06/2010
Posts: 1286

Message Posted:
22/08/2011 11:40

I have two issues with the food here.

The meat is not tested to the same sort of standards as in EU countries. My vet explained this to me, when the goverment tried to pull the farmers into line a while back they protested.



The electricity goes on and off all of the time, hence the food is not kept at correct temperatures.



The only time i had food poisoning was from eggs, cooked by my hubby! I was very ill for about three months. The guy at the chemist told me you should always hard boil your eggs here, didn't i know that? Stupid me i like a runny fried egg on my toast. Well not anymore, i couldn't even look at an egg for about a year after.

Ozbey


Joined: 04/03/2009
Posts: 304

Message Posted:
22/08/2011 12:31

I think this report says more about the quality of Cyprus Today (and the Turkish Cyprus Chamber of Food Engineers) than it says about the quality of restaurants.

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
22/08/2011 15:55

msg31...I agree,the meat here looks un-hung and diabolically Butchered,splinters of bone everywhere....Eggs are left in piles in the middle of Supermarket Isles instead of chill cabinets...Chest Freezers are over full, above the "Red Line",and often only one or two degrees below freezing instead of -15/20 degrees ....In this Heat it's a little off putting....

Tango1


Joined: 19/02/2011
Posts: 1151

Message Posted:
22/08/2011 16:03

A couple of friends of mine came over here for 2 weeks about 3 weeks ago. Both of them fine for 2 days, then had a meal in a local Restaraunt specialising in fish and were both really ill for next 10 days. One of them had to be taken to Girne hospital late at night and had two injections of something or other. I blame the hot weather in most cases together with lack of personal hygiene by some people preparing food.