College may be poisoning us....please help

---

so I have spent my entire year running to the bathroom hoping i make it. i was told that its probably just nerves. um...no just today i talked to about 10 kids just on my floor and asked if they have been getting sick from the cafeteria. turns out they are. not all the time but pretty frequently. someone said something about MGB its some sort of thing that preserves the food and makes it taste better. could this be? i thought that was only used for packaged food. they also leave the breakfast stuff sit out from 11-4 on the weekends. how safe is that?! they serve spoiled milk sometimes too. i have never seen them change the salad dressings, they jsut sit out all day on ice. is it just my stomach being finicky? ive been getting sick to the point of missing class lately. ontop of that feverish. and when i do get sick it feels like my stomach is imploding literally it makes me bend down. the pains have been getting even more intense. is this healthy to have the constant shits?! ive even been eating more fiber...and eliminated grease and milk a while ago. please help me...what do you think is goin on?

It's MSG.. Mono Sodium Glutemate (or something close to that).Maybe things are getting spoiled. Who knows? Perhaps you should contact the Heath department for a surprise inspection.

yeah actually im pissed off, people are gonna hear about this tomorrow. ive had enough its only 9 and im exhausted because i have been sick for the past three hours. im going to the top with this...and i dont care if i have to raise my voice to get my point across...this is complete bullshit i pay 1500 a semester to eat here!!! sorry i had to vent ahhh.

I'm not defending their food or how they handle it, but are other folks as sick as you are? It is possible that you might have a chronic bowel disease that may or may not have been triggered by something in your environment.Is it possible to eat off campus (or at least in a different dining hall) for a few days to see if it makes a difference?

it does make a difference. its the food there. there are kids that get the same thing goin on they get the shits when they eat there no matter what it is.

Then it sounds like they've set themselves up for a major lawsuit.

It sounds like the food may not be being stored properly and is growing bacteria. Do contact the local government Health department - this is definitely grounds for investigation.

do you think i should go to the health department before talking to my school? or the other way around i was thinking about starting a petition actually to get my point across. someone said to really get my point across call action 6 news lol. i just want to feel better thats all. they dont really listen to our suggestions anyways.

If what you say is true, then it's an emergency. Call the health department first thing in the morning. If they won't move fast enough, call channel 6. Then go to the dean's office and ask to speak to the him (or the university president). He should be sensitive enought to the risk of litigation to talk to you. If not, then your university is one truly screwed up place.People can die from food poisoning.

turns out i cant call the news because i go to a private college. they got in trouble before. however i did go complain to someone in student life and they emailed this head honcho guy over at the college we share their cafeteria with. however, i have yet to hear back as to what hes going to do. if he doesnt reply in a day or two shes going to go to an even higher guy and get this taken care of. i still wont eat there though...and if i do its going to be something safe like cereal.

I wouldn't give them two days. They seem not to consider it an emergency. Are they just going to poison people for a few more days?They ought to refund your dining hall fee for the year. Whoever is running the show there sounds completely clueless and irresponsible.

you CAN call the health department. any food operation is required to have a license, and they are inspected at regular intervals. trouble is, they usually know approximately when the inspector is coming.call them and tell them that xx amount of people in your dorm have diarreah after eating in the cafeteria. that is considered a possible food borne illness outbreak and they SHOULD come out right away.it would be helpful if you got together and noted what you ate. if you all ate the same thing, or at least most of you did, that will point the health dept in the right direction.regarding salad dressings, many places make the mistake of "topping off" the containers. so the stuff on the bottom is old, possibly growing bacteria, and contaminating the rest of the dressing. or it's simply not being held at the right temperature, which is 40* or below.

yeah i was thinking about your comment about the salad dressing today while i was attempting to eat my salad. i sorta just poked it with my fork and threw it out. the dressing was warm by the way. they tried to serve a huge bowl of BROWN salad. i complained and one of the employees came out to pick out the brown. i was like EXCUSE ME its all throughout how can you expect people to eat that? ...now tell me your opinion am i being too picky? im getting really pissed off they had open deli today meaning anyone can pick through the meats, cheeses, sorta cold egg and tuna salad. the only problem is that i told someone at my school on tuesday its now been just about a week. im in the middle of finals when i do have free time its late. by the way im sick as i write this. its really loud on the left side of my abdomen and you can visually see it moving. bleh. i hate my school im seriously thinking about transfering.

WTF? You're eating that crap? Isn't there anywhere else you can get food? Having the runs during finals is probably not the best path to good grades.It doesn't take a lot of time to knock on someone's door and complain, or call the board of health. In fact, probably less time than you'll spend in the toilet.

Transferring schools is not the best decision right now. Make it your goal to have something done. It's all about talking to people. I personally would have not informed anyone at the school about the problems with the food, rather I think it would have been best to go straight to the Health Department. With a problem as serious as this, you most likely won't get "in trouble" or "yelled at" for not going through the right filters. Just go straight to the top.

I work at the Board of Education in my town and I have to say they have very strict policies about the quality of foods that are served to students. All of the cafeteria's in the county scored a 100 on their health inspection... but anyone can impress the judges during test time. The only way to have consistent good quality of food is to make sure the kitchen staff is following policy and protocol.

I wish I was there. I'd have some fun stirring up a storm. Don't be afraid to make your voice heard if you have something to say.

EDIT: My brother-in-law is a health inspector. I can ask him what 'proper' steps you can take about getting something done about this situation if you want me to.

either stop eating their or sue them. dont transfer just because of food though.

hey guys yeah i am still alive. i got this douche bag that runs the cafeteria's number. AFTER TWO WEEKS. i guess im going to make a list and this guys gonna wish he didnt give my school his number. i have a little time today to call the board of health before i call him though. im in the middle of a month long of finals. and people are still getting sick. i am REALLY pissed...this is completely unfair. :angry:

wish me luck!

Why are you even bothering with the people who run the cafetaria. It's already been recommended that you simply report the situation to the Health Depatment and let them make a surprise visit.

DAMNIT I WROTE A F UCKING LOT. NEVERMIND MEH THE HEALTH DEPARTMENTS COMING.....

Why are you yelling at me?