buffet nightmare HELP please!!

[jamie24]

my work is having an xmas party, it's going to be at a resort way out
in the boonies...with a buffet. i am terrified of eating from a buffet.
the food just sits there, those lamps CAN'T possibly keep the food hot
enough. i don't want to not eat anything and look like a dork in front
of all my co workers. what should i do?

i want to go, but i am scared of eating the food....HELP!

[hanarky]

eat salads and stuff that's SUPPOSED TO BE COLD and some foods that arent
compicated like clams and fish (thats nasty s*** when it's not good) just tkae
it easy

[liriodendron]

I don't blame you but then again...



If you see them bring the food right out of the kitchen, then get to it
first. Make sure it's piping hot before you bite into it.



Maybe they will have soup too. Or maybe you can make up an excuse as to
why you aren't eating like you're on the Atkins diet or tell them you
just aren't hungry.

[madisonsmom]

Personally I dont eat from buffets either. I know I am not much help.[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[raindrop]

eat salads and stuff that's SUPPOSED TO BE COLD and some foods that arent

compicated like clams and fish (thats nasty s*** when it's not good) just tkae

it easy

Are you saying DO eat clams and fish, or don't? Because you truly,
truly shouldn't eat ANY type of seafood stuff that's been left out,
whether it's meant to be hot OR cold. Avoid chicken, prawns,
seafood, dips, quiche-type things, in fact - any meats if you
can. Go for the salad, breads, (garlic bread?), vegetable based
things, pasta, and if stuff is piping hot (too hot to touch to your lip
for any length of time) then you'll be fine.



Hope I haven't scared you, but best to take precautions! I've had to
attend a couple of buffets and once I said I was getting over a
migraine and my stomach wasn't fancying food, but the second time I was
more adventurous and I really enjoyed the food - I was fine.

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[liriodendron]

Look, No matter what it is, the food needs to be kept within the safe temperature range.

That range is 160F or above

or 41F or below. (In my state, the law is 41 but some places it's 40 or 42)



If it's left out for a couple of hours then you have a reason to worry.
Another thing you can do is go get a thermometer from the grocery store
and stick it in the food you're going to eat and if it's at a safe
temp, the chow away. At that time of the year, a bigger concern
would be people coughing or sneezing in the food. At buffet
restaurants, "Sneeze guards" are required by the food code but at a
special banquet, they are not.



Hot foods will likely be kept hot with Sterno cans and closed with a lid and cold foods will be kept in ice below the tray.

[jamie24]

lol, i can just imagine the look on my co workers faces if i whipped out a thermometre and stuck it in my plate of food!!



i think i will just say what raindrop said...getting over a migraine.
if something looks okay, i might eat a little. but i am generally
terrified of buffet food. if food in my own house is left out for more
than like 20 minutes i throw it away...i know that is irrational, but
hey, i am an emet.

thank you all for the replies.[img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]

[gumdropper1]

Just take a look at the buffet and see how you feel. I ate at a lot of salad bars when they were popular and then buffets and for a while I was a buffet freak! There was evena time I had 3-buffet weekends. I have never had any kind of gastrointestinal problem that I can attribute to a buffet.


But the buffet has to have the right feeling to it. Sometimes I will go to a buffet, particularly a Chinese buffet, and get the feeling that something isn't right, and I won't eat there. (And wherever I go, I have my Purell with me.)


Of course, being able to eat like this is a sign that my emet is having less impact on me. I remember when my emet was at its worst that I wouldn't have dreamed of eating at a salad bar or buffet.


Doug

[japa]

I doubt that it will help for me to say this, but the odds are that you are not going to sick from eating at the buffet. You go to the party, have a good time, eat the food, and enjoy it. It's not going to make you ill.


But I feel that it's futile for me to say this because I don't imagine that you'll believe me.

[kate1966]

[img]smileys/smilies_03.gif[/img]Hey Jamie.....I just experienced the exact same thing as you did...well my story is a little different....last yr..my co workers and I had to go to an awards and recognition program an hour away from our town....it was in the summer though. so, we get there...well i had been feeling queasy all day anyway so i don't know what the deal was for me...but i got there and we had a buffet syle dinner served to us also...i ate and the program started......it wasn't long before i was so nauseas and had to get up and go to the bathroom....i stayed in there for about 30 min at least.......i was sweating....on the verge of V.....it was so bad...i felt horrible.,.....i never did v..but had to carry a plastic bag home for the hour drive b/c i didn't know what was going to happen...it was one of the worst experiences of my life......i was a passenger too...i didn't drive...which i guess was good in a way...normally i have to be the one driving....so anyway i was sooooooooooo paranoid about any other functions i had to go to work related.....b/c i felt doomed that it would happen again....well...........last night we had another one....and i was soooooooooo scared...well it wasn't beffut......but catered...so i was still paranoid as all get out...................anyway i took a xanax before dinner....and it was a nice sit down dinner...with salad to start with....then grilled chicken over wild rice....which was really good....then a nicechocolate cake for dessert..........so i freaked over nothing .......but the panic was real for me...i was dry mouthed and scared the whole entire time.....but i made it through just fine.......so just go and try to have a good time...take something to make you relax if you can....it helped me...good luck and i hope you will be fine.............K

[hollyjean]

I use the migrane excuse too. I would suggest you eat something small
before you go then maybe just pick at the buffet as soon as it is
served. Most buffets have things like breadsticks and crackers so you
can pick at those and just tell people you cant stomach much because
you are getting over a migrane.

[tayda]

I don't really eat at buffets either. But sometimes. I usual;y go for the veggie items or the pasta and breads. I don't know why, but they seem safe to me.

[jamie24]

okay, i will do that!

thanks so much guys! i will try to just relax and have a good time, maybe drink a couple beers to relax me and make me hungry[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[scarletbea]

Buffets can be tricky - actually, in contrast to some advice here, you
should avoid salads, or anything raw or served cold.Too easy for it to
get contaminated by the food handlers, with no opportunity for the bugs
to get killed by heat. Hot meats are usually safe if they have been
properly handled beforehand, which most have (thinking s. aureus here,
which is more of a problem in the summer). You are better off with hot
foods - hot veggies are good, also pasta with non-creamy sauces.Hot
soup - can't go wrong with that!Wine and beer are good drinks (no iced
tea!) and may help kill bugs in your stomach (it's been shown that people
who drink wine have about half the incidence of gastrointestinal illness as
those who don't). Keep you hands clean. Carry a small container of
alcohol gel to use after shaking all those hands and before you touch
your food with your hands. I saw a recent figure that the use of alcohol
gels (like Purell gel) reduces the incidence of GI viruses by 69% in
insititutions. Pretty impressive. Never leave home without it...and
encourage its use in your workplace!

[bexcelica]

The restraunt I worked at always had buffets... and seriously, its all
good stuff. The way my mom tells me to think about eating otu anywhere
is that these people who's food your eating are making the food to make
money, gain business, etc. If someone gets sick from their food, they
will lose business... therefore, they use all the precautions and
wouldnt serve bad food.



Just stick to pasta and salad, bread, like the others said. But the
foods do stay pretty hot because they usually have sternos, candle type
things, underneathe the food. above the candles is a tray of bioling
water, which the sternos keep boiling, which in turn keeps the food
warm. Dont worry. It really will be okay.

[s0ccer_princess]

I am a bit shaky about going to buffets, but everytime my family goes to Germany (twice a year), we go to this buffet restaurant.

I always eat the pizza, garlic bread, no meat things, sometimes a bit of salad- but not really, chips if they seem warm, and pasta without dreamy sauce.

If you really are worried, you aren't going to enjoy the meal, and afterwards you'll feel sick from worrying, therefore making you think you've got ill. If you are completely against it, eat at home, or-ooh! This resataurant I go to sells freshly cooked food too.

Tell people you have allergies and you want to eat somethng specific maybe?