Same here. Ate there twice, got violently ill both times. Never went back to that shithole after that.
This was well after that American bloke had ceased to be involved with them.
The worst case of food poisoning I ever had was from a pineapple pizza. I spent that night on the bathroom floor lest I be too far away when something wanted to come up. That was in the States about 15 years ago. I haven’t touched pineapple on a pizza since.
The sickest I ever got from food during my year in China was from a box of lemon wafers – but those were made in Hong Kong.
I can’t recall having any particular problems in Taiwan.
Anyone remember a few years back when a kid was sent to hospital with abdominal pains? They took his appendix out. Soon after another kid from the same school came in, same symptoms. And then another one came in and so on and so on.
They ended up taking the appendixes out of ten or more kids, can’t remember the exact number. Of course, you’ve guessed it - they all had food poisoning. That hospital was subsequently closed.
Tip - don’t get seriously sick in Taiwan.
Been in Taiwan for 7 years and got seriously sick twice. Once was from a MacDonald’s and the other was from the Italian restaurant at the top of the escalator on the second floor of the Neo 19 restaurant building next to Warner Village. The Neo19 sickness caused me to first have serious abdominal pain, then later, la duzi then the next day I awoke covered in itchy spots that lasted a week. It was either cold veal tuna salad or the shrimp ravioli. MacDonalds just made me puke and have la duzi. I lived in HongKong less than a year and it seemed less sanitary and got la duzi a lot, but food poisoning only once from a 5 star hotel’s buffet. Maybe the oysters were sitting out too long?
Thanks for tip on Capone’s. Will avoid that place.
Since living in Taiwan, I’ve had three cases of food poisoning. Two of these were back in the US while visiting there. Considering I spend 75% of my time in Taiwan, that is in Taiwan’s favor. I eat out at night markets and hole-in-the-wall eateries quite a lot here. My one food poisoning incident in Taiwan was from a famous Taiwan-style steak restaurant. The US ones were from a Korean restaurant where my meal included raw egg, and a west-coast hamburger chain. The Korean dish landed me in the hospital for bad dehydration. Needed 3 liters of IV. Man that sucked.
Aiyoo…I hope the above Italian restaurant is not going to sue me now…but I really was very, very angry to stay home alone with a food poisoning at new years eve, when all my friends were out partying…
I never ever had any bad experiences with those nightmarkets and food stalls in Taiwan, but then again, I’m veggie. Do they use less MSG here in TAiwan than in Mainland? Could that be one of the reasons?
Can someone please provide addition information (to include sources of information) regarding the use of industrial grade oils for cooking.
I have read about the documented use of rapeseed oils in China (not sure if this also refers to Taiwan) and how Canada does not in anyway want their Canola Oil categorized with the oils being used in China. Is this the “Industrial Grade Oil”???
Thanks for the info… [ as I head out to Shilin Night Market for some fried chicken breast! :? ]
Scooter was facetiously referring to the widespread use of very low quality cooking oil…I hope.
Since I first came to Taiwan some 10 years ago I’ve been sick only a few times. I guess always from eating clams.
I eat (try) anything anywhere in Taiwan or wherever I travel and the score is still acceptable.
I don’t eat a lot of meat though and surely not in summer. I dare to eat sashimi bought at the local wet market even in summer, never got problems with that. Maybe the wasabi kills the bugs.
I’ve been very sick some years ago from eating mussels in my home country.
I opened this closed mussel because they were so delicious, I wish I had never done that. I really thought I’d die, that sick I was. It felt like I had a stone in my stomic. Releasing al juices frontways and backways at the same time on a public freeway parking, no time to get my pants of. What a feeling, this warm fluid running down along the legs into the shoes.
So remember, never open a prepared closed mussel and eat it.
I’ve been told that when eating contaminated clams and mussels, shells you could easily become allergic to seafood. I didn’t, luckily.
In all I guess, I’ve not been sick more from food poisoning here than back home.
Anyway, ever tried ballut in the Philippines?
I have never had food poisoning except in Taiwan and I’ve been sick twice since I’ve been here. I took the advice of my Taiwanese friends not to eat at the vendors until I had been here for at least six months. I’ve been here much much longer than that and believe I still have never eaten at a steet vendor.
The first time I got sick was a few years ago during Chinese New Year, I was eating with a family. I am guessing it was the fried crab meat that did me in. After vomiting and sitting on the toilet for a half hour or so I decided it was time to head to a hospital as it wasn’t letting up and I was beginning to feel seriously dehydrated, drinking water wasn’t helping my situation any either. They immediately put me on an IV and gave me something to settle my stomach. Stayed there for about two hours and was released. I’ve never felt so bad, even after drinking too much! The doctor at the hospital told me a story about a prominent restaurant in Taipei at a western hotel. He said one night there was a party held, few hundred people or so, afterwords two or three people got food poisioning during the night’s events. Even though everyone at the party had eated the same food, only a handfull got sick. He said just because only a few people get sick it doesn’t mean the food is okay. Case in point, I was the only one who got sick from dinner. I still felt like shit for the next 3-4 days.
My second time was just this past Feb/March in Taroko. Be very careful what you eat if you stay at the Formosa hotel. The hotel food is fine, but we didn’t want to spend the outrageous prices at the hotel, so we had been walking across the parking lot to some smaller privlately owned resturants. Two of the guys in our group got sick, I was one of them. The first one vomited, immediately felt better, so I figured what the hell, so I self induced and sure enough immediately felt better. Lasted only a few hours.
It’s hard to tell where will be good and where will be bad, sometimes I wonder if the street vendor food is safer as it usually gets eaten and not recooked the next day, or am I in denial?
FYI, I have no relationship with that hotel nor it with I.
Meio Mea Gulpa!
As for food poisoning, I got it twice from eating raw Jap style fish, I think it is called Saw She Me or So Sue Me or something like that, violent O2 for three days, near death. As a resulto, I never eat Japanese style food anymore.
One of my most painful memories of this rancid island. I do like cotton candy, though.
Mabye I should clarify… The food at the hotel is fine, it’s the food vendors across the parking lot you should becareful about.
As for raw fish, I have never been sick from it and enjoy eating it! Though you should make sure the place you eat it is clean otherwise you may end up with food poisoning.
a 9 year old kid just died of food poisoning from a hot pot meal, at home, apparently, CHINA POST had story today, entire family sick, kid does. LINK?
does this mean HOT POT is danger?
Well the argument against being too hygienic is that you are weakening yourself by not getting exposure to certain germs
However I think as long as it is boiled or fried it should be ok, and is fresh when it was cooked. I notice Taiwanese people do not have a problem with freezing thawing and then refreezing food and meat, nor do they have a problem with reheating food like pork. We were always thought this was a big NO NO
Only had food poisoning here once. That was from pork, and it was the worst I have ever felt. I was puking some much that I basically ripped my throat and for the following two days my tonsils were bleeding a little. Damn dumping house!! I told the owner of the dumping house about this, she denied everything and then at the end say, yes you guessed it, said “PIE SAY”.
I guess though if food poisoning was a big concern or rampant here, then alot more people would be dead and alot more restaurants would have no customers. That being said I know some places near me where I would not eat, EVER. It looks way too dodgy. I never eat at these Mom and Pop shops that look like the twilight zone. I think its safer to eat a shop that is frequented alot, simply cause there is more chance the food is fresher. Also have you ever seen the pork sitting chopped up on the side of the street on a summer’s day with the flies buzzing round it?
Else the odd finger slipping into the food when they are lobbing it into the bowl, or a whiff of fish off the rice, even though there isn’t a fish insight, but just after she came out of the bathroom to get a bowl of rice for you from the rice pot… I swear this happened to my friend and he ran out the door. He immediately made some sort of association :shock:
I know in Ireland that there is no way that some of these restaurants would be allowed to open, but then again I never got food poisoning from them, so it makes me ask the question, are we a little too wary and paranoid about hygiene, and do we sometimes over do it?
I usually eat at places that I am familiar with, and do not like strolling down the back alleys looking for something different
I think the oil they use here is more like 100% pig lard than Axle grease.
I would also have stronger worries about the “ingredients” they put in the food, MSG et al, and the heavy metals in the water used to boil my noodles.
Having been here for a few years i feel lucky to say that i have not suffered from food poisoning, not once, must be the upbringing back in Africa and India, has given me a cast iron stomach, unfortunately, this does not seem to apply to beer, where i have now stopped drinking Boddingtons, canned or draught, anywhere in Taiwan, it always gives me the trots if more than three or four are drunk.
How crazy is that ???
Having been here for a few years i feel lucky to say that i have not suffered from food poisoning, not once, must be the upbringing back in Africa and India, has given me a cast iron stomach, unfortunately, this does not seem to apply to beer, where i have now stopped drinking Boddingtons, canned or draught, anywhere in Taiwan, it always gives me the trots if more than three or four are drunk.
How crazy is that ???
wow, you are one lucky traveller!!! and yes, you must have an iron stomach…so now you can go to the snake alley to do some exploring…
Never felt sick from anything I ate or drank in Taiwan either… but in the US I ate some food I bought in the store… and later that night I was in ER
I have never been sick from food here after 18 years. Sure, sometimes I get the runs from something (usually lettace from the US), but never really sick.
I was sick about once every three weeks in India over a six months motorcyling trip, but nothing serious.
I also got some bad food at the top of Huangshan in China and then had to walk all the way down. Yuck!
I do think that you build up some sort of tolerance for bacteria over the years of eating filth here. And I eat just about any and everything.
I think you’ve just been very very lucky. I mean if you eat a bunch of clams that are chock full of some horrible bacteria you are going to be violently ill no matter what.
I’m not sure either if you really do build up a tolerance as you suggest, or if you merely subconsciously ‘learn’ to avoid the dodgier looking places. Just a theory.