A woman has shared how one cost-saving tactic for a Christmas spread came back to bite her when all of her guests ended up with food poisoning.
The unnamed women, who shared her cautionary tale anonymously, detailed how she usually took charge of all festive celebrations in her family network.
As such she had amassed an armoury of ‘penny-pinching’ party planning tactics to help mitigate the cost of hosting festivities.
This including shamelessly boxing leftovers from events like corporate functions.
While this normally proved successful without anyone being the wiser, on one fateful Christmas in 2017, it all went awry.
Writing in Women’s Weekly she detailed how she convinced a caterer at a friend’s work event to let her have the entire festive leftover spread as well as luxury ‘party wares’.
‘He was concerned about the hygiene and quality of the food, but I convinced him by saying it was just for my large, extended family and that I wouldn’t keep it for more than a day,’ she wrote.
But this was lie, with the woman keeping the food for her extended family’s Christmas party which was to be held a few nights later.
One woman’s penny-pinching efforts to have a budget festive feast came back to bite her family when most of the attendees ending up with food poisoning
Experts have said that leftovers should be stored in the top section of the fridge away from the fresh meat. Food safety authorities also warn not to leave leftovers in the fridge any longer than two days before eating them
On the day itself there was nothing but compliments from the guests.
‘The honey-baked ribs and turkey tasted lip-smackingly good, and everyone loved the posh table setting. I felt so happy to receive so many compliments from my loved ones,’ she wrote.
But it all came crumbling down when the many of attendees became under the weather the following day with food poisoning.
Her own daughter fell so severely ill she had to be sent to hospital.
‘My husband, youngest daughter, in-laws, and several of my cousins and friends of the family came down with food poisoning. I even had to send my daughter to A&E that night as she was vomiting and running a high fever, while the rest of the family rested at home,’ she said.
Compounding her guilt about the incident was the fact that she was one of the only family members to escape food poisoning.
Food poisoning, including infections like salmonella and campylobacter, is a common ailment with an estimated nearly 2.5million cases recorded in the UK per year.
The vast majority of these are mild cases but for some people, like the elderly, it can be far more serious with an estimated 200 fatalities per annum.
While there are no figures on what portion of cases are triggered by festive period platters, experts consider the post-Christmas glut of leftovers to be a prime time for bouts of food poisoning.
Food poisoning has numerous potential causes.
Undercooking meat, contamination in processing or storage of foods like cheese, poor hygiene practices like unwashed hands by those preparing it, and inadequate reheating are just some possible sources.
Brits have previously shared nightmare Christmas food poisoning stories — including one woman who became violently sick after eating leftover turkey and vegetables on Boxing Day.
Bacteria that cause the dreaded food poisoning symptoms can quickly proliferate on cooked, warm food that’s been left out of the fridge.
Experts advise cooling food as quickly as possible — and ensuring reheated meat is piping hot — when eating leftovers.
