France. The home of gastro?

[YCCMB]

No, I haven't missed off a suffix.

In my life, I've travelled to some of the far flung corners of the world. I've stayed in hovels and hotels, hostels and most other types of accommodation. I've eaten weird and wonderful foods, some I certainly wouldn't have chosen, some I won't ever eat again. I've spat in the face of all that namby pamby advice about not eating salads, drinking the water or having ice in my G&T, and I've never had so much as a grumbly tum.

And yet, I've just succumbed to a nasty bout of gastro again, courtesy of French food. That's the fourth time. Every time it's been in France. Either the bugs are of sterner stuff than elsewhere in the world, or I'm particularly susceptible to French microbes, or (perish the thought) people in the food industry in France have particularly poor hygiene standards.

Anyway, I'm working on putting back the weight....

[Gardengirl]

Very nasty, Betty - hope you're feeling much better.

The Gard was leading in the statistics for gastro in France earlier in the year. Lots of friends were coming down with it, so when I felt terribly ill I was sure I'd got it.

On the second day it occurred to me that my symptoms weren't the same as those friends had. On the third morning I couldn't move I felt so ill with a temperature of 39+, so my husband phoned SAMU and off I went to hospital. After examinations by doctors, a scan confirmed that I had kidney stones that had blocked a tube and caused an infection.

I'm not sure which of the 2 would have been worse to be honest.

But 5 days of drips getting blocked or leaking, the company of an old lady who probably holds the French record for snoring, and tut-tutting by nurses at the thin veins the English (me) have, as they couldn't get needles into them wasn't great.

They ran out of veins to try (I can't have needles in my left arm/hand) and had to phone the consultant at home for permission to use veins in my feet and obviously felt their professionalism was being called into question.

On arrival back in England I had to have blood tests and the nurses had no difficulty getting needles into my veins.

Thank goodness I had nourishment from a drip for 4 days, as the food on the 5th day was disgusting.

[andyh4]

In the last 30 odd years I have had just 3 bouts of Gastro. With luck that means another 10 or so years to the next bout.

On two occasions I was in France and on the third was returning through the Netherlands from the UK.

In the last case, and also in one case when I was in France, it is possible (given the 1-5 day incubation of such bugs) that I picked up the bug on the ferry from the UK to the continent or maybe from Holland to the UK. [Given the way that food is/was prepared, and often left to self service, the opportunities for contamination are/were quite high. {Amongst her many skills OH is trained in food hygiene. }

The third (and most recent) case can only be put down to France and its cooking, health and hygiene systems.

Prior to that the only case I remember was when I and a Dutch colleague both went down with very severe symptoms after staying at a UK hotel - our only common food was the bacon and eggs at breakfast.

[Théière]

What do you expect from a nation that doesn't have wash basins in the toilets?

[mint]

Ugh, Teapot, that is the very thing that was uppermost in my mind last year when I had it twice!

The ONLY 2 times in my entire life of eating in a fair few countries, including hot ones where flies have to be swatted away constantly.

Twice in one year and, yes, right here on my doorstep as it were.

I saw a short piece on UK TV recently and they were talking about these green stickers that restaurants and similar establishments display to show they had been inspected and graded.  OH and I were very proud that in the UK this system is compulsory in Wales but not elsewhere.

I have been really put off eating food other than that prepared by myself or by a few trusted friends but sometimes restos are unavoidable, alas!

[YCCMB]

I think, mint, that the food hygiene rating system is now operating throughout the UK (except in Scotland where it's devolved....)

At least in the bits of England that I do visit, and certainly in London, Food hygiene certificates are usually prominently displayed.

I'm Just having a late night snack to help rebuild my strenght ?

[idun]

So sorry that you have been ill Betty. It is truly horrible.

Gastros were quite common in my old village. The pharmacist blamed the local water, and yet we always used it/drank it and had nothing. And it was tested regularly too.

When I ended up in hospital for 10 days, they did not test for a gastro even though I told them that that was what it was. We had been out to eat and I had had sea food, 6 hours later the cramps started and the consequent being ill, I was proper poorly for a couple of days.

[pip24]

Sea food is a bit of a risk but i love it and had no problem. S.I.L has had a couple of bad bouts.

Its strange how many gastro upsets there are and no mention of Salmonella or Salmonella investigation ?.

Also in mid April B.S.E was reported in northern France but there has been very little in the media. Is it a cover up or doesnt the government care. If it had been in the U.K. there would have been piles of cattle burning by now.

[idun]

I have seen reports of BSE on french news. Not a big fuss about it though.

I remember when there was rabies in so much of France, including being shown on the news very poorly rabid foxes at Roissy Airport..... but no big fuss about that either.

[Patf]

The only time I had an attack of gastro here (fingers crossed) was when I ate a small amount of chicken poo by mistake. I had scraped off some of our leftovers for them in their run, and the spoon I used had touched some muck on the ground, then I licked the spoon thinking it was gravy or something similar.  [+o(]

I went to the doctor and it was an elderly lady replacement - she gave me a long handwritten prescription for about 6 items (no antibiotics.)

I've been more careful after that.

We rarely go out for a meal - husband refuses.

[Rabbie]

The only attack of gastro I have had in the last 15 years was after eating a meal of mussels in a pub not far from home. I have never had any problems after eating in France but that could well be due to luck and a good natural resistance to these bugs.

[NormanH]

I have had a few post-restaurant tummy upsets in both countries and I eat out very often in France (more or less like a cantine)

Most often in Béziers it is the local water after a downpour. I don't think the filters in the water treatment place can cope and I recognise a certain pain and a taste in the mouth each time.

Don't forget too that there are a lot of things that are more risky in France, such as unpasteurised cheeses and produce  that is very natural not packaged or irradiated etc.

That being said I eat a lot of "dodgy" things such as oysters,  bulots and steak tartare but have ver rarely had a problem.

The worst I had was with a streak and oyster pie in the UK , but in general I can't say I can blame restaurants in either country for m ills.

[YCCMB]

As I said at the start, having travelled to some of the less salubrious corners of the world, and in some cases having kept my lunch when all around were losing theirs, so to speak, I know I'm not susceptible as a rule to gastro. I've learned what a dodgy oyster looks like from expert friends in one of the main oyster producing regions of France, so if it isn't "right" I won't eat it. Ditto for mussels etc.

I once had a dodgy palourde in Les Saintes Maries de la Mer and I haven't even included that in my four experiences of gastro, cos it's not the fault of the cook or the cooking, generally.

I'm fairly confident that all my gastro experiences have been meat (specifically beef) related, as it's the common element in each occurrence. And I'm inclined to blame the establishments in which I ate, because I doubt it was the cows' fault.

On a separate and slightly surprising (to me) note, I stopped with friends at a resto we often visit last week, and we asked if we could eat outside as it was a beautiful sunny day (we later ended up on the beach and the temperature was 28 degrees). They refused (very nicely) to serve us outside. It was the explanation that surprised me. Apparently, their rationale was that the interior temperature of the restaurant was warm and the outside less so, and by running in and out to serve us, they might catch a chill.......