The reputation of food in the DR

I have two stories
Many years ago my DR girlfriend ,and I went to one of those corner food sellers. You know the one's that hang bacon and other meats on string or wire, fry it up and give it to you on a plate?.
Well some months later my left eye starts going brown. My vision was brown. I went to the eye doctor in my country where i work occasionally and she said i had an infection in my eye that was
caused by cat faeces. I had become infected most likely around x date, some months before according to my eye specialist. At that time i was in the DR.
It was a certainty that i had eaten ill prepared food which had come in contact with cat crap.
I almost lost my sight. I strongly believe i that i acquired this infection from either the meat fry dude, or eating at my GF place. Probably the former.

Second and this was recently,
I was staying in Luperon and ordered food from a small food place. That night i awoke hallucinating, sweating, vomiting uncontrollably and hanging onto the toilet for dear life. I was leaking from both ends and not a Dr. in sight to my knowledge.
This gradually subsided over 2-3 days. The effects of this food poisoning were tremendous.
I was taken to their little hospital given medication and something else, im not sure.

I should have known better, I did know better, but i did it anyways.
I should have known that a poorly educated people would have zero idea about cross contamination, contamination,
food poisoning and the need to clean your kitchen properly.
I will never ever, EVER eat again from and place in the DR ( unless i trust them 100% due to having eaten there over the years with no problems, but even then?????)...I am now cooking my own food totally. NEVER EVER EVER will i eat food prepared by DR people....EVER!!!!!!!

rogerramjet1 said:

I have two stories
Many years ago my DR girlfriend ,and I went to one of those corner food sellers. You know the one's that hang bacon and other meats on string or wire, fry it up and give it to you on a plate?.
Well some months later my left eye starts going brown. My vision was brown. I went to the eye doctor in my country where i work occasionally and she said i had an infection in my eye that was
caused by cat faeces. I had become infected most likely around x date, some months before according to my eye specialist. At that time i was in the DR.
It was a certainty that i had eaten ill prepared food which had come in contact with cat crap.
I almost lost my sight. I strongly believe i that i acquired this infection from either the meat fry dude, or eating at my GF place. Probably the former.

Second and this was recently,
I was staying in Luperon and ordered food from a small food place. That night i awoke hallucinating, sweating, vomiting uncontrollably and hanging onto the toilet for dear life. I was leaking from both ends and not a Dr. in sight to my knowledge.
This gradually subsided over 2-3 days. The effects of this food poisoning were tremendous.
I was taken to their little hospital given medication and something else im not sure.

I should have known better, I did know better, but i did it anyways.
I should have known that a poorly educated people would have zero idea about cross contamination, contamination,
food poisoning and the need to clean your kitchen properly

Click to expand...

you are a braver man than i. there is no way on God?s green earth that you could get me to eat that meat hanging on wires in the noonday heat.

the gorgon said:

you are a braver man than i. there is no way on God?s green earth that you could get me to eat that meat hanging on wires in the noonday heat.

Click to expand...

Ranks right up there with the dude selling shrimp, who's walking up and down Sosua beach in the sun all day

AlterEgo said:

For many decades, Americans have accepted "Montezuma's Revenge" as part of a trip to Mexico.

I don't see any difference in the OP. I've gotten sick only a couple of times in 40+ years going to DR - the last couple of times was from eating chiccarones bought on the highway. The last time..... I knew before I ate them the probable outcome, but couldn't help myself. :laugh:

Click to expand...

you are hard core...a warrior.

Rubbish, i don't believe it ( regarding the health departments statement in the OP)
Many DR people can not even read, and they are cooking for 'US'
I was a fool!!!!
But no longer, im going to import a Thai sexy mama to cook for me and rub oil into my hairy assed back.
Either that or eat at that over priced irish bar in Cabarete....EVERY DAY

I've never encountered food poisoning in the DR, after seven winters of eating at resorts, cafes, restaurants, etc. I'm cautious and usually go where my friends go. As good as the meat smells at the roadside stands, there is no way in hell I would eat in them. I've eaten at weddings, outdoor events, etc., where cooked food has been exposed to flies and god knows what else. I wash it down with a lot of beer. Don't know if that helps but I never had a problem with my sluice gates being open on both ends. Had one bad case of food poisoning in Cuba.

the gorgon said:

you are a braver man than i. there is no way on God?s green earth that you could get me to eat that meat hanging on wires in the noonday heat.

Click to expand...

Only those raised eating food like that can stand that. If you don't see a middle class Dominican eating it, don't eat it.

Keep your friends close and your banos closer.

The only bad food experience I ever ever had in the DR was from eating CONCH,. or Lambi...
The first time was so brutal I can not even put it into words, took 3 days to get over it , excruciating abdominal pain etc. no need to get graphic.
2nd time I deserved the Idiot award for even touching it, but I had to be sure so I tested it again. Same results ,just milder.

Its not the Lambi itself, but i guess the way the Dominicans Carelessly ( my opinion) prepare it , because I eat it in Italian restaurants in NYC area with no problems.
So now I know and i treat it like Kryptonite.
But other Seafood, at the stands on beaches far away from any Hospital, I have never had problems with any fish, camarones, Langosta etc.

I would suspect an ALL Inclusive Hotel before I would ever suspect a fish stand on a beach. Their entire business and Livelihood is based in that Trust level.
AI's, I can only imagine what goes on in those Kitchens when the bosses are not around.

When it comes to Punta Cana and the all inclusives I think most cases it is the persons fault. People that barely drink at home go nuts for days and wonder why the feel sick? Add the hot sun all day what do you expect? They are usually the people drinking those nasty sugar drinks all day. Not saying it does not happen, of course it does.

I stick to beer and rum eat within reason have never had an issue ever 25 plus times in DR.

I always thought the problem with AI food is that it is cooked in large quantities and then kept warm for long periods of time, which is a great playground for bacteria. Some say they add to yesterday's food and re-serve it as well. I don't know if that's true though.

This is a subject of frequent posts on TA and I read many of them with a sense of doubt. Are they just railing just to be mean, were they really sick from food or did they load up on the buffet, Rum, Coconut and Pineapple. Hard to cipher from the many posts. And then in the winter folks are in a big tube for 10 hours before hitting the sun, booze and buffet.

So with many of these complaints I am suspicious that over indulging is the culprit but when 40 people at an AI get sick it does point straight to the kitchen,

I've been sick once in 20 years, undercooked chicken. I don't hit the buffet and my meals are home cooked or in a good restaurant. The only time I eat the street food is at Senor Hot Dog in front of the old Moby Dick on Pedro Clisante and he's been there for 20* years. No Pineapple or coconut juice. So is it my strong stomach that keeps me from suffering or my eating habits? I drink too much rum and suffer accordingly but never as bad as some of these folks. I firmly believe that over indulgence is the culprit for many of these folks coming from snow to a hot climate. Just my opinion.

I am almost 19 years in the DR. Never an issue with food besides Habichuela con Dulce related incidents around Semana Santa... and I ate everywhere. Well, besides that "on the street hanging" meat, that is.

caribmike said:

Never an issue with food besides Habichuela con Dulce related incidents around Semana Santa.

Click to expand...

Hanging out with dv8 I see!!!!!

hahahahahahaha

A few years ago I got a case of Shigella from an A1 and suffered through 3 days of bloody diarrhea and intensely painful stomach cramps. Since then I am very careful to make sure my utensils are very clean and the food very fresh. We just took a group of 63 to the Rui Meringue for 3 days and only one teenager got sick from food, but in his case it could have been too much sun as well. His mother did say he gets sick easily. I think you need to avoid certain foods and be picky but in general the food is fine, it's over indulgence that is the main culprit.

Bronxboy said:

Hanging out with dv8 I see!!!!!

hahahahahahaha

Click to expand...

I hear she loves Habichuela con dulce! :bunny::bunny:

Animals (farm & domestic) and sometimes people defecate on the sidewalks, roadways and everywhere in between. It rains. The streets are awash in water run off. The water evaporates leaving behind fecal particulate. Vehicles drive by and kick up the dust. The dust settles on everything from the utensil used to set the table for lunch to the food people are carrying on their heads to the glasses that are waiting at the bar to be filled. Flies abound anywhere food sits. Keeping hot food hot and cold food cold seems impossible in most eating establishments.

Every time you eat something you haven't prepared in your own sterilized home or drive down a dusty road with the window open, you risk getting sick. Those with strong immune responses eventually mitigate most issues. Those with compromised systems or who ingest more than enough contaminants, get sick.

Remember where you are. If not the mosquitoes, the filth that abounds, the food improperly handled, stored, cooked or the constant exposure to farm animal byproducts it's a wonder people aren't sick all the time.

Fish...those who like fish have at it. Me, not a chance, ever, anywhere in this country unless it is imported and flash frozen and I believe it has remained frozen until it gets to me - which pretty much leaves out anything in an open freezer at Playero. Especially those fillets that have been manually wrapped in plastic.

Food poisoning, not nice. Parasites, even worse. Bacteria toxicity, outright deadly. Cooks and servers with access to clean water to wash their hands, hand sanitizer, please!

Just kiss a Dominican and you get more bacterias than any food can give you.... you get all the bacterias accumulated there for his/her lifetime... lol... including cat crap, of course.