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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think the vegetarian who was served and ate chicken by mistake in Nandos is overreacting?

362 replies

musicboxwoundbyakey · 30/12/2013 14:51

Sorry Mail link

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531093/I-feel-like-not-body-anymore-Vegetarians-outrage-going-Nandos-served-chicken-mistake.html

She asked for grilled halloumi cheese pitta and was served chicken. Which she ate half and didn't realise as she was talking to her friend.

She tried to make herself sick and had to sent home from work the next day as she was so upset and feels her body is not her own anymore.

How you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between cheese and chicken is a little beyond me. The cheese would be gooey and runny and chicken would have chewy - and they both have completely difference tastes??

It doesn't mention this in the article but the server always comes over and says - "chicken burger with medium sauce" etc so surely they probably said chicken pitta to her too??

But maybe iabu because she has never had meat before for religious reasons.

OP posts:
AKAK81 · 30/12/2013 15:33

Did you mean to be so rude Akak.?

Absolutely. I have no time whatsoever for vegetarians and vegans unless they're actually allergic. All this bitching and moaning about can't eat this or that when in actual fact they can eat anything - they choose not to though and that is a big difference.

RandyRudolf · 30/12/2013 15:34

You're very ignorant as well as rude.

Methe · 30/12/2013 15:34

Have you seen the grill area in a Nandos? It would be impossible for there to be no cross contamination at all.

LapsedPacifist · 30/12/2013 15:34

This happened to me in a branch of Chimichanga's a few weeks ago. Manager couldn't have been more apologetic - my food was replaced right away and not charged for, and we were given free desserts and a free sharing cocktail (yum!) worth £15. Our final bill for 4 people came to less than half the actual cost of the meal.

I regarded that as a result - this was hardly 'Faine Daining' after all! I've been a vegetarian for more than 30 years and frankly compared to some of the truly awful experiences I've had mostly in France abroad (finding veggie food in Prague in 1993, anyone?) it's no big deal. Meat isn't actually poison.

Nancy66 · 30/12/2013 15:34

You honestly think that the people who work in Nandos pay any attention to the cooking guidelines of vegetarian food? Come on! wake up

RandyRudolf · 30/12/2013 15:34

And why shouldn't they choose not to eat certain foods?

SilverApples · 30/12/2013 15:34

'they choose not to though and that is a big difference.'

Oh I agree, as I pointed out earlier, don't get stuck in a lifeboat with me. If my survival, or that of my children was threatened, all things would be considered.

Original poster
musicboxwoundbyakey · 30/12/2013 15:35

YABU.
You don't know because you have not be in that situation. The taste of accidental meat has made me feel ill for months. It's obviously psychological but its still real

No I haven't been in that situation and I never will be. Like I said I can sympathise but her actions seemed OTT.

Did you miss work because of eating meat accidentally?

OP posts:
manicinsomniac · 30/12/2013 15:35

First reaction was that she was not being unreasonable to be upset or not spot the difference but that making herself sick, taking a day off work and definitely contacting the media was OTT.

But then I remembered that I made myself sick in a pub the other day after accidentally being served regular coke instead of diet! Grin So yeah, we all have a level of mistake we can't tolerate and she has a much better reason than me so I'm behind her all the way!

RandyRudolf · 30/12/2013 15:35

The article is not talking about cross contamination in the kitchen but that the wrong dish was served to the customer.

atomicyoghurt · 30/12/2013 15:37

I thinks she's over-reacted. Ye sit was outrageous and yes bad old Nandos but really, taking time off work?? Saying Nandos have stolen 28 years of vegetarianism from you?? Saying you can feel it sitting in your stomach..

Take a dump love.

KeemaNaanAndCurryOn · 30/12/2013 15:37

Grin @ SilverApples.

Cake is good.

Cannibalism is an acquired taste.

PeazlyPops · 30/12/2013 15:37

The article is not talking about cross contamination in the kitchen but that the wrong dish was served to the customer.

Other posters said that the food would all be cooked in one pan anyway, so why would a strict vegetarian go there.

KeemaNaanAndCurryOn · 30/12/2013 15:38

You made yourself sick for regular coke Shock. Please tell me you're diabetic.

fuzzywuzzy · 30/12/2013 15:39

She is Hindu, she has probably never ever eaten anything containing meat ever, really strict Hindus don't eat egg either or use utensils that have have been used to cook meat and eggs in.

I used to work with a Hindu guy who ate Parmesan as a garnish on his food by accident, he was really sick afterwards, honest to god physically sick because his body had never had to process meat he couldn't tolerate it.

I'm not really surprised at the lack of empathy on here.

I feel very sorry for this woman & I am pretty paranoid when I eat out I always check and double check before eating or drinking anything.

KrabbyPatty · 30/12/2013 15:39

I can understand her initial distress, but she needs to move on.

Nando's have apologised yet she is massively over reacting.

'Nothing can compensate me for those 28 years.' FGS, get a grip.

I bet she angling for a figure that will, somehow, make her feel all better.

sykadelic15 · 30/12/2013 15:39

I don't eat particular foods and ALWAYS check the meal someone else prepares. I never trust anybody implicitly because accidents happen. Heck I've grabbed the hot sauce instead of ketchup before and paid the price.

Feeling sick and being upset isn't an over-reaction, it's understandable, but taking the following day off work and contacting the media is an over-reaction. It's attention seeking at its finest.

AKAK81 · 30/12/2013 15:40

And why shouldn't theychoosenot to eat certain foods?

No reason at all - just don't whine about what you can't eat - it's your choice!

Jolleigh · 30/12/2013 15:40

Vegitarian ethics aside, there's absolutely no reason to believe that this was anything more than an honest mistake. It wasn't done with malice so it shouldn't have been taken to the papers. I'd also be very surprised if she's not unwittingly eaten a meat product before...stuff like this happens very frequently.

Dawndonnaagain · 30/12/2013 15:40

I think those that say she overreacted are rude and unkind.
No, I'm not veggie.

SilverApples · 30/12/2013 15:41

I copied this poem into the front of my vegetarian cookbook that I began compiling way back when I was a student.
Crow Tyrannosaurus (1970)

Creation quaked voices--
It was a cortege
Of mourning and lament
Crow could hear and he looked around fearfully.

The swift's body fled past
Pulsating
With insects
And their anguish, all it had eaten.

The cat's body writhed
Gagging
A tunnel
Of incoming death-struggles, sorrow on sorrow.

And the dog was a bulging filterbag
Of all the deaths it had gulped for flesh and the bones.
It could not digest their screeching finales.
Its shapeless cry was a blort of all these voices.

Even man he was a walking
Abattoir
Of innocents--
His brain incinerating their outcry.

Crow thought "Alas
Alas ought I
to stop eating
And try to become the light?"

Oh, Keema (!)
Apparently people taste like pork, hence the name Long Pig in certain societies.

RandyRudolf · 30/12/2013 15:42

No reason at all - just don't whine about what you can't eat - it's your choice!

She didn't choose to eat meat. She's whining because it was served to her by mistake.

WorraLiberty · 30/12/2013 15:42

I just assumed the whole 'being sent home from work' and contacting the media, was to bolster a compensation claim.

Or am I an old cynic? Blush

Unfortunate thing to have happened though.

I feel sorry for her, but not sure it's worthy of a news story.

SilverApples · 30/12/2013 15:43

'And why shouldn't they choose not to eat certain foods?

No reason at all - just don't whine about what you can't eat - it's your choice!'

She wasn't whining, she thought she was eating cheese. But she wasn't.

AKAK81 · 30/12/2013 15:45

I'm fully aware of this story. If you read my previous posts I'm talking about vegetarians in general not this particular idiot.

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