Can you get food poisoning from eating chicken nuggets!?

[IEatPastaWithASpoon]

I’m currently in hospital with DS whilst he has a round of chemotherapy. He’s off his food and he left a plate of chicken nuggets and chips from lunchtime on the side. DH and DS1 came to visit after work/nursery at 6pm and DH starts feeding DS1 the chicken nuggets which have been sitting out for 6 hours.

We had a little debate at the time with me saying DS1 will be sick if he eats those and DH saying he’ll be fine but I left it as DH is responsible for looking after DS1 at home tonight. Fast forward to half an hour ago (11pm) and DH calls me to say DS1 has been sick everywhere!

This could be a coincidence but do you think the sickness could have been caused by the chicken nuggets!?

YABU - chicken nuggets can’t cause food poisoning
YANBU chicken nuggets can cause food poisoning

They could have if they've been sat around at room temperature!

Most foods can cause food poisoning if not cooked or stored properly. The vomiting might be a coincidence but chicken nuggets that had been left out for several hours on a hot day would be a big no for me!

Any food, but especially meat, can multiply sickness-causing bacteria if stored at room temp for more than two hours, yes.

This is basic stuff and he's a fucking idiot.

Yes, they were left out at room temperature and not reheated before DS1 ate them

How can your husband not know such basic facts?

Hospital room temperature, too! 🥵 2 hours max for cooked meat to be left out.

Hope your DS isn’t too poorly.

I disagree and think it's unlikely cooked chicken left out for a few hours is the culprit, a bug picked up from a hospital visit is more likely.

Sounds like as a family you are going through some hard times so maybe best not to lay blame as the cause is unknown and hope it passes quickly.

Sorry you are having a difficult time.

People leave chicken nuggets out for hours on buffets, for example, and they're still perfectly fine to eat. And I say that as someone who's a real 'germophobe' around chicken!

However, the fact your DS has been poorly almost immediately after being in a hospital setting, would suggest there's a high chance he's (literally) picked up something like norovirus, which is still rife in hospitals currently.

Of course you can!!! It's got chicken in it! Eating chicken that's been sat out unrefrigerated for half a day is asking for food poisoning! Plus, of course, eating cold chicken nuggets and chips isn't exactly a great either as a decent meal for a child. Eating something like that that's been left sitting around in a hospital is also a terrible idea - especially around a poorly kiddo who is having chemo - I hate to think what might have happened if your poorly child had felt a bit better and picked up and eaten one of those grotty nuggets and then got food poisoning.

Please use some common sense in future! Any food that normally is stored in a fridge needs to be eaten immediately or put back in a fridge/thrown away. Your children rely on you to keep them safe and feed them nutritious safe food. I hope you both apologise to your son for what happened - you both should have done a better job of making sure he had something better than 6 hour old nuggets and chips to eat.

Manky hours and hours old buffet meat isn't 'perfectly fine: to eat either, it is significantly more likely to be harbouring bacteria. Lack of illness in the past is just luck.

Why are people such idiots with the concepts of risk and chance

You are utterly wrong. Anyone who leaves chicken out for "hours" on buffets is asking for trouble. If they are left on buffets they need to be either refridgerated or kept at a temperature that is higher than 65 degrees C (the actual temp is 63 degrees C but we use 65 because it's an easier number to read on an older style thermometer). Just because some people are negligent and leave food out for hours at improper temps doesn't mean it's okay. It isn't, so please don't encourage this behaviour. And if you don't have an understanding of the various common food borne illnesses please take a course in food hygiene (you can find lots of free ones online) before telling people whether they should or should not be eating certain foods that haven't been stored properly. Incorrect storage of food can kill people. It can also leave people with horrible long term health concerns. It's devastating for people who are immuno compromised.

Could it be norovirus? Possibly - though if he caught it from being in that room then the rest of you would likely have it too. And if he does indeed have norovirus and interacted with your other poorly son then you'd need to be very concerned indeed - the last thing you want to catch when on chemo is norovirus.

Why didn't the staff dispose of it after lunch anyway? Someone on chemo could easily end up in ICU, or die if they get food poisoning. Utterly reckless all round.

@Caligirl80 I completely agree with what you’ve said. It’s crazy the food they offer to poorly children. But please be assured the chicken nuggets were well out of reach of my DS who has cancer and I would not have let him eat food that had been sat out for hours.

Exactly right - it beggars belief how absurdly ignorant some people are!!! Imagine telling someone that eating gross old chicken that's been sat out on a room temp buffet is fine just because they did it once and didn't get sick!!!! Urgh. No wonder so many people get sick. And, what's worse, they can then transmit that illness to others in their family/workplace. These illnesses are so preventable with basic food hygiene awareness - it's very frustrating that people can't be bothered to spend a little time educating themselves. It's fine if they want to make themselves sick, but absolutely not fine if there are children relying on them, or they could then make others sick. Sadly some people would rather be ignorant than do some reading.

Thank goodness - I am glad he couldn't have eaten them. But that rather confirms that you knew they weren't a good idea for your other child either.

As for what the NHS provides for poorly children: there are always vegetables and salads, together with fruit available on NHS menus (I was just in hospital and the menus were really good - there was a ton of choice and if you wanted more vegetables/fruit they would arrange that no problem. I imagine that for kiddos on chemo the most important thing is that the little ones eat whatever they can to keep some weight on. And if that means nuggies and chips then so be it if that's what they can tolerate without feeling even more awful than they already do. There is also - if the doctors are cool with it - nothing wrong with bringing in other food for him. Many of the bigger hospitals now have food stores in them. For example, our local hospital has an M&S food in it! So it would have been very easy for my family to bring me a salad or whatnot if I hadn't liked the hospital food...but as it was the hospital food was great and I was impressed. Since we don't pay extra for it, and I'd normally have to pay for my own food at home of course, I thought it was great.

Hope your little lad on chemo doesn't have to endure much more of that awfulness and kicks that cancer's arse. Hopefully your partner will have learned his lesson about giving your other lad old nuggies!

It depends on the chemo and immune system
I had campylobacter from chicken but I’m also neutropenic so if my count is really low I don’t eat fresh fruit or veg or salad, it all has to be cooked
chips are very.. safe, bacteria wise. Salad not so much

That’s interesting to hear you can’t eat fresh fruit and veg when neutropenic. DS often is but they haven’t told us to avoid those foods during those times. I’ll ask his doctor about it tomorrow.
Sorry you’re going through cancer too, I hope you’re doing ok.

I don’t have cancer just neutropenia permanently (my body hates me!)
if I drop below 0.3 then I stop eating stuff like bagged salad, fresh fruit, raw stuff basically. Generally ok for a few days after GCSF but then I will drop again
Haematology ring me if I go below 0.3 but if I’m over 1 then they’re happy

The diet post stem cell transplant, for leukaemia, for example, can include only peelable fruits like bananas, oranges, as they're fairly safe vs the chance of an apple skin or grape skin not being washed effectively. I think SCT patients are at even greater risk though than just neutropenic, as there is other immunosuppresant medication too.

Thanks for the info. He won’t be needing a stem cell transplant but please can you let me know what an SCT patient is?

Oh hang stem cell transplant. Sorry, it’s late.

Sorry, SCT is stem cell transplant. I've been spending too much time on forums for my family member going through it!

I think it’s really individual as well, some hospitals do the neutropenic diet and some don’t seem as strict
My consultant is very.. tolerant and has gone from “please wash your hands after touching animals” to “could you at least bite the apple BEFORE the horse?”

I hope he’s doing ok

Then that's a lot of luck if that's the case. I'm inclined to agree with you on the bacteria thing, which is why I rarely eat chicken out. That said, I've not personally known anyone to eat said nuggets at a buffet and experience any ill effects. And that can't all be 'luck'.

So, I still think in OP's case, it's more likely to be something her DS has picked up - other than a chicken nugget! - at the hospital.

Not encouraging anything - like I said, I am very cautious around chicken and probably know more than most about food hygiene.

I am merely saying, in relation to OP's specific situation, that while I might be cautious, I have known others who are not and they have been fine, which leads me to believe that this sudden onset of sickness is something else like noro, which is prevalent in hospitals.

Apologies for any confusion.