Need help regarding a 'bad' milkshake

JimRofl

At my local shop (Which is a chain store called One Stop) I bought a discounted Frijj milkshake, the sell-by date was 30/05/13. There were loads on offer for 67p with no explanation why, I assumed is was just a deal they were doing.

I got home, put it in the fridge and drank it about 5 hours later, I smelt it and thought it was slightly off, but figured I was just being my usual paranoid self and then drank it. It tasted alright, it wasn't sour or anything.

About 2 hours later I started throwing up and had extreme diarrhea. I felt fine in myself, I wasn't ill, just whatever was in my system, my body wanted it out. After 30-45 minutes everything stopped and I was fine.

I hadn't eaten/drank anything else that could have caused this, I pretty much snacked all day on junk food (Few bags of crisps, a small salad and beans on toast, I only had water too).

In hindsight, I imagine they knew those milkshakes were dodgy, perhaps a fridge shut off or they weren't stored properly so they were shifting them ASAP, since I'm sure selling them at 67p each a month before their sell-by isn't very profitable.

I'm just wondering where I stand, what steps I can take about this, etc. I want to complain but I'm a little unsure on how to go about it. I'm no stranger to complaining, but only VERY minor things, the type of complaints you get a free £1 voucher for.

Do I go directly to the store? Do I phone head office? Do I threaten legal action? Any advice is helpful.

Thanks in advance, sorry for the long-winded post.

Fosterdog

It's very unlikely that it was the milkshake that caused it and more likely either coincidence that you picked up a bug or because of something else you'd eaten. It would take a few hours for it to affect your digestive system so badly it would cause both sickness and diarrhoea.

Also if it was off enough to make you that I'll you would have tasted it. I drank almost a full bottle of an "off" frijj milkshake not long ago. I had just had a minty chewing gum so thought the bad taste was from that, by the time the mint had cleared I realised the bottle was almost empty and tasted so bad. It did make me heave but that was psychological and I had no ill effects from it whatsoever.

Oh and in answer to your questions:
1: yes it's always worth mentioning to the store so they can check their remaining stock
2: you could contact head office but there's not really much point unless the shop refuse to check remaining stock
3: what legal action do you want to take and what would be the point of it?

This drink wasn't bad enough to stop you drinking the whole thing and we consume "off" dairy products all the time with cheese and yoghurt, most people probably also use slightly off dregs from a milk carton if that's all that's left and you want a cuppa. You drank any evidence so have no proof that there was anything at all wrong with the shake.

DCFC79

As previous poster says 2 hours is a bit quick for it to have some effect.

Could be many reasons why they were bing reduced eg the line was being discontinued.

Valli

Frijj milkshake is often on offer - I know because that's the only time I buy it for the Vallikids.

Did you wash the salad you ate?

phill99

There is an element of overreaction here.

mattyprice4004

phill99 wrote: »

There is an element of overreaction here.

Just a bit!
2 hours is too soon - it was something else.

nzmegs

Some food bugs can actually cause a very quick reaction - but they are generally the more serious ones.

However if you are concerned you should simply write to the head office. I did that for our local One Stop as their fridges were not cold enough and the food was often warm. I had bought a fruit smoothie which was fizzy due to fermentation...

They responded and passed the complaint on to the store. They soon had the fridges fixed.

nzmegs

See this statement from the NHS site on food bugs:

Symptoms of food poisoning usually develop after one to three days.
However, depending on the type of food poisoning, symptoms can develop between one hour and several weeks after eating contaminated food.

DevCoder

Have you taken a lactose intolerance test?

Most of the non serious food bugs arent in the 2-4 hour range, more like 24-72 hours (and those at the higher end).

Lactose intolerance however would normally exhibit itself between 30 mins and 2-3 hours after drinking dairy products. Symptoms are Vomiting, nausea, bloating, cramps and diarrhea.

JimRofl

Valli wrote: »

Frijj milkshake is often on offer - I know because that's the only time I buy it for the Vallikids.

Did you wash the salad you ate?

Yeah, they are, but not for 67p. The store I shop at is extremely tight, they have a 'reduced' section for products about to go out of date within 24 hours, but they take like 7-15p off the price.

Yeah, I washed the salad, I've been eating it for days, it's fine :P

As for anyone saying it could be something else - I'm positive it's not. I haven't eaten anything that I think could caused this.

gazzak_2

Everyone is different. I am also somebody who has a very quick reaction to bad food. OP complain to the Frijj people stating what you said in post 1.