Various United Airlines employee groups, including flight attendants, have reported food poisoning linked to holiday meals at Denver International Airport.
United Airlines Looking Into Tainted Holiday Meals In Denver That May Have Sickened Employees
United served a holiday meal to Denver-based employees this week and many reported immediate post-dining symptoms consistent with food poisoning including:
- stomach pain
- diarrhea
- nausea
- vomiting
A “warm holiday salad” and chicken that had been left outside too long and “tasted a little funny” are thought to be the culprits.
As this story unfolded, “over 200” flight attendants were thought to have taken ill, including some onboard flights (at least one flight returned to the gate after a flight attendant became very ill who had just consumed the holiday meal). The AFA-CWA union representing United flight attendants has now revised that number downward:
After recent conversations with United Management, we are getting a clearer picture of the scale of the reporting by Flight Attendants.
At this time, according to United’s records (badge scans), there were 492 holiday meals served to Flight Attendants over the Christmas holiday in DEN. Of those flight attendants who were provided a meal, there have been just 24 reports of symptoms consistent with that of food poisoning; far fewer than our original estimate of those affected and which we reported in last night’s newsletter.
Of course we recognize that there may be some who decided to “power through” or who may have been apprehensive about calling in sick over the holiday period, or who may have been on their way home and therefore did not miss work. If you had to call in sick and believe you were affected, if you have not already done so be sure to email your supervisor explaining that you believe you were among those experiencing symptoms and request that any associated points be removed.
While there is no way to know for sure if this was food “poisoning” since there are viruses going around that produce similar symptoms, local DEN management have assured me that out of an abundance of caution, they will be monitoring this issue and if anyone did miss work due to symptoms consistent with food poisoning, and who badged in for a DEN meal, that there should be no Holiday Absence Certificate requirement and no points associated with the absence.
The union is referring to United’s policy which penalizes flight attendants for calling in sick during the busy holiday period.
> Read More: United Airlines Declares Victory In Campaign To Reduce Sick Leave Abuse By Flight Attendants
Meanwhile, United has stated it is looking into the matter:
United is monitoring reports from some employees about gastrointestinal symptoms following holiday meals served to Denver employees on Wednesday, and we are in contact with health authorities. There has been no impact on our operation.
Aviation insider JonNYC shares that other employee groups have been impacted:
OTOH, it's pointed out:
"Not just the flight attendants, all departments had issues. They were handing out food all day and presumably the chicken went bad,…
Even managers and supervisors fell ill but the company has yet to acknowledge it "— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) December 28, 2024
Meanwhile, on American Airlines, it appears a batch of Nestle bottled water may also have been contaminated:
UNCONFIMED
“Lots of reports from XX pilots and FAs about nestle bottled water onboard that has a strong rancid fish taste. Even hearing of returns to gate”
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) December 27, 2024
CONCLUSION
While there is a lot of uncertainty at this point, it does appear some of the food served at United’s holiday meal in Denver may have been tainted. United is investigating the matter but thankfully reports no interruption to operations.
image: a picture of the allegedly tainted meal provided by an anonymous United employee.
Leftover turkey is notorious .
Not surprised. Quality food is not UA forte.
JAL has quality fare , and BA to a slightly lesser degree . I once received a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner on ANA .
Amen!!
Anything to get rid of them. Good Salmonella Leads To Explosive Bowels!!
never eat in the emp cafe!
I’ve always been leery of pot lucks and the like since some people are very lax with food preparation. Leave out food way too long, don’t cook it properly, etc.
After having had food poisoning or something similar in Munich earlier this year where I was sick for 8 hours, I was thankful it happened at a hotel and not on a plane. That would have been horrible. The next day I slept all day except for sipping water/ginger ale.
I’ve found that vodka or gin helps . Once whilst rather stricken with Delhi Belly in Delhi , appropriately enough , I was able to get some actual British gin , and that fixed me up .
Certainly looks like it will make you sick
I was a storekeeper at United O’Hare working Thanksgiving, possibly 2007. A call came over the radio, “don’t eat the turkey it is tainted. We all laughed. We knew the company hated their employees, but not enough to kill them!!
Always a good idea to pass on catered hot food at an office party or event. It was hastily prepared offsite in bulk quantities using really cheap ingredients several hours before you get to eat it. Especially around holidays when the catering services are so overwhelmed that any food-safety practices they may (or may not) have go flying out the window! Play it safe and stick to a cold ham sandwich.
From what I read, these things happen and sometimes it’s likely due to the caterer.
What I read on twitter/X when it happened was the crew were concerned that this might set a precedent for not hosting such parties in the future as in “If we can’t figure out how to do it safely, don’t do it at all” and cancel future festivities.
Over the years in corporate America (rarely a good term nowadays) I’ve observed cutbacks on Christmas season festivities, sadly, for a variety of reasons. These holiday events help to generate team bonding and goodwill.
Now ALL THAT SAID, in such a 24×7 profession such as aeronautics, it behooves perhaps not serving everyone the same food from a single caterer similar to serving the pilots different meals. With numbers such as 200, order perhaps 50 meals a batch from 4 different caterers.
Bhuta Bhuta Bhuta— Guatemalan’s should be taught to wash their hands when handling food… Bhuta
I’ve had food poisoning twice from Polaris food. No one cared then. Neither do I now.