Everybody looks forward to their annual holiday. We all spend a considerable period of time and effort saving up and there is usually a great deal of anticipation.
Everybody looks forward to their annual holiday. We all spend a considerable period of time and effort saving up and there is usually a great deal of anticipation.But what happens when it all goes horribly wrong? Increasingly, people are becoming aware that it’s possible to pursue the tour company if the holiday does not meet your expectations or worse you acquire food poisoning as a result.
The rise in popularity of all inclusive holidays and the tour companies’ ever increasing pressure on margins mean that all too often the quality of your all-inclusive package leaves a lot to be desired. This can have, potentially, serious health consequences .
Treadstone Law have been running and winning these cases for a good few years and we have seen disclosure of documents from leading tour companies in relation to their popular hotels which showed extremely alarming unhygienic practices.
I have personally viewed documents where the Independent Auditors, who were double checking the hygiene standards, have noted that there was no hand-washing regime in kitchen staff! there was infiltration and infestation of animals and insects in kitchens and food storage areas and even, I kid you not, instances of raw meat being stored uncovered next to cooked meat.
In one particular instance, ice-cream was potentially being contaminated by raw chicken. It would be of absolutely no surprise to the more cynical reader that, despite us gaining access to documentary Disclosure, which absolutely damned the tour company’s hygiene regime, they actually had the audacity to continue to deny liability even when their own audit trail showed four A4 pages worth of potential hazardous contamination.
WHAT’S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN?
Well the worst that can happen is that you contract a very serious case of food poisoning, which can lead to permanent, severe, IBS. What would this mean? Well if you contract permanent IBS, then your enjoyment of food and your ability to digest and eat food will be severely restricted. You won’t be able to eat things like curries or dairy produce, cheese and even milk may well become out of bounds.
In addition to this, I also heard of a case, on a Course recently, where a farmer had contracted Salmonella and the Salmonella bacteria had lodged in the joints of his body, leading to permanent arthritis.
At the other end of the scale, you may simply get a bad case of vomiting and diarrhoea for a week or so. Either way it will ruin your holiday.
If you or members of your family have sustained food poisoning at an all-inclusive resort while on holiday, then you should ensure you do the following:
- Make a written report to the tour company.
- Make a verbal/written report to the hotel and also to the Rep in the hotel.
- Seek medical advice at the resort.
- Seek medical advice at home.
- Gather witness evidence: (a) Other holiday makers. (b) Photographs of raw food/flies.
Do not be fobbed off with the nonsense that the Tour Reps are told to tell you, which is that, ‘Oh, it’s just a change in water!’ or ‘It’s just the hot weather!’ or whatever!
Professors of Gastroenterology, Microbiologists and Food Scientists are all in agreement that when you get travellers diarrhoea on holiday 99% of the time is because of poor hygiene standards. This means that you acquire bacterial or viral pathogens as a consequence, quite simply of food not being cooked properly, food being left out for too long and the kitchen staff not washing their hands.
Buffet food service is the prime vector for food poisoning.
I would also ensure that you take note of any other holiday makers who have also become ill. Very often it’s not just you and your family, there will be others who will have been similarly affected. There is considerable strength in numbers when attempting to persuade a multi-billion pound tour company that the hygiene practices at their flagship hotel are somewhat lacking.
Any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Travel Law team at Treadstone Law at their email address: claim@treadstonelaw.co.uk
