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Help me with a note to festival organizers?

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snowdragon:
I attended a diversity fest in Buffalo yesterday. Most of the food vendors were actual restaurants and there for knew how to deal with food like this.  One however was a Fundraiser for a healthfair for a certain ethnicity and they really had no clue about food safety.
 There were two issues we ran into with these folks.
1 - they were advertising pastilillos as being being chicken - they were seafood. 
    We had an issue with this as my sister has a seafood allergy and mistaken had a bite of what she thought was chicken before I realized they were actually crab.  She ended up having a reaction

2 - they were  spoiled because they were leaving the uncooked ones out in the sun and not taking proper precaustions.
   We were their first customers after they had run out of the first ones fried.  We did not realize they had left them out for a while...we thought they were just putting them on the table as they were cooking them and then putting the extras in a cooler they had under the table.  The second time we passed the package was still out, in the sun, after a half hour. No wonder they were spoiled!
  I now have a Doctor confirmed case of food poisoning. I am not angry, I don't think they wanted this to happen- but the organizers need to know what happened so they can police better the next time, as this is an annual event.

 Any ideas as to how to word a  note to the organizer?

Thanks

Zilla:
I would simply state facts and  let the organizer know the two items you mentioned so that if they used this vendor again, they are forewarned.


I would also write to the company that manned the table and let them know as well.

sparksals:
Tis the food festival season.  Definitely write a letter to the organizers/sponsors of the event and the vendor.   You may also want to write a letter to the dept of health or the licensing bureau.  Even though these are street fair types, I believe (and I could be wrong), they still have to obtain some sort of food service license at the festival. 

doodlemor:
I'm going to take the hard line here, snowdragon.

I'm very sorry that you and your sister both got sick.  It sounds like you both will recover after an uncomfortable episode, although I suspect that since you went to the doctor you are very ill right now.  People with more severe allergies or a weakened immune system might become gravely ill from the careless food handling which you described. 

I have sold food for a nonprofit at festivals before , and it was very frustrating at times dealing with other workers who didn't understand the basic food safety concepts, and thought the board of health was being too picky.  I still get very irritated thinking of some of those slobby people. 

It shows remarkable cluelessness that these people didn't even know what they were selling, especially since it was seafood. 

Back to the hard line.....I definitely think that you should file a detailed complaint with the Erie County Health Department, as well as with the festival organizers.  I think that you should consider sending the complaints certified mail, return receipt requested. 

If you see these people at other festivals this summer I think that you should take a good look at what they are doing, and report them again if necessary.  I wonder if any of the TV stations have done a *food safety at festivals* story lately. 

ETA - I think that you just need to state the facts in your complaint, like you did in your post.

WillyNilly:
As one of the uninsured masses - and a NYS resident who enjoys Buffalo and their rather awesome street festivals - I encourage you to write to the fair organizers, your city council/mayor (they will send it on to the appropriate agencies within the city) and the Health Dept.  Food poisoning can kill even a healthy person in a matter of days if they don't get medical help and sometimes the idea of thousands of dollars in ER fees will stop people from going to get help.

I don't think it needs to be fancy or elaborate, just expand on what you wrote here.  I particularly like your current format of bulleting the two major issues, although I would open with the facts (the whats) that you have Dr-confirmed food poisoning and your sister had an allergic reaction, then expand with your observations (the whys)

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