'AITA for calling the health department after eating undercooked chicken at a restaurant?'
"AITA for calling the health department after eating undercooked chicken at a restaurant?"
Like the title says, I was served undercooked chicken at a major chain restaurant. Unfortunately I didn’t realize it until I reached the thick part of the chicken thigh. Upon realizing this, I calmly brought the matter to the attention of the waiter. He looked pretty disgusted and brought the supervisor over. The supervisor was very young.
When I showed the supervisor, they said they would ask the chef as the supervisor didn’t know what cooked chicken should look like. The supervisor didn’t really come back with an answer from the cook. The supervisor said they could make me another one, but I had lost my appetite. I didn’t end up paying for the undercooked chicken, but I did pay for the rest of the meal.
I was put off by the response of the supervisor. Not knowing what undercooked chicken looked like? No acknowledgment from the cook indicating how this was a one time mistake? It got me thinking this might be a consistent issue.
In my local area, google said I should contact the health department to file a complaint. So I did. The next day I got a call from the health inspector to follow up. He went to the restaurant and got the cook that day to make another chicken meal. The chef cooked it under right in front of the health inspector. Thin part was cooked, thick part was under.
They reviewed the restaurants procedures for cooking the meal and determined it wasn’t being deep fried for long enough. They changed the procedure to make sure it didn’t happen again. I was happy with the results of the health inspector meeting. This was obviously a continuing problem. It has been fixed.
After taking the to general manager, they indicated it was a good learning experience for the supervisor and chef. I agreed. Issue is taken care of in my eyes.
After telling this story to some friends, they said I was just being an AH for calling the health department. AITA?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
EndielXenon wrote:
Hmmm. Let's see here...you thought it was a good thing. The Health Inspector thought it was a good thing. The restaurant's general manager thought it was a good thing -- even thought they were in the wrong and needed to correct things. Your friends can go pound sand. NTA.
Motor_Dark6406 wrote:
NTA, I don't know what more justification you need then the health dept making the restaurant change its entire method of cooking chicken. get better friends.
Filosifee wrote:
Hold up - your friends thinks you’re an AH for not wanting to be sick or prevent other people from getting sick because they’re being served undercooked chicken - which is a leading cause of salmonella?!?? Yeah NTA. Your friends are totally out of their minds.
Calling the health inspector because you found a hair on your food is an AH move. A straight up health issue like that is a great reason. The fact that they didn’t even cook it right when the health inspector was right there shows how dangerous they were to the public.
Signed,
Someone who was a chef for a decade before college.
stickytack wrote:
NTA. The whole staff should have been mortified and way more should have been done at that moment. Obviously this was an ongoing issue and who knows how many people got sick after eating there. Calling the health department was the right move. Your friends are weirdos.
plantprinses wrote:
No. Don't your friends know that you can get violently ill from eating under-cooked chicken? Why would your friends wish that on people? As it is, through your actions the restaurant avoided potential lawsuits, the cook became a better cook and the general manager could see the positive upside; so why can't your friends?
I would never let someone else eat under-cooked chicken because that can be framed as assault in a potential lawsuit. Perhaps your friends need to be educated on culinary matters.
Accomplished_Cod7613 wrote:
I find it absurd that anyone, let alone someone who works in a supervisory position at a restaurant, doesn't understand what undercooked chicken is. You could have potentially saved lives by forcing them to correct this problem. NTA.
OrdinaryMajestic4686 wrote:
NTA. So you helped a kitchen fix their cooking times for a particular dish, thereby probably preventing future complaints and even potential lawsuits from food poisoning. But your friends think you're an AH for doing that? Okay.