Poisoned Food?
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (78761)
United States
January 19, 2023 9:59am CST
It would be an odd thing to think that a customer might poison himself with rat poison. But while the details are inconclusive and the event is still under investigation, it at least seems to appear that might be what happened.
The world is a crazy place and people do crazy things, and the thought that someone in a restaurant may be responsible for this is quite alarming. Not impossible. But alarming.
The customer in question, who became violently ill after eating a Burrito Supreme at a Taco Bell called 911 and it was determined there was rat poison in his burrito.
The customer was noted to have been a frequent problem customer, which might lead someone to conclude the employees simply became tired of his antics and wanted to strike back at him.
But, it also strongly suggests that perhaps the customer is just a person with a lot of personal problems who decided to take down a franchise even if it would make him sick.
Either way, I will be very interested to know what the investigation finds in this case. Authorities have the surveillance footage of the food prep areas as well as the lobby, so I guess we will know soon enough what happened here.
17 people like this
17 responses
@LadyDuck (457412)
• Switzerland
20 Jan 23
@Marilynda1225 - It happened in the past that customers "threw" objects inside their dish at expensive restaurants to sue the restaurant. I think that this one is trying to make some money.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (79592)
• United States
19 Jan 23
That really is a mystery and I hope they can figure it out fast whether the person was poisoned or if he did it to himself
4 people like this
@popciclecold (35067)
• United States
19 Jan 23
Wow, that could easily work both ways. Booe they get to the bottom of it.
2 people like this
@popciclecold (35067)
• United States
19 Jan 23
@porwest Yeah, either way it sucks.
1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
20 Jan 23
@popciclecold Like I said, the world is a crazy place and people do crazy things. I hope we get the answer sooner rather than later. I can imagine some people may be inclined in the short term to avoid eating at Taco Bell, and that could hurt business.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118365)
• Gainesville, Florida
19 Jan 23
Very interesting. On the one hand, I could see where the employees might want to poison such a problem employee, but on the other hand, with literally every moment of our daily lives being recorded on surveillance video, how would anyone think they could get away with it?
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118365)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jan 23
@porwest Sadly, in the world of fast food—and the restaurant industry in general—there’s no protocols in place that would ensure that things like this didn’t (or couldn’t) happen. Any of those employees could slip something in the food unnoticed as it was being prepared. Scary to think about.
@MarieCoyle (28248)
•
19 Jan 23
I did read an article on this earlier today. Taco Bell says they do not keep rat poison in their restaurants. It looks rather shady that he didn't get sick until he went home, and also that he was a well known ''problem'' customer. Like you say, either way I am sure it will be resolved.
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
19 Jan 23
One thing I can say is that, being a former pest control technician, AND having been Yum! Brands certified to conduct pest services in Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC, all part of Yum! Brands, this is mostly true. Rodenticides were used outside the stores, in boxes. But never inside. And any chemical use inside was very carefully done. Rodent control indoors was done via mechanical traps such as Catch-All's and traditional snaps.
So, I do suspect this was a self inflicted poisoning. That being said, it is not impossible that an employee brought some from home and put it in the burrito.
Like I said, it is a crazy world and anything is possible. I DO hope it was the customer and not any employee who put the poison there though. One is definitely worse than the other.
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (28248)
•
19 Jan 23
@porwest
I did consider that the customer from hell may have just set off one of the employees to the point where he or she did something drastic. I did many restaurant health inspections back in the day. As you have people working there from all walks of life, you have many personality types, and one may have felt extreme anger over the customer's remarks and actions. Time will tell in this situation, I hope.
1 person likes this
@cherriefic (10400)
• Philippines
19 Jan 23
It's possible to get poisoned in a restaurant. Maybe they are not following strict rules about food preparation and cleanliness. That's scary! 
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61952)
• United States
19 Jan 23
One of the sad facts of life. Lots of people have tried that (surveillance cameras have caught people putting bugs on burgers then complaining). But, when we have lawyers who win court cases because a woman dumps coffee on herself and sues McDonald’s because the coffee was hot, what do you expect. 
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
21 Jan 23
The world is a funny place, as I have said many times. I do recall a man who was on a golf course in Wisconsin back in the day. He went to the 19th hole, got sopping drunk, walked out and tripped on the entrance to a bridge you had to walk across to get to the parking lot, broke a bone or two, and sued the golf course and won.
Go figure. lol
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
19 Jan 23
Hmm... I was just watching a YT video that was recapping some problems with food in restaurants. Let me see if I can find that video again for you. (Not that I'm trying to imply anything in particular... 
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2 people like this
@aninditasen (15719)
• Raurkela, India
20 Jan 23
That was very mean of the restaurant boys. They could have informed the police when the customer misbehaved with them.
1 person likes this
@aninditasen (15719)
• Raurkela, India
24 Jan 23
@porwest If the complains were reasonable they should have attended to it. If he complained too much the manager could have complained to the police on this basis.
1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
27 Jan 23
@aninditasen From the way the article was worded, my suspicion is that this customer is simply a troublemaker.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (155562)
• United States
20 Jan 23
It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case.
1 person likes this
@suwardie03 (317)
• Semarang, Indonesia
20 Jan 23
maybe he has a problem with the boss of that restaurant…and is thinking about revenge.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325385)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jan 23
Goodness, that will be interesting. However, some people will go to huge lengths to get what they want. Maybe he didn't expect to get quite so sick.
@lovebuglena (43059)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jan 23
Do you know more details about this? Person has to be wacko to try and poison himself to take down Taco Bell.
@arunima25 (85265)
• Bangalore, India
20 Jan 23
It would be interesting to see what the investigation results come out to be.. whatever it might be, it would only make our belief stronger that world is a crazy place and people can stoop to any level. If it's done by the restaurant ( I doubt that as it maligns a popular brand), it's scary to know what can be done to a problem customer. If it's done by the consumer himself, it is another unpleasant story. What one can do to malign a brand and sue it. The poison was in a amount to make him sick but not kill him..Either way the picture is unpleasant. World is really crazy place these days.
