Question: I just wanted to let you know... I ate at your healthy restaurant last night. I had the "RawVioli," which was delicious. I was, in fact, very impressed. However, shortly thereafter I experienced what seems suspiciously like food poisoning symptoms. Maybe my stomach simply couldn't handle all that raw-ness, but the symptoms conform to my past experiences with food poisoning.
Answer: Thank you for informing us of your experience. I am sorry that you are suffering. From a medical standpoint, food poisonings can "incubate" as long as 2-3 days before symptoms appear, so it is very possible that you ate the culprit one or two days before you came to Ecopolitan (this is true especially if you experienced diarrhea the following morning).
I assure you that Ecopolitan is the most hygienic restaurant in the country (see our archived article: Healthy Restaurant: Setting the "Gold Standards" for Restaurant Food Hygiene), and many people enjoyed the Rawvioli yesterday (including myself and the staff) without any incident or complaint. Therefore, it's very likely that something else was ingested elsewhere prior to your visit at Ecopolitan (the main culprits are usually animal foods- flesh, dairy, and eggs - and uncooked vegetarian foods that came in contact with contaminated animal parts in "vegan-friendly or vegetarian-friendly restaurants" serving animals that are touched and processed by the chefs and servers).
This is an unfortunate occurrence that any restaurant has to face once in awhile- when a large number of diners eat in an establishment there is a good chance that SOMEONE would get sick a short time afterwards, and would associate the sickness with the most recent dining experience even if the problem has been brewing for a few days.
The Rawvioli is just vegetables and cashews, which should not pause a problem for any stomach (unless you have a serious allergy or sensitivity to any of the ingredients, something we will discuss during one of our Tuesday Lectures this month). Most people eat raw nuts, fruits, and vegetables on a daily basis without any difficulty (and all mammals in nature eat 100% unprocessed raw foods, as did humans for many thousands of years), so I don't understand the concept of "too much" raw-ness...). I hope this explanation is satisfactory. Either way, the staff will be informed of this incident, in order to increase our vigilance. Thank you for supporting Sustainable EcoRaw Living.
If you have a nutritional or brief medical question you would like Doctor T to answer, please contact us and it may be answered in a future newsletter.
