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  1. #1
    Senior Member Virginiamama's Avatar
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    My son had glass in his meal a local Mexican food restaurant

    I have taken the names out of this. My son just turned eleven. Our friend mentioned in the letter is a personal friend whom we attend church with and also owns a bussiness in the area.
    This is an e-mail I sent to a friend of mine who knows Russ and Dee Fine in Birmingham. I tried to resolve this privately but now I am going public with it.

    XXXX,
    Here are the pictures and the events that happened almost three weeks ago now. I hope you can help. I have exhausted all of my resources, the health dept., police dept, Mayor, district attorney, legal advise from friends, the media. I think that about covers it. It is not that they do not care, it is just the fact that my son spit the glass out instead of ingesting it. There is no legal recourse.

    About a week before this happened, my friends had gone to eat at El Portal. My friend was joking around with the waitress and said "Everybody back there (Talking about the kitchen) got a green card?" She got very mad at him and said "You're Mean!". Our freind told me what had happened and I told him not to go back there because they might spit in his food or worse.

    Well, the following Friday (July 14, 2006) My son had gone to work with his Dad. Our friend who had asked the waitress the question was there doing a job with My husband. It came time to go to lunch, my husband wasn't hungry so he told our friend and my son to go on. Our friend was driving his backhoe and didn't want to cross the highway, so they went to the closest place to eat, El Portal. When they got their food my son took a bite and felt something crunch, he spit it out into his napkin and there were three shards of glass, totaling about half the size of a dime. Our friend called the waiter over, handed him the glass and told him to send the manager over. The waiter handed the glass to the manager who then put it in a napkin laughed and threw it in the trash. He went over and talked to our friend and our friend asked him why he was laughing? He then called the Health Dept. from the table. While he was on the phone with them he noticed the Manager on the phone pacing back and forth. The man that was sitting behind our friend got up and left and the man sitting with a little girl sitting behind my son just sat there and kept eating.

    My son and our friend then left and went back to tell My husband. My husband brought my son home, to tell me what had happened. I was furious!

    I immediately got into the car and went to El Portal. I asked to speak with the Manager. I asked him what was so funny about glass being in my sons food. He said he had only been there 15 minutes.The men standing behind him started chuckling. I told him that I wanted to see the owner. At about that time I turned around to see a picture of Poncho Villa on the wall. This made even more mad. I asked the manager why there was a picture of a man who murdered American's on his wall, he said and I quote" I have only been here five minutes I don't know." Now I was starting to wonder if the man understood a single thing I had said before. I sat down on a bench there for about ten minutes and then I got up and said "You tell the owner I am going to file a Police Report and he could talk to them."

    I went down and filed a report. The police officer said he was going to give it to the Health Dept. and there was really nothing more that he could do.

    I went home called my Doctors office they said there was really nothing they could do, glass doesn't show up on the x-ray and we would have to wait and see if there was blood in his stool .I asked my son what the Manager was wearing and he described the exact shirt the gentleman was wearing that said he didn't know what I was talking about.

    At 6:00 I went to El Portal 2 and took pictures of the restaurant and the cars behind the restaurant. My mom went into Walmart and we circled the parking lot until she came out.

    We then at about 6:20 went up to the other El Portal where my son had been earlier that day. The same white Ford truck was at El Portal 2 was now at first El Portal. I am assuming that is the owners truck. My mom waited in the car while my son and I went in. I asked to speak with the owner, he motioned me to the corner of the restaurant. I said "No, I want to talk to you right here" He reluctantly came over. I asked him why his manager thought it was funny that there was glass in my sons food. He said he didn't. I asked him if he thought it was funny too, he said no. I asked him what he planned to do about this, he said I have insurance. Insurance? I asked him how he could shluff this off with insurance.He said " I am sorry this happened yesterday" I said," It happened today at lunch" He knew full well when it happened, yet another lie. He said "It happens all the time." All the time? I said, "Never in my thirty five years have I gotten glass in my food at a restaurant and that I believed it was no coincidence that my friend had asked if everyone in the back had their green cards and the next time he comes in there is glass in the food." Then I went on to ask him why he had a picture of Poncho Villa in his restaurant. Was he proud that he killed 112 Americans? He said "That happened a long time ago" , I said "Well, you must still think it was pretty cool." I told him I was originally from New Mexico and I found it offensive. He said he would take it down if the police told him too.By this time he was glaring at me. I felt I had said my piece and left.

    Monday (July 17, 2006) morning I called the health inspector and asked him if he had gone out there yet. He said that he did Friday afternoon. I said " Darn I was hoping to catch you so you could look for any glass that was there to get into the food, because the drinking glasses were plastic the salsa bowls were metal and usually restaurants got their bulk food in big plastic jars. He said he was going back to dig a little deeper.He spoke with our friend later on in the week and said that he had given them a report on food safety. I then called an attorney friend of mine and asked him what could be done, he said, because we didn't have the glass and my son had not sustained any injury in a court of law it would be a pretty weak case. I got basically the same story from the district attorney.

    It absolutely infuriates me that my son can gets fed glass and there is nothing we can do about it. It is on record at the Health Dept. though in case the next person that ingests glass from there is not so lucky. Unbelievable! When I met with the Mayor and told him about it. I am glad nothing is wrong with my son. I know it scared him to death, something he will never forget, for sure.
    Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. Thomas Jefferson

  2. #2
    Senior Member bearpaw's Avatar
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    Virginiamama,


    It is on record at the Health Dept.
    What a frightening ordeal. Thank goodness your son is okay. Just a suggestion. You should also report El Portal to BBB so that way your complaint is on record and available to the public.
    Work together for the benefit of all mankind

  3. #3
    Senior Member Virginiamama's Avatar
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    Thanks Bear, that is the one place I forgot to call.
    Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. Thomas Jefferson

  4. #4
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    VMAMA

    This isn't an answer but I'm very willing to help you get this story OUT INTO THE PUBLIC any way I possibly can. I can barely swallow my coffee, I'm so furious at this happening to any of us let alone a child.

    If you give me permission, I'd like to pass it on to a few folks I know in several different areas for a start.

    I also believe that we might be able to get it to Malkin via several other blogs if direct email doesn't work.

    Going PUBLIC is the best way to begin to combat this menace, which is happening with more frequency now.
    Also, have you thought of making a sign and standing there a few times a week during their busiest hours? That will begin to cause a ruckus and make the health dept. and law enforcement nauseous....just about the only way to make some of these towns LISTEN.
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  5. #5
    Senior Member LegalUSCitizen's Avatar
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    OH, VMAMA!! This cannot go untold and unreported to the American people. I could not believe what I was reading.

    That could have caused UNBELIEVABLE injury to his entire digestive and intestinal tract. Oh my God. I am so sorry. Please let us know what action you would like for us to take. This must not get swept under the rug.
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  6. #6
    Senior Member bearpaw's Avatar
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    Virginiamama,

    Your very welcome. And if I'm not mistaken. Once you have submitted a complaint to BBB the owner or manger of El Portal will be required to respond back. 2ndamendsis is correct. The more public you make this it will send a message that this kind of nonsense is unaccetable. Good luck and keep us posted.
    Work together for the benefit of all mankind

  7. #7
    Senior Member Virginiamama's Avatar
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    Also, have you thought of making a sign and standing there a few times a week during their busiest hours?
    You and I think too much alike I already have signs made up and ready to go. I give you full permission to help with this anyway you can. Do you remember what town I live in?If not pop me a PM. I called the BBB they are not members. You would think this would be a crime in some way. It's like the bully at school or the crazy husband story, we can't do anything until someone gets hurt. Keep in mind this happened about the same time as the two sisters in South Carolina being hospitalized because of cleaner in their drinks. I also found this...

    http://www.sptimes.com/2003/07/12/Ta...__Be_war.shtml

    Police warned: Be wary about what you eat
    Officers should be on guard at fast-food restaurants, police say, after deputies are served burgers tainted with glass.
    By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer
    © St. Petersburg Times
    published July 12, 2003

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    TAMPA - It was 12:19 on Friday afternoon when Tampa police dispatchers beamed a message to the dozens of in-cruiser computers monitored by officers on the street.

    "Just advised to let you guys know, be careful going through any drive-thru food joints in uniform," the message said.

    It was an unusual piece of advice. Most every officer has grabbed a quick burger or soda during a busy shift.

    A day earlier, two Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies did just that - and discovered glass shards in their cheeseburgers.

    The deputies had been in uniform and on their dinner break at a 24-hour McDonald's at Nebraska and Fowler avenues, a popular eatery for city and county officers.

    Deputy Stuart O'Shannon, 32, ate part of the burger and started coughing up blood. He was released from St. Joseph's Hospital early Friday morning. Deputy Daniel Witt, 24, was not injured.

    Several incidents of the tampering of police officers' food have occurred around the country in recent years, but no other known cases have been reported in the Tampa Bay area.

    Investigators call the glass-filled burgers "a criminal act" but are not saying whether the deputies were the targets.

    They questioned all 17 people who were working at the restaurant and gave polygraph tests to three of them. No arrests had been made as of Friday night.

    Fast food restaurants have long been officers' favorites - they are easy, cheap and some are open all night. Some give officers free meals.

    They are most popular with the third-shift officers who bounce from burglaries, car crashes and domestic violence calls without a break.

    "Sometimes, there are days you are so busy, that's all you can do," said Capt. Marion Lewis of the Tampa Police Department. "You can't afford to stop."

    And the restaurant owners love having police stop by in their cruisers because it gives patrons an added sense of safety when they are parking, and dining.

    But that added safety can contribute to another problem.

    In 2002, a teenager gave rotten meat to a deputy in upstate New York. A 15-year-old in Ohio spit into an officer's Coca-Cola in 2001. Also that year, three officers sued a Denny's in Pennsylvania, claiming a cook ejaculated on their food. Other officers have reported finding sink sanitizer in their burgers.

    The incidents have brought charges and lawsuits.

    An upstate New York officer filed a $13.5-million lawsuit against Burger King, its franchisee and two of its employees after the employees allegedly tainted the officer's meat patty with urine, the Wall Street Journal reported.

    Still, owners of the local McDonald's in Tampa say the glass incident is an isolated one.

    "The most important thing to us is that Deputy O'Shannon is okay," said Bob Conigliaro, the vice president of community relations at Caspers, which owns 50 McDonald's restaurants in Hillsborough County. "We're confident that the investigative team is going to come to some resolution. We want to put this very isolated incident to rest."

    According to the Sheriff's Office, the glass was tucked between a burger patty and a slice of cheese, mixed in with onions that resemble small pieces of glass.

    Conigliaro said it is unclear whether the glass was placed on the burgers at the store or at the food supplier, where the reconstituted onions are packaged.

    "It's a concern either way," he said.

    Conigliaro said investigators seized other food products that were part of the same shipment as the contaminated burgers. He said there is no reason to be concerned other customers could be served similarly contaminated food.

    Dr. Ferdinand Richards III, an emergency room doctor at Tampa General Hospital, said ingesting a small amount of glass generally isn't life threatening.

    "If it's really small, it's probably not going to affect your intestinal tract," he said. "It might scratch and scrape."

    Still, he said, there is a chance that glass could perforate the stomach or intestines, and lead to infection. It is difficult to locate a small piece of glass on an X-ray, and Richards said it is generally best to let the glass pass through a person's body.

    "You don't go chasing it around," he said.

    Many lunchtime customers who normally eat at the McDonald's on Fowler and Nebraska were discouraged by the glass-tainted sandwiches, but others were eager to grab a bite to eat.

    Joe Navarro, 20, ordered a chicken sandwich and a cheeseburger. He compared the risk of biting into a burger to the chances of being struck by lightning on a golf course.

    Sometimes, you have to take a risk, he said, even if the only reward is the satisfaction of a cheeseburger.

    "Without any hesitation I tore right into it," Navarro said. "I'm fine."

    But officers are cautious.

    "I'm probably going to go where I can watch them fix my food," said Capt. Lewis. "You would hope that people wouldn't do these kinds of things. Unfortunately, in today's times, we have some evil people."
    Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. Thomas Jefferson

  8. #8
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    If I were near you, I'd be holding one of those signs with you!!
    Pleeeese, tell us what they say, VMAMA

    Will pm you for info to pass on. Let me see who I can connect with over the next few days to get some feedback.

    Meanwhile, please add anything we can use in this thread. Let's keep it front and center. Any other incidences that you find like the one above will be an added benefit.
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  9. #9
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    I am almost afraid to eat out anywhere these days. We have a Bar-B-Que place and one locally owned fast food that seem OK.

    In the wee hours of the morning, I have thought what if someone working in a meat factory or processing plant decided to do a little domestic terrorism. What if someone deliberately put something in a batch of hamburger meat. It could sicken or kill thousands of Americans. While you could trace the meat, how would you prove it wasn't accidental? especially, if the one doing it was someone with false ID's and just leaves the job?

    I can't wait to get our calves in the freezer. Much more of this and they may become small steaks pretty quickly. My husband didn't want to start up another calf, as we plan to travel some this fall. Then I began telling him the stories of all the diseases, etc. He decided he could get one up big enough to eat and surely my son and the grandkids could fed it.

    We are going to get a pig for our freezer and some chickens next spring.

    I almost feel like we are playing Russian roulette with our food chain these days.

    Now I realize all these instances of sabotaged food do not involve illegals, but as the pressure mounts on this situation, so do the chances of bad things happening.

    These things are not being reported in the media to any large extent. That is a two-edged sword. If you don't report it, people do not know to be on alert. If you do report it, then it gives ideas to more and more miscreants.

    OK - I am an alarmist.
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  10. #10
    Senior Member Virginiamama's Avatar
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    OH, VMAMA!! This cannot go untold and unreported to the American people. I could not believe what I was reading.

    That could have caused UNBELIEVABLE injury to his entire digestive and intestinal tract. Oh my God. I am so sorry. Please let us know what action you would like for us to take. This must not get swept under the rug.
    Thanks Legal! Just spread the word it is about all we can do.

    Sis, One says " My son had glass in his food July 14, 2006 at El Portal" the other one says " My 11 year old son was served chards of glass at El Portal"
    Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. Thomas Jefferson

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