Last Friday was a busy day for me. I met my father for lunch, which then overlapped into getting together with a childhood friend who was in town for the week. In the midst of all the fun, I somehow forgot to give even a single thought to planning dinner. My husband had worked a 3 A.M. – 3 P.M. shift, and there was no way I was going to ask him to prepare a meal. (In our family, the person who works gets an automatic pass on meal prep and cleanup.)
So I ordered Thai takeout.
Pad thai, salad rolls, green beans in black bean sauce, sesame beef, chicken in lemongrass. Yum, yum, yum!
And it was delicious until my younger son found a nest of hair in his food.
Gag, gag, gag.
I called the restaurant, and they immediately refunded the price of the entire meal.
At this point we all pretty much stopped eating, (although we’d all filled up anyway.)
I looked through the rest of the containers, and wasn’t able to find any more hair, but it was nonetheless tainted and unappetizing. However, I did put it all into the fridge, where it still sits. Which brings me to the question:
What should I do with the leftover Thai food? I neither want to throw it away, nor do I want to feed it to anyone. I feel like such a privileged American, but there you have it.
Please join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Pinterest.
{ 96 comments… read them below or add one }
Throw it out, move on. All you can do is your best.
Ooh, that’s a tough one… it’s so weird that Americans don’t have a system for recycling food like I’m used to here in Europe! My first thought would be to feed it to a dog, but I know that some spices can be really irritating to their stomachs.
Okay making me gag also. I’m a no-waste gal, but this would be a difficult one for me, as food hygiene is critical in my mind. Personally it would be composted.
On another note I used label ‘Friday Night Date Night at Chez Wright’ and we’d have takeaway. Since doing my week of cooking from scratch cost comparison’s last year that’s pretty much died a death. I’ve renamed Friday night as ‘Slow-Cook Curry Night’. I can cook up the equivalent meal for at least half the price and if I omit meat then a quarter. No issue with random hair either! *Gag*!
Gross. Even finding my own hair in home cooked food is disgusting. My first thought was also feed it to the dog, but my pup couldn’t handle Thai food. I think that under the circumstances, you could toss the offending food away if you can’t compost it and feel no remorse.
I’d compost the non-meat food and give the meat to a pet. Not sure if you have a pet otherwise I’d just throw the meat out. Was it seriously a “nest” of hair? That is revolting! I can see one random hair…that happens, but a nest??!! Yack!!
I had this happen in a restaurant once, we still refer to that as the “Hair Burger Palace”. First thought, 1 hair may have fallen off someone’s head, nest of hair means they picked up some of your food after it fell on the floor and the hair nest was stuck to it. So it’s not just the germ/ick factor from the hair, now you are thinking about the kitchen floor and the shoes on it that walked or rode the bus to work, that use the public bathroom at the restaurant, etc. Your germ/ick factor is exponential. Second thought, if you were sitting in the restaurant eating & found a hair nest & they would have immediately whisked the offending plate of food away & comped your meal or brought you another one. Would you have asked to keep it? I doubt it, I doubt anyone would, but I doubt you would have felt any guilt right so what is the difference? “Away” is the same non-existent place at home or at the restaurant. Throw that stuff out.
Excellent analysis!
Oh my, that analysis makes it so much grosser. I do agree, however, if ever there was a time that wasting food was ok–this is it.
This is a toughee! I was along the lines of “cook it up with some other food” until I read Jenn’s comment. Which seemed sort of likely. Only I’M allowed to pick up food from the floor and eat it! Not restaurants!!
That said, I’d say it’s likely that only the one container fell. I would probably weigh cooking a meal from scratch against eating the leftovers, and it’s likely the leftovers would win in the next couple of days. Somehow cooking it on the stove (I’m finally without a microwave) takes away some of the ick factor, though it doesn’t solve the cold food problem.
Good luck! I’d like to hear what you did.
I agree about tossing the leftovers. No guilt at all. As my college girl says, ” Sometimes, it’s OK to throw things away.” And this is one of those times.
Tough one, NCA. It sort of reminds me of the 5-second rule. And if Jenn H is right, it’s just the 5-second rule, 30 minutes later. As with our approach to that oh-so-scientific maxim, how you handle the food depends on your gut response (heh). It’d be pretty hard to eat something you find wretched. But maybe you put the food in the fridge and wait. Make sure nobody gets sick and then maybe tomorrow it doesn’t seem so gross. If it does, I’d wash the beef and chicken (in boiling water, perhaps) and try to repurpose it, at which I know you’re a champ. Or if the whole thing still doesn’t appeal, I’d find a neighbor with dogs who deserve a Thai treat.
The mere thought of this food is too disgusting at this point. Especially now that everyone has weighed in.
Katy
I have always thought that a wet food / dry food rule was more reasonable than a 5 second rule. Drop a cracker, come back and eat it in an hour, no problem (in your own house at least). Drop pudding on the carpet…. um, no thanks.
I am a big supporter of limiting food waste. I work very hard at it in my own life, and eat very little takeout/restaurant food partly for this reason. However, in this case, I would put all the food directly into the trash or compost – whichever is appropriate regarding meat, etc.
I used to work in a grocery store, and there are some clear food safety rules. For example, food was removed from the “hot bar” after four hours and none of us (not even employees) were allowed to eat it. I know America wastes more food than other countries. However, isolated news reports of salmonella and e. coli outbreaks, etc. notwithstanding, we have a very low incidence of food poisoning. IMO, this is the price we must pay, and it is worth it.
Ewwww!! I would definitely throw away the entire dish that contained the nest o’ hair. I’d probably eat the rest of the food that did not contain any hair. I don’t see myself ever going back to that restaurant again either.
I am working today and will respond to comments when I get home this evening. But please, keep your suggestions coming!
Katy
Toss. This is not a toughie.
Not a dilemma to me at all. Compost what you can, toss the rest. Avoid that restaurant in the future.
This is exactly what I would do. No guilt either.
I third this response. Toss it, and don’t stress about it. I mean seriously. Yuck!
Agreed! Compost what you can and then toss! Besides, are going to gag each time you even see those leftovers.
Ditto! You’re a nurse, you understand germ theory… one lone hair you might be able to overcome, but not a whole nest…
Absolutely toss it. Don’t even compost it. If in fact, as others have suggested the food fell on the floor and the nest of hair was inadvertently added, you and your family were put at risk healthwise. There’s no telling what germs may still reside in the food, which could potentially harm the compost. Toss it. Please.
Yes, and bacteria multiplies exponentially over time. So eating it after it has been in the fridge for a day is even worse!
http://www.cellsalive.com/ecoli.htm
Germs do not harm compost. “Germs” *make* compost. Hair is compostable. And we all have immune systems for a reason.
This leftover Thai food is not radioactive or full of cholera. It’s food with hair in it. That is unsavory, not toxic.
Becky, the voice of reason. Probably I’d compost, but I might consider eating the untainted containers, especially if it was really tasty. I can’t imagine there’s a safety issue. Stuff that falls on the floor isn’t unsafe, and if it’s cooked, the hair shouldn’t make it unsafe, either. Maybe if you don’t want to compost it because of oil or meat, you could give it a proper burial in your flower bed.
Agreed. I might “repurpose” these leftovers. Maybe re-cook them on high heat for a short period of time, add some of my own ingredients/rice. This would provide me a chance to give it a good look see and make sure there was no further hair.
Hair is gross. It’s not toxic. If I got the meal for a discount, I’d try to make the most of it.
Becky!Hair Shcmair! I am with you sista! I would be a bit turned off by the experience…but would not feel in any way that my health would be at risk…iron gut here! Katy, I would toss the affected food into the compost, eat the rest, and deal with any guilt I had about the composted food by doing something kind for the earth or someone else 🙂
Hear, hear.
It shouldn’t be fed to dogs because of the seasonings. Toss it, toss it, toss it!
I have Great Pyrenees LGDs. They est absolutely anything. They don’t even taste, they just swallow. I would’t waste it by tossing it. It would go to the dogs. And they would wag their tales and talk while they ate it.
Compost, and stop feeling guilty about it. The restaurant did the right thing to refund your money. Looking at those cartons in the fridge will just prolong the guilty feeling of tossing food. Once it is safely in that lovely green rolling bin, you will not think about it any more! The critical point is only that no one will want to eat it, washed (?) or otherwise.
Jenn H had a good explanation of what may have happened.
Ick, is all I can say. I would toss it without even a second thought! Makes a person think twice about eating out doesn’t it?
Compost, toss, or feed to somebody’s chickens. Wouldn’t give it to an indoor dog unless you want some accidents in the house! A lot of us are trying our best to reduce food waste and that’s great, but in this day and age it’s nice to have the luxury of tossing something you find disgusting.
Yup this one is a tosser! That is just totally gross. Like someone eles said, finding your own hair is gross, but a nest from a take out… totally gross..
If anyone you know keeps chickens (urban chickens being trendy), feed it to them. Chickens will eat anything that’s food. Mine like chili pepper seeds. They don’t mind if the food has dirt or hair on it. They eat around the non-food parts.
If anyone you know keeps pigs, they would appreciate it too. If you’re worried about making the animals sick, you can re-cook the food before serving it to the them. They will not mind if it’s overcooked or mixed together.
One of the reasons I love my chickens is that they eliminate my guilt about food waste.
Don’t you have municipal composting in Portland? I think that solves all the issues – gross factor gone, food waste turned into garden goodness, and contamination of compost isn’t an issue because the big composters they use get up to really high temperatures which kill all the pathogens.
This is what I was going to suggest – put it out in your green compost bin, meat and all. It will all go to good use somewhere and no waste!
Oh yeah, it’s sooooo going in the green bin!
Katy
You wouldn’t serve it to your family or feed it to anyone else. It’s probably too spicy, etc for a pet to digest. If it isn’t compostable then throw it out. That is the only option left at this point.
My chickens are “Spicy Girls” and just told me they’d love your Thai food – hair germs or not. They even choked down the “American cheese” left by our Spain family who we did a home exchange with last summer! If you don’t give it to chickens, I’d go with the big green city of Portland composting bin. Good luck.
I say compost it too. If you do want to feed it to animals, just rinse the sauce off.
If it makes you feel any better, I once found a LIVE grasshopper in my salad. That was one fresh salad!
🙂 Funny. We once found a live worm in our artichoke.
Throw it out. Even if it’s fine, it will taste wrong to you.
Food waste is bad, but occasionally inevitable.
(And it’s not like you are throwing away money – you didn’t pay for it!)
as much as you hate to “waste” food I don’t think this is edible so I think that takes it out of the “waste” category. Good luck….
Toss. No regrets, no guilt whatsoever.
Amen!
Toss it and never look back.
Um, barf. Another reason why cooking at home is just so much easier and safer than eating out. Too bad, as from the description of what you ordered it sounded delicious!
But to answer your question about what to do with the food, if I were in your shoes I would compost what is compostable and throw away the rest. And recycle the containers if you didn’t use reusable containers. I don’t have pets, so I can’t speak to what you could or couldn’t safely feed an animal. 🙂
I would have no qualms whatsoever about throwing it out if it can’t be composted or safely fed to some critters.
I agree that it’s pretty likely that the food was prepared unsanitarily for there to be a clump of hair, so I’d say that one should be headed for the trash. But the rest…? I’d have a hard time swallowing anything from that place after that experience but maybe you have a tougher stomach than I do.
Hair, no can do. Throw that stuff out or feed it to a dog.
THIS IS YOUR MOTHER TALKING: I’d finish sopping up the group vomit on the table, then either take it directly outside to the big green compost dealie or FLUSH IT DOWN THE TOILET. (Don’t forget to ask you sister about the bug in the broccoli. And then the green stamp in the broccoli.)
Thanks, mom. 😉
Katy
Amen Katy’s mom!
You should get some coupons, too. You’ll never go back to that place unless they apologize well!
No. Don’t want to go there ever again!
Katy
oh please don’t feed it to the dog, not all human food is good for them and many of the Thai seasons or if onions are in anything can be toxic to dogs.
I don’t throw out food but would have an issue with the visual of the hair, not to mention the whole family has the visual so trying to get them to eat it even if re-purposed may be allosing battle.
You can not really compost any of the items with meat in it either so this would be hard to make the choice to throw it out but it would be jt as wasteful to try to re cook everything and then not have anyone touch it.
Don’t worry, I don’t even have a dog!
We have curbside composting that accepts all types of food, including meat so that’s not the issue.
Katy
Hmmm… I guess you have to decide (1) is it actually unsanitary and (2) whether it’s okay to toss it just for the grossout factor, regardless of whether it’s logical or not.
Hair in food might not be that unsanitary in and of itself (what’s your opinion, nurse?), but it does suggest a general lack of sanitary practice to me… But regardless of whether I thought the food was unhealthy or not, I’d give myself the gift of throwing it out, just based on the grossout factor.
(Aren’t you glad you figured out how to make your own spring rolls recently?)
Yes. It makes me very happy that I am make my own spring rolls.
Kayu
Throw It Away. There is no shame or guilt that should be associated with not eating some strange nest of hair (or the surrounding food).
🙂
Shannon
I would throw it away, call the board of health (really I would) then never ever ever go back there ever ever ever again (really I wouldn’t).
There is a reason why we have a gag reflex! If yours was active, then follow your uvula’s instinct and toss, baby!
I’d hate to think of you or a family member getting sick just because you were trying to not waste food.
Pitch it. On two different occasions at two different places I found things in my food. Big hunks of wood in a serving of carrots, probably from the crate they came in and metal hairs from a cleaning brush in my fried chicken. I’m sure the rest of the food was fine but that all spoiled it for me. There was no way I would eat it leftover. I also do not go back to those places again. I won’t take any chances. There are too many what ifs.
You just have to get rid of it. When we have leftovers that we rent going to eat, I throw it out for the wild turkeys and deer, but that might not be an option. You are under no obligation to eat it!!! Ish!
Just reading this made the back of my throat close up slightly. Yuck. However, I have chickens and they eat anything and I love donations, so if you have a friend who has chickens you might try that. But if not, throw it away. Yes, it is true that someone in Somalia would probably eat it and be thankful, but, really, you eating it does not help them and could make you sick. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
If you don’t eat it, anything else is wasting food meant for human consumption. Do not eat it. I feed my hens food with an abundance of red or black pepper on it since that is said to make them lay better. At any rate, they gobble up peppered food. A next of hair did not fall off a head! Or a brush! It sounds like something I would find in the corner or in the carpet. Someone walked that in from home or from the sidewalk…ewwww.
Toss the offending dish. I doubt if anyone wants the rest of it anyway. Find someone with hens or a hen and send the whole shebang to the fowl world. Maybe birds would eat it.
COMPOST! I cannot believe someone said it might not be good for your compost (that comment was way up there, since I’m late to the party). Good compost gets to temps well over 100 degrees…I’ve seen 160 in mine. Everything is “cooked” out.
Throw it out! Goodness, just the thought of it makes me gag. It’s only one take-out, it’s not like it’s a lifestyle of waste.
I think Barb has hit on something important here – a one-time discard doesn’t make a lifestyle.
Compost what you can. Trash the rest. Don’t eat at that restaurant again, and definitely warn your local peoples away from it.
I feel your pain Katy, Here’s my advice.
If you have ordered from the restaurant before and know it generally to have a good reputation I would eat the leftovers. I cringe just to think of your son finding the hair, but I have worked in foodservice most of my life and things occasionally happen that doesn’t make all the food tainted.
If you can’t bring your self to eat it now, maybe if you freeze the leftovers and eat them later the association with the hair discovery might diminish over time.
When I was young we raised game birds that were killed by a dog. My mother was in the same situation as you are, loath to throw away food, but also loathe to eat our pets. She froze the meat and served it to us more than a year later, in the form of casseroles so that it couldn’t be identified with our beloved pheasants.
I hope that helps.
While I totally wouldn’t blame Katy for tossing it, I do so love your advice!
Came back to add that the dumpter divers skit is one of our favorites from Portlandia.
“She likes things.”
Toss, Toss, Toss!!! Big Yuck! Finding unknown stray hair nests in my food would make me ill. I always tie my long hair back when I cook. When I don’t sure enough I will lose a single hair along the way. My husband agrees, my one hair is ok, as we know its mine and clean. A hair nest from someone else is not. I also would be unable to go back to the place where the offending food came from.
Was just in Potland. Got my pic taken at the “got a bird on it” shop. What fun! my sis won’t let me be a tourist very often.
Maybe we can meet next time?
Don’t have cable but watched the first episodes on Netflix, do love that Portlandia show.
Sadly, that show is hardly even satire, it’s pretty much just a day in the life of Portlanders.
I’d be more than happy to meet for coffee, just give me heads up.
Katy
OK, OK…after thinking about it more and visualizing a *hair nest*, I’m leaning toward just composting it. Especially given the curbside composting that can handle meat scraps.
Wow. If that’s not the king’s consent, I don’t know what is!
And I didn’t want to gross people out too much, but the hair was short, curly and blonde. At a restaurant where all the workers have straight black hair.
Glurp. (That’s how I spell the gag sound.)
Katy
Yeah, I vote for compost.
Compost, now!
Acky! Sorry I have 3 small kids and this is the first word that comes to mind 🙂 Personally, I would compost it all. No guilt whatsoever. If it were one hair, I would probably only toss the single container it was in. A whole nest? I’d be sick from thinking about everything else in there that I *can’t* see.
Gag! Toss it! I can ignore 1 hair, but a nest? Disgusting.
Chickens love spicy food! I know you have neighbors with chickens! If it isn’t super spicy I’ll feed it to my dog. She loves ethnic food!
Compost or feed to next door’s chickens with no hesitation whatsoever. Nope, none. Well, apart from a call to the local Environmental Health department who may need to see the offending item before going to the restaurant and getting medieval on their asses.
I would feed it to my dogs, cats, or chickens. I wouldn’t waste it, just feed it to an animal. If you have no pets then feed it to the birds.
Leave it in the fridge at work. 😉
Put a bird on it and call it art!!! 😉
I’d take the food back to the restaurant (if it’s convenient).
I couldn’t eat it without gagging. Sorry, I would compost.
Shudder…..toss away.
I think you might have crossed a line from frugal to cheap by even considering keeping it. Compost it already and try to forget it ever happened. Ugh! At least when I cook my own meals and I find a hair in them I know it is mine LOL. Does that make it better?
I just feel so bad wasting such a large amount of rather yummy food. 🙁
Blegh.
Katy
Sorry, food with hair in it and the word yummy just doesn’t compute! I don’t think I could even bring myself to compost that. And if anyone wasted food here, it isn’t you, it’s whoever up the supply chain wasn’t following the most basic hygiene procedures…or worse. Guilt-free garbage, IMHO.
Nest of hair in take out food = automatic toss.