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University of Cebu-Main Campus

College of Hospitality Management
HM 214: Practicum 1

Case #8
MASS FOOD POISONING AT EDSA SHANGRI-LA
Mass food poisoning at Edsa Shangri-La

A few weeks ago, heart specialists from all over the country gathered at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel for its
annual convention to discuss common heart problems. Quite out of the scientific program on the last
day, discussions turned to dealing with food poisoning as around 30 of the doctors, including my wife
and I had repeated bouts of watery diarrhea the day before.

I was seeing patients in the clinic after attending the sessions at the hotel—eating lunch and snacks
there earlier during the day, and lunch and dinner the previous day—when I started having nausea and
stomach cramps. I had to excuse myself in the middle of examining a patient to rush to the toilet. This
happened a few more times.

My wife and I skipped dinner that evening and went straight to bed. My wife’s bum stomach was not as
bad as mine; she usually has a stronger resistance to diseases than me. I was feeling chilly and drained.
Several other episodes of watery diarrhea followed during the night. It was good though I wasn’t
vomiting so I could replace by drinking oral rehydrating solution the fluids I lost through the diarrhea.
The bananas I ate also helped preserve my likely dwindling level of electrolytes.

Simple solution

There are convenient effervescent tablets one can just dissolve in plain water, and take the solution
after every watery bowel movement. But if one doesn’t have these tablets at home, a simple salt-sugar
solution can be easily prepared. Just mix one level teaspoon (5 ml) of salt with eight level teaspoons of
sugar in a liter of drinking water. For the potassium lost in the diarrhea, bananas would make a good
replacement source. Although the salt is very important in the solution, using too much of it can also be
harmful and has even been reported to cause convulsions in extreme cases.

Another important thing to remember about food poisoning is that the diarrhea is actually the body’s
compensatory efforts to get rid of the toxins that poisoned one’s gut. So taking anti-diarrheal agents to
plug the ooze, as suggested by over-the-counter anti-LBM (loose bowel movement) drugs, is not really
medically sound. We should allow the body to eliminate the infected food source, and just replace the
fluids and electrolytes we lose in the process. Taking anti-diarrheal agents is only recommended for
noninfectious causes of diarrhea.

Going back to our food poisoning, some of our doctor colleagues had worse cases than I had, and had to
be brought to the hospital. These included Doctors James Ho, Nikki Jara, Jean Capistrano, and an
Indonesian doctor undergoing medical training at UP-PGH.  Dr. Nikki even lost consciousness probably
due to low blood pressure secondary to dehydration. She related to me what happened to her.

“I awoke at 3 a.m. when I felt like defecating (moving bowels) again.  While washing my hands in the
toilet, I felt my vision go black. I stood a while to think that it would go back. I groped around the sink to
turn off the faucet but since I could not see, I accidentally pushed a mug, making it clatter on the sink
and breaking it. My mother asked me if I were ok, and I told her, ‘Mommy, wala akong makita.’”

She was rushed to the Capitol Medical Center, hydrated with intravenous fluids, and was discharged due
to improved condition after two days.

Responsibility

Despite best efforts at being careful with what we eat, even doctors have bouts of food poisoning every
now and then. But we found it quite hard to believe that it could happen while eating in a 5-star hotel. I
talked to Lesley Tan, the hotel’s communications director, and she said that after the incident, they sent
all suspected foods and water they had served the doctors to Intertech, a laboratory which does testing
for microbes present in food items, and all tests came back negative for any pathogen or bacteria.

She reiterated their hotel’s stringent food safety policies, and raised the possibility that the food
poisoning could have come from the snacks—prepared by third parties—which were served in the
hospitality suites by some pharmaceutical companies. This is a possibility except that some of those who
were downed with vomiting and diarrhea never ate any of these snacks and attributed the poisoning to
the foods eaten in the hotel.
The hotel staff may have taken it upon themselves to investigate the source of the poisoning, but since it
involved a relatively big number of people which may be considered an outbreak already, they should
have reported the incident to the Department of Health, which is generally informed and involved in the
investigation of any unresolved disease outbreaks.

For some of the doctors who were downed by the food poisoning, it is a public health issue that has to
be looked into by our health authorities. Even if the hotel is not legally mandated to do so, they should
be morally mandated, as a good corporate citizen, to make that report. Since they have not done so
more than two weeks after the incident, I e-mailed Health Secretary Enrique Ona earlier this week to
report the mass food poisoning and leave it to his department whatever needs to be done to make sure
that such unfortunate incident does not happen again.

Mistakes happen even with the best people employed to prevent them, and loopholes occur even in the
best of systems so the occurrence of incidents like this—though not acceptable—is still understandable
even in supposedly clean hotels. It’s quite discomforting though that the source of the problem has not
been identified, yet there was no effort to report it to the proper health authorities. As it is now, the
pathogen that caused the mass food poisoning is still “at large” and since it has not been identified, it
can wreak a more serious mess than it already did during our convention at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.

https://business.inquirer.net/4512/mass-food-poisoning-at-edsa-shangri-la

Case Study Report Outline

1. Introduction and Rationale of the Case
2. Description of the Status of the Case
a. Describe the current situation of the case
b. Describe the performance standards and measures (if any)
3. Assessment/Analysis of the Case
a. Describe the operational strength of the case
b. Describe the issues/problems/concerns within the case
4. Alternatives for improvement
a. Present alternatives to address the identified issues/problems/concerns
b. Assess the alternatives to determine the viable solutions
5. Recommended solutions/improvement
6. References:
It is recommended that you source business journals, textral references as well as any online
sources to support your answers on number 5. Make sure to include it with facts and
figures. Please try to use your own words and ideas based on research rather than copy and
paste other’s words from the internet. You should use the APA format style for the citations
in this section.
Case Study Report Outline
Introduction and Rationale of the Case
That time the Shangri-La hotel was booked for a gathering of different heart specialists around
the country for their annual convention with the aim of discussing common heart problems. Around 30
doctors, including the author and his wife had started experiencing diarrhea during the convention
period which resulted to an absence in one of the days of the convention. Food poisoning or also known
As foodborne illness is caused by eating contaminated food caused by infectious organisms or toxins
produced by such leads to food poisoning. Mayo Clinic (2020) states that the following are the common
symptoms caused by food poisoning: Nausea, Vomiting, Watery or bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain and
cramps, fever. Cross contamination (transfer of harmful organism to another) is another reason why
food poisoning occurs.
A personal experience of food poisoning from the vending machine located at the admission
building during my first school year of senior high school at MCL. It was during the week of ablaze
(welcoming gathering party) when I bought a Coca-Cola drink from the vending machine. The machine
has no indication of issue and has produced a very syrup mixture and only filled a quarter of the cup
included. I drank it and the following day I started to not feel well then, I got hospitalized thus I cannot
attend the welcoming party.

Description of the Status of the Case

A. An annual conference of heart experts from around the country took place in a 5-star Edsa
Shangri-La hotel, and met at the hotel to talk about a common heart condition. But there was an
event and 30 physicians were afflicted by food toxicity. Some had vomiting and diarrhea and for
severe instances, other physicians were brought into the hospital. They examined the event and
the physicians thought that the hotel was serving them with food and water. However, for any
pathogens and germs the laboratory test was negative. It has not been communicated by the
hotel to the health department because 30 doctors have been affected by an epidemic and the
research itself has been carried out. Health department which notified and participated in an
inquiry into any epidemic of unsolved disease. You are the experts and the hotel should have
sent it to the health department (DOH).
B. The physicians investigated the food and water that the motel supplied. Pathogen and
bacteria were negative. The physicians think it is from third-party snacks that were given by
some pharmaceutical firms in the hospitality suites. Although some of those doctors who have
been affected by vomiting and diarrhea did not take or eat any of the snacks that caused food
poisoning, the doctor wrote Enrique Ona, Secretary of Health, to report mass food poisoning to
ensure that such an unfortunately occurrence is not happening again.

Assessment/Analysis of the Case

A. The problem is serious as the source of widespread food poisoning was not known. This
strengthens and enhances the way hotels improve their offerings. The lawsuit harmed their
visitors and caused them anguish. The hotel didn't do anything to settle the problem; it might
have told DOH and passed on the necessary work and investigation. They probably don't
appreciate the safety and health of the guests and might thus lose future clients. Due to the
event, they will be able to improve their meals and value their consumers. Although the hotel is
likely to be emptied of bulk meals, or if the hotel cannot adequately address its customers'
complaints.
B. The concern for the first scenario is the food offered by the Shangri-La management to the
Participants of the convention while on the second scenario is the malfunction of the vending
machine.

Alternatives for improvement

A. The food could have been inspected first after taking a small bite and then inform the
Organizer about the condition of the food which could have prevented other participants from
getting food poisoned. The article also stated that the organizers had failed to inform the local
health official about the mass food poisoning which should be their responsibility. I could have
doubted the drink produced by the vending machine and asked the guard or any nearby staff if
 there is an issue with the machine. I could have also thrower away the drink because it does not
look similar to when I order the same drink from a vending machine of similar type.
B. The value of visitors, if guests feel properly appreciated and welcome, is vital in a hotel and
would be able to return from a hotel with the same amenities. You'd adore and appreciate your
stay at the hotel. Hotels ought to assure their visitors' safety and security. This allows the hotel
to prevent the loss of future visitors and the occurrence of widespread food poisoning and guest
discomfort. To improve the health and safety of our visitors in their employment. Even the
greatest individuals who work to prevent mistakes and incidents occur.

Recommended solutions/improvement
I believe that industrial hygiene hazards contains some of the most difficult to identify
Hazards because unlike fire or chemical hazard these are objects that we know we have to handle
carefully because of its effects but for hygiene related hazards such as food poisoning we cannot simply
detect because when we consume food we usually put our full trust on the food served because we
know that it is safe however there are times such as in these cases that contaminants are present in the
consumable served due to either malfunction or negligence with staff or involved third-parties.

References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/food-poisoning/symptoms-causes/syc20356230

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/146642405707700301