QF Offal in Red Wine Sauce

[k_sheep]

Why is a microbiologist reporting on cuts of meat??? They don't deal with anything bigger than mites normally! How are they going to know what bit of cow something is?!

 

[Princess Fiona]

It took a little while but I got a response from Customer Care on this. The only apology was for the delay in replying.. apparently the meal was 'more lean meat than fat'. Sorry, not good enough Qantas.

What on earth does a microbiologist have to do with food tech ?
That's a pretty atrocious response considering the photograph clearly shows the meat being anything but chuck steak.

 

[vertisol]

I've worked in abattoirs and for meat to go out with tendon, ligament, arteries etc is pretty rare. The fact the butchers then missed it and then the cooks is most remarkable. No meat for consumption is sold like that. Meat for pet food though... (too far?)...

 

[jetlagger]

I've worked in abattoirs and for meat to go out with tendon, ligament, arteries etc is pretty rare. The fact the butchers then missed it and then the cooks is most remarkable. No meat for consumption is sold like that. Meat for pet food though... (too far?)...

I always was under the impression that all of the QF cuisine was personally sourced, prepared & always inspired under the watchful eye of Neil Perry himself..
I must have been delusional.. :shock:

 

[grussellt]

What on earth does a microbiologist have to do with food tech ?
That's a pretty atrocious response considering the photograph clearly shows the meat being anything but chuck steak.

I would hate to think that anything I eat on Qantas goes anywhere near a microbiologist as normally that would imply that he (or she) is looking for bacteria/algae or even viruses (unless, hopefully it's about three days after I've consumed it). Sometimes when there is an infection these are the people brought in to see where the problem arose in food poisoning or other situations. As someone originally trained in biochemistry (and a bit of physiology) I can see the problem is a lump of blood vessel not to be placed on a customer's plate. Try a bit harder QF and brandish the sharp knife where this problem can be fixed.

 

[Mal]

I wouldn't be too surprised if Qantas kept samples from batches of everything served (frozen likely) so they could test again later for bacteria or other nasties and/or use for heading off litigation.

But yeah the response versus the photos... Something is wrong. Offally wrong.

 

[Archphoto]

If this is *any* indication of a NP inspired meal, I'm rather glad I haven't been to his restaurant. :shock:

 

[vetrade]

Whoever wrote QF's response clearly has absolutely no idea what a microbiologist does because, as others have stated, such people investigate bacteria / viruses etc. It would have been just as (un)informative to cite the opinion of a baggage handler or engineer as to what was in the meal. Which suggests to me that in all likelihood no-one investigated the complaint at all and the author just fabricated the story for the sake of expediency. The response was insulting and the connotations as to what that says about QFs commitment to quality control and its customer service seem obvious.

 

[ckck]

A lump of blood vessel providing it is properly cooked should not cause food poisoning. It is not commonly served in western food but in itself you shouldn't get sick from it. Looking at the picture posted in this thread as a person who would normally happily eat all sorts of offal (e.g. liver, heart, sweetbreads etc) what is shown in that picture is just gross.

 

[Virgin Bart]

I actually thing QF may have been being a bit of a smart*ss, just hoping they could get away with writing a load of rubbish and palming you off.

 

[RooFlyer]

It took a little while but I got a response from Customer Care on this. The only apology was for the delay in replying.. apparently the meal was 'more lean meat than fat'. Sorry, not good enough Qantas.

It may be a PITA for you rdmsmith, but I wonder if you care to escalate the complaint so we can vicariously participate? The response quoted was obviously just a fob off. I have some Qantas exec emails, but I'm sure there are others here who have more appropriate, more senior ones.

 

[dajop]

Just a thought, shouldn't QF crew be empowered to deal with this on the spot? Was it raised with them during the flight? It seems a best practice would be for QF staff to take up with caterer immediately after the flight, and deal with customer straight away (by providing a substitute meal), rather than having to deal with it well after the event. I know cabin crew are busy, and have to deal with all sorts of complaints from passengers, mostly eye rolling-ly trivial I guess, but this looks pretty bad from the photo, and surely they could see something is wrong with that particular dish.

 

[grussellt]

Rather than call it a dish I think it might be more appropriately referred to as "a dissection".

 

[RooFlyer]

Rather than call it a dish I think it might be more appropriately referred to as "a dissection".

Boom tish !!

 

[jpk]

I spoke to NP at the Tweet event in MEL several months ago, and raised quality of Y meals. He said he has nothing to do with Y meals and hates that everyone associates his name with them. He would like to improve them, but "it's not a priority for QF right now", which I took to mean they did not want to spend the money.

 

[BoyZeus]

Whoever wrote QF's response clearly has absolutely no idea what a microbiologist does because, as others have stated, such people investigate bacteria / viruses etc. It would have been just as (un)informative to cite the opinion of a baggage handler or engineer as to what was in the meal. Which suggests to me that in all likelihood no-one investigated the complaint at all and the author just fabricated the story for the sake of expediency. The response was insulting and the connotations as to what that says about QFs commitment to quality control and its customer service seem obvious.

Here here!

Ask to see a copy of said report.

A butcher is more qualified to state what it is - not a microbiologist!

 

[awilcockson]

"more lean meat than fat".

So reading between the lines as long as there is 49% or less fat, QF are happy?

Awesome.

 

[kimjongun]

This meal was not up to standard, but did this slip through the cracks or was it something else.

Hands up who last had a "meat" pie?

under the Food Standards Code, a meat pie must contain a minimum of 25% 'meat flesh'. Meat flesh includes the skeletal muscle of any slaughtered animal as well as any 'attached' animal rind, fat, connective tissue, nerve, blood and blood vessels. But it doesn't have to be beef, muscle meat from buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry or sheep can be used to manufacture meat pies and doesn't need to be specified on the label. When it comes to offal however, the presence of brain, heart, kidney, liver, tongue or trip must be declared on the label. Offal can also include parts of the carcass such as blood, pancreas, spleen and thymus.

 

[opusman]

Meat flesh includes the skeletal muscle of any slaughtered animal as well as any 'attached' animal rind, fat, connective tissue, nerve, blood and blood vessels. But it doesn't have to be beef, muscle meat from buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry or sheep can be used to manufacture meat pies and doesn't need to be specified on the label. When it comes to offal however, the presence of brain, heart, kidney, liver, tongue or trip must be declared on the label. Offal can also include parts of the carcass such as blood, pancreas, spleen and thymus.

All good stuff! Geez, you people need to stop being such cough about what you eat

 

[BD1959]

A lump of blood vessel providing it is properly cooked should not cause food poisoning. It is not commonly served in western food but in itself you shouldn't get sick from it. Looking at the picture posted in this thread as a person who would normally happily eat all sorts of offal (e.g. liver, heart, sweetbreads etc) what is shown in that picture is just gross.

Have to agree 100%. I would normally eat liver, kidney, black-pudding, meat pies etc. I know what goes into the offal I prepare, I suspect what goes into a meat-pie would normally resemble the contents of that Y meal and I'm prepared for that.

What I would not be prepared for is being served "beef" and seeing offal. That is simply bad, bad presentation and well as dubious content. If QF are happy to be serving that - and it sounds like they are - given the current media debate on the content of meat pies, I'm sure they also find a photo of that meal to be "topical".

I wonder how happy QF would be for that to happen.

Regards,

BD