Has the food at the CNE gone too far?

I haven't been to the CNE so far this year but today there is a report that about 12 people got sick yesterday while at the CNE.  They are still trying to determine the common link but they think it may have originated in the FOOD BUILDING.    Has the CNE gone too far on allowing some of the food vendors to try and out do each other on how much deep fried grease laden foods they can dish up at the fair?

Normally I love to go to the CNE just for the food and see what new inventions they come up with,   but over the past few years it seems that they just come up with ideas to out fry each other and add bacon or butter on everything.   The Cronut craze wasn't enough of an artery clogger so they had to slap a cheeseburger in it and some bacon jam on top.   To be honest when I saw it on the news just looking at it made me feel sick.

How can you tell what food made you sick when you have a Cronut Burger with a Bacon Milkshake and a Lobster Roll followed by an Ice cream waffle... the Ice cream waffle is always my favourite treat...just because of the hot waffle really.    

All I know is there are a few things that are a recipe for disaster at the CNE if you aren't careful.   The FOOD Building is always HOT.   The days are long.   There are young kids who aren't planning careers in the food industry serving food.   People attending the fair spend hours walking in the sun and eating everything in sight and will probably eat about 4 times the calories they would eat on a normal day.  Then maybe add some rides that shake your body upside down like shaking a milkshake or think of it like shaking a hot bottle of pop...  What do you think will happen??  Yup.. It's all got to go somewhere.

Nothing will kill the attendance and a summer business more than the rumour of food poisoning coming from one of the vendors.  

Should the CNE reject foods that vendors want to serve based on what's safe or appropriate for the public?  Should the CNE monitor the food vendors more often?   Is it the CNE's responsibility or is it our own to be diligent when we eat out?   How do you really know if your food is safe?  You don't.

But here's what we can do.   Don't go overboard and eat things you would never eat on a normal day.  Think about travelling and what happens when you eat food in different countries.   Eating all the food in site at the CNE acts the same way in your body as introducing foreign food.  It doesn't like it.
If the temperature outside is extremely hot or you are overheated be careful what you eat.  Your system is already being taxed.   You may be dehydrated.  How many people do you see walking around swilling water?  Most people are drinking things like those monster pops which will dehydrate you even more.   A good option at the CNE is the fresh shaken Lemonade.  I love that.  It has lots of ice so it lasts a long time and has the detoxing effect from the fresh lemons.

There isn't a huge selection of super healthy options at the CNE.  You really need to hunt for them.   There are less offending foods if you know you might have an issue.   I have friends that have brought their own food.   For me that kills the fun of the EX and I don't want to be lugging anything around besides a bottle of water.

But here's an idea.   Maybe we should try and sway vendors into creating healthy but tasty options.    How about a Caprese Salad on a stick?  How about  Hummus dippers?  How about grilled Pineapple on a stick?    If they can get creative by deep frying butter and mars bars, why can't they come up with healthy decadent foods that people want to go there to try.

There is another option at the CNE for a couple of days.  They have the food trucks which serve up pretty fresh foods but even they have really high calorie options but some of them make an effort to add some lighter fare or at least super fresh foods because it's in their best interest to develop a fan base of people that will keep following them from event to event.  That's how they make a living.

The rumours of the Cronut Burger being the culprit of the food poisoning at the CNE may kills their summers business and may change the way we look at the foods at the CNE.   Is it about time?

What do you look for when you go to the CNE?