Worm crackers. It is the dessert that a leukemia patient admitted to the Fundeni Clinical Institute in the capital received. The images, which were filmed and posted on the Internet, instantly went viral and sparked waves of anger and outrage. One of the hospital doctors even tried to explain to us how such an incident was possible.
Worm crackers on the hospital menu. Photo source: Facebook capture
The story, in short: a patient with leukemia, admitted to the Fundeni Hospital in Bucharest, received as dessert, for breakfast, a package of biscuits with worms. “Food with worms brought by a catering company to Fundeni Hospital for leukemia patients! This is respect for the person and the patient! I’m going to order something to eat, because you get sick worse from here”the patient commented on the images he filmed with his mobile phone.
Soon after, the hospital management had a first reaction: it sent a press release in which it officially explained what happened and apologized for this unfortunate incident. “The management of the Institute immediately took the emergency measures that are required in such cases, proceeding both to remove the respective product from the food menu and to check the entire stock of biscuits that had an expiration date of June 2025. We regret the appearance of this incident that occurred independently of our will, and we assure all our patients that we treat food safety with the utmost seriousness,” stated the representatives of the Fundeni Hospital.
How to check food given to patients: looking for the needle in the haystack
Dr. Laurențiu Micu, primary physician of internal medicine, who holds the position, temporarily, of the manager of the Fundeni Hospital, told “Adevărul” that such an incident is difficult to explain, given that only one package from the entire batch it was problematic.
“We have our own kitchen where the cooked food is prepared. However, for breakfast and dinner food products are bought from different producers. Therefore, in the morning casseroles – biscuits were offered for breakfast – there are many products already packaged. Cubes of butter, with jam or honey, packages of biscuits… All are packaged and respect the expiration date. The biscuits our patient received were expiring in 2025. The food is then put into casseroles, sealed and given to the sick. Obviously, patients receive these foods unopened. How do I unseal a packet of biscuits? Or butter? I risk contaminating the food myself.”
But, continues the doctor, these food products, once they have been delivered to the hospital, go through a sorting process. “Everything that goes into the kitchen is checked beforehand. But you can’t get your hands on every single product. So the check is done randomly. If we find a non-compliant product, it is thrown away. But we can’t check the whole lot. It happened to us, for example, to find yogurt boxes with the swollen plastic..these are quickly seen..but how do you know what is in the packaged biscuits? You check a few packages and, if everything is in order, you give the whole batch for consumption. It’s a standard procedure.”
However, this time, an altered one slipped among the packages of biscuits. “And it seemed very strange to us, because it was the only package with problems in the entire quantity received. As soon as we found out, we ordered the withdrawal of all products. I also asked other patients who had already consumed biscuits from that stock if they found any irregularities. We were told no. Neither the ANPC nor we could explain what happened”, Dr. Laurențiu Micu explained to us.
On the same day, company representatives were also called to the hospital. “I quickly called them, they came right away. We opened all the packages together. There was none with this problem. And one more aspect: we’re talking about quality biscuits, which we find on the shelves in big stores, don’t buy from I don’t know what stand in the Europa Complex”.
The doctor told us that he deeply regrets the incident, especially since the story quickly went viral, was also picked up by the mass media, and the hospital became the target of all critics. “It was a regrettable incident that did not concern us. And I’m sorry all the more since our hospital respects all the rules regarding hygiene and food quality”.
Hospital manager: “We received spoiled potatoes and water-injected meat”
Dr. Cătălin Apostolescu, manager of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases “Prof. Dr. Matei Balș”, who also faced such problems over time.
He declared for “Adevărul” that we are talking about a much deeper situation, with roots deeply embedded in legislation that is sometimes unclear, sometimes interpretable or decades old. The system itself is lame. “I, as a hospital, go and buy food from one Romanian producer, I go and buy my nails and sockets from another Romanian manufacturer. Which, whatever you see, sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad. There is a law on public procurement. And we, when we make purchases, including food, must comply with this law that obliges you to take not necessarily the lowest price, but the best value for money. That, depending on some documents that the auction participant presents to you. Some of these documents I can check, some not”.
Going over this aspect, once the products have been delivered to the hospital, they are sorted by a reception committee that checks in detail the quality and the correspondence between what entered the hospital and what the contract entails.
“What do we do when we have a thousand nails? That we can’t check them all. We do a survey check. Open a pack, open two, open five. They are good, you assume the whole batch is fine. The same goes for food. You can’t open all the bags of cookies you get, tear open the cookies to see what’s inside. It’s absurd,” continued Dr. Apostolescu.
The manager from Balș admits that he also faced situations of this kind, but fortunately, the food did not end up on the patients’ plates.
“We prepare the patients’ food in our own kitchen. The first course, the second course…we have a special menu for each individual pathology…for patients with diabetes, for children, babies, infants, etc. Because we wanted to disappear that image of the nurse who comes to the patient’s bedside with the pot of soup and pours the soup into the plate, we serve the menu in disposable and sealed plastic casseroles. But, in addition to the food prepared by us, we also have packaged products, which we buy. We do the same with vegetables and fruits. And we have had situations when in bags of potatoes, for example, we found spoiled potatoes. The beautiful ones had been put on top, the bad ones in the middle, so they couldn’t be seen. And it was only about 500 kilograms. Then with the meat received…another problem…when I defrosted it, I found that it had reduced its volume. He lost 40, even 50% of his weight. What this means? She had been injected with water to make her look good.” confesses the manager from Balș.
But what happens if you eat food with worms? Biscuits, for example…”It is clear to everyone that food infested with worms is spoiled food. We are talking about adulterated food. You can have more or less severe diarrhea.”
What the doctor wants to emphasize is the fact that hospitals are responsible for the quality of food offered to patients, but also those who deliver the products. “There are certain responsibilities of the hospital, but there are also responsibilities of the producers who, many, want to maximize their profit”. Unfortunately, says doctor Apostolescu, these companies are not sanctioned by the authorities. “We, the hospitals, decide whether or not to terminate the contract with them. In general, however, we sanction them differently. When he goes to the next auction, I already have his history. I know from the start that he is not a bona fide producer and I remove him. On the other hand, if he goes to other tenders, he is often asked for a certificate of good conduct, so to speak, from the former contracts. Somehow, word gets out to him at the fair and he is rejected there as well”.
How much money the state allocates for a patient’s meal
The National Health Insurance House allocates 22 lei for each patient’s meal. “However, for certain categories of patients such as children, HIV patients, tuberculosis patients, it is possible to give them a menu worth 33 lei per day. And as for the patient with diabetes, he must have 5 meals a day, not 3”, the manager of the Institute of Infectious Diseases “Matei Balș” also stated.
Food in Romanian hospitals includes, among other things, simple omelettes, white bread, plain yogurt, butter, jam, biscuits, tea, rice with vegetables, pasta with meat, cream soups, chicken soups. As a comparison, here is the menu served to patients in other countries around the world, according to food magazine Chowhound.
France: Food in hospitals can range from three-course meals to simpler offerings that often include bread, yogurt and soup.
Germany: Traditional German meals are common, but options can be as simple as bread with cheese and meat.
Indonesia: Hospital food consists of chicken, rice, tofu and soup.
Ireland: Meals are hearty and often potato-based, with options such as ham, lamb stew and roast beef.
Italy: Hospital food is often below expectations, including staples such as boiled chicken and pasta.
Japan: Hospital food is generally well regarded, including rice, soup, fish and other traditional dishes.
Netherlands: Hospital meals are varied, from simple breakfasts to more elaborate lunches and dinners, with salads, meats and soups.
South Korea: The menu includes rice, kimchi and soup, tofu, fish and vegetables.
Sweden: Meals are simple and hearty, like open sandwiches for breakfast and meat pies for dinner.
Thailand: Hospital food is tasty, often with rice, soup and dishes such as pork stew.
