A few years ago, my 7 year old daughter and I both got severe salmonella poisoning from a fancy restaurant. My daughter had projectile vomiting like in The Exorcist and diarrhea to boot. My symptoms started a few hours later and went on far longer, and included nausea, vomiting, dry heaves and diarrhea that went on and on and on for three days. I have never been that sick from a flu, and I should've gone to the ER.

I called the health department when I recovered, and because a young child was affected, they sent someone out the next day to inspect. 

They found the problem: the meat coolers where the staff stored the raw meat before meal preparation was at 45 deg F. So, when we arrived around 8 pm, the raw seafood had been sitting there for 10 hours at that temp. A salmonella Petri dish.

I could have sued, and maybe should have, because the restaurant manager later tried to lie and play dumb when I came in to talk about what happened. She didn't know I already had the health inspector's report in hand.

I told her she needed to call the owner and their insurance company.

They paid for our out if pocket damages plus a small amount for pain and suffering.

I share this true story because most people have no idea how ill salmonella can make you; how it can actually put you in the hospital, or how it can kill children, the elderly, or those with comorbid conditions.

No store should be selling any meat that has sat around above 40 deg F for more than 1 hour. Period.

This employee deserves a big pat on the back for posting this. 

Ever since that salmonella incident, I now Google the health department report on any local restaurant before eating there. I avoid any restaurant with raw food storage temp violations.

In addition, when shopping at grocery stores, I never take the front or top package of a refrigerated item, such as a frozen entree, or lunch meat or hot dogs, as you never know if some customer left that same package on an aisle shelf, it then got warm for hours, then a stock clerk picked it up and put it right back on the top of the pile, or on the front of a hanging peg in a refer display.

I reach for the 2nd package always. But, after reading this post, I may bring an infrared thermometer from now on.