It's a very pinoy thing that we have that certain cheer when we get together around food, especially when it's a treat from somebody.
Yesterday, my retired boss came to the office and, after some teasing, agreed to treat us with Shakey's pizza. He's a very kind person with a generous pocket so it's really good to see him again after nearly a year after his retirement.
Our admin staff called Shakey's and ordered two of each: Pepperoni, Hawaiian Delight and Ultimate Cheese and Garlic. The orders came before 3:00 PM and we happily consumed the sumptuous treat.
At around 6:45 PM, an officemate, who had been in a meeting the whole day, ate his share of the pizzas. Upon consuming the pepperoni and ultimate cheese and garlic flavors, and was about to eat the remaining hawaiian delight, what he saw will make anyone feel like vomiting!!!
There were not a few, but several small white moving creatures on the plate where the two eaten slices came from! Yes there were small worms!!!
To have a visual presentation, here are sequential shots of the pizza (already placed in a transparent plastic) for further investigation.
Notice the small white elongated worms in the encircled portion, how the worms move!!! And oh this is not the only portion invaded by worms. There are other parts but I was not able to focus them anymore.
Early this morning we called Shakey's and traced the source branch to be Shakey's Loyola. Through phone, we explained the story to their representative. And upon their initial investigation within themselves, the representative was insisting that they follow strict protocol before the pizzas for delivery get out of their parlor. She then began probing about our office environment, which we explained to be clean and in an air-conditioned building. She also verified the time of delivery and the time that the worms were discovered. Food, if freshly-prepared, and even if landed on by an egg-laying fly, won't be naturally infested by worms in a span of 3 hours.
Our very probable assumption is that the worms (or their eggs) came from the storage of raw materials or of the packaging box. That's the reason why we were pointing out that they conduct a thorough check on those items or even beyond.
We asked what does the manager or supervisor say, the representative didn't relay an exact message. That was the time when we suggested that they take the pizza slice for further evaluation.
Several minutes later, the delivery boy came with a box of warm Hawaiian Delight flavor pizza. We showed and gave the wormed pizza and to his faint surprise he said, "Akala namin malaki yung uod" (We thought the worm was big).
So the worms are really small that they might have come from the crust or bread. Anyway, he took it and went.
As for the replacement pizza, after careful scrutiny, ended up in some people's stomachs. But not of those who ate the pizzas yesterday.
As for me, well, I'm not a real fan of pizzas. I just ate my share in celebration of seeing our former boss again. I think it will take time before I have a bite of my next pizza, whatever brand it is.
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