Possible blood in food - HIV?

[panicked1]

Hi guys, here I am feeling quite upset and worried

This afternoon I went to lunch with my family. I'm a vegetarian and ordered a tuna sandwich and chips.

I remember picking up my sandwich and seeing a splodge of red on my sandwich but thought nothing of it. I remember also dipping the sandwich in mayonnaise but nothing else.

At the end of the meal I saw that the mayonnaise I had used on my plate had LOTS of red in it.

IF this is blood that had gotten on my meal and I had consumed it, is there a significant risk of me catching HIV?

Please help as I feel like I'm going berserk! :weep:

[Jonesle]

Are you sure it wasn't you bleeding. I remember seeing blood on my bread on a sarnie turned out my lip had split (they were dry) and I didn't notice. Also I think HIV can only be spread directly blood-blood or sexually? X

[panicked1]

I remember seeing red on my sandwich before even eating any of it which is why Im concerned... There was also a red splodge at the side of my plate that my sandwiches had sort of smudged

[Jonesle]

We'll other than it being disgusting... I'm confident HIV isn't contracted that way (I had HIV fears last year and my googling at the time suggests it's blood-blood or sexually transmitted), assuming the blood was indeed blood, not yours and the person who's blood it was has HIV, and the virus lived that long outside the body... In other words... You haven't caught HIV :) x

[anxious_thoughts]

I really don't think you have contracted HIV, Jonesle is right.

But I would never go out to eat there anymore, thinking of it really grossed me out if that is actually blood

[RoseEve]

I don't even think its blood. Maybe it's a spice ?

[anthrokid]

The chance of it being human blood is very slim. There are so many OHS rules in kitchens, any cut, even one that is scabbed over has to be covered with a plastic strip immediately. Not only that, but generally gloves are used. I think it'd be more likely to be from food. Is it possible that it was just a sauce, dressing or even a marinade on the tuna, or even some beetroot?

If you are still really concerned, the best thing to do would be to pop in to your GP and ask for a test.