You won’t want this Hot To Go.
After a Tik Tok user took to social media to air her grievances with the long wait-time and eventual illness, others shared similar experiences of food poisoning and stomach cramps after ingesting food from the same vendor.
The Auckland-based Tex-Mex kitchen Sheppards NZ has urged anyone affected to get in contact with them.
Amassing nearly 20k views, Tik Tok user @madirakete shared her disappointment at Laneway’s food truck service in a comical video, stating she waited 1.5 hours for food, but was shocked to find herself “fighting for [her] life” the next day with food poisoning.
@madirakete Yeah this wasn’t it aye @Laneway Festival NZ 💀
Festival goers began sharing similar experiences in the comments. One woman ate from the same vendor a day later at Worship music festival and complained of illness, another replying “same here.”
Others were quick to call the user out, saying it’s “actually insane to blame a food truck without 100% proof.”
Madi replied that she still would’ve made the video because of the absurd wait time, but “the sickness was just the cherry on top,” adding that others she has talked to unfortunately share the same symptoms.
Sheppards NZ was contacted by the New Zealand Herald in response to the unfolding incident.
A spokesperson told the Herald that “The only messages we have received have been ones of support and people saying how much they enjoyed our food and did not get sick.”
This comes as a surprise to commenters on the Sheppards Instagram complaining of stomach cramps and “the worst diarrhea” (this post, along with the comments, has since been deleted).
After an internal review of Sheppard’s processes, they maintain “we are very confident our food was not responsible.”
Interestingly, attendees who did not eat from the food truck have complained of similar food poisoning symptoms.
Sheppards maintains that it is not “our place to speculate” how punters fell ill.
Amongst the chaos of a stacked Laneway line-up, including Pop sensation Chappell Roan, the blame may be misguided for this New Zealand small business.
Sheppards will continue with their scheduled calendar for 2026 and look forward to more events. Laneway Festival continues on the 13th of February in Melbourne.
