Would you like a side of nausea with your dinner?
Photo by Meepocity
So I just returned from a brief trip to San Diego to visit my family. I was scheduled to take the redeye back to New York, leaving late on Monday night. My sister and I stopped on the way to the airport for some dinner, opting for a little Greek restaurant. Since I had spent the last week eating just about everything in sight, as people on vacation do, I decided to end the trip with something light and healthy: chicken kabobs, grilled veggies, and a nice Greek salad. I boarded my flight and tried to get comfortable, but something in my stomach just didn’t feel right. It got progressively worse over the next hour or so, and when a huge wave of nausea overcame me, I realized that I probably had food poisoning. Oh, great! So much for healthy eating!
Food-borne illnesses are no picnic under the best circumstances, but being trapped on an airplane in the middle of the night with a compromised digestive system was a total nightmare. The flight attendant tried to help me out with some antacid tablets, but they didn’t do much to soothe my stomach. I basically had to white-knuckle it until we landed and I could get home to nurse my ailing bowels in the comfort of my own bathroom. Needless to say, it wasn’t an enjoyable day, but it did give me a lot to think about.
What causes food poisoning? How should I treat it? Is there anything I can do to make myself more comfortable? How can I ensure this never happens again, either from restaurant food or food I prepare at home? Do restaurants have policies or a legal obligation to patrons who get sick from the food they serve? How soon before I can start eating normally again?
Fortunately, I started feeling better within about 24 hours, but you can bet that I’ll be avoiding that particular restaurant on future trips to San Diego.
Have you ever experienced food poisoning? Do you have any tips for avoiding it?
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(average 4.75)
The only thing I know to do is to wash your hands befofre eating. If cooking at home, wash your hands first. Other than that, be sure you wash all raw vegetables very well and make sure all raw meat is cooked until it’s all the way done (don’t know what to tell people who like their meat rare or medium rare – eater beware, I guess!). Also make sure you don’t cross contaminate by using the cutting boards or silverwear you used with raw meat on your vegetables or whatever else.
As for restaurants – that’s what scares me. Your food is literally in the hands of other people. I would say if it doesn’t look or taste right, don’t eat it and return it and tell staff what you think is wrong with it. If it’s a fast food restaurant and you can see people preparing your food, make sure they are wearing gloves. If they’re not, tell them to put them on or just leave. It’s a law in my state (and I would guess in other states as well) that people handling food for other people need to wear gloves.
That’s my advice for you. Hope you feel better soon and good luck!
wow i hate throw up!!!!
Yeah, I had food poisoning once… after eating at Applebee’s. It wasn’t very much fun, and it sure was a bad way to kick off summer vacation, but fortunately I felt better after a day or so.
Great Q because it is sharply posed and critical at the same time. I hope the censors of pushing an opinion bec it is obvious that their is a presumption that food poisoning s a bad thing.On the other hand, have you thought it is one way to control obesity using bugs to make-up for lack of will power and lack of hygienic knowledge.
Wink wink
” I hope the censors of pushing an opinion such a Q don’t delete your Q…”
ps I worry about getting a hepatitis all the time esp when I travel to foreign countries and eat strange foods. I am fearless or rather was at one time. I once caught salmonella eating roast duck in Quanzhou province in the People’s Republic of China, just North of Hong Kong in 1997. I was sick with fever,the dreaded D and stomach cramps for several days! The flight back from HK to LA through Narita was just awful! I took all the imodium I could stomach!
I was refused a life insurance policy coverage increase bec of my travelling requirements back then. It is certainl;y a serious subject!
What causes food poisoning?
Several things can cause food poisoning, but with your circumstance… I would guess undercooked chicken. Cross contamination is also possible.
How should I treat it?
It depends on the severity. In your situation, I would just ride it out and get an OTC medication like Immodium AD or Pepto Bismol. If you have any blood in your stool or vomit, call your doctor right away or go to a health center if your doctor is not available
Is there anything I can do to make myself more comfortable?
On an airplane, it’s doubtful. At home, just treat it like the Stomach Flu.
How can I ensure this never happens again, either from restaurant food or food I prepare at home?
At a resaurant – Pay attention to what you are eating. If the chicken looks pink or feels strange, don’t eat it. If the resaurant smells clean (check the restrooms, too) it should be fine, but it’s always best to just watch everything that’s on your plate.
At home – make sure all of your meats are kept away from veggies and wash everything (including meats) before preparing them. Keep work surfaces clean and watch cross contmination by washing your hands and cooking utensils thouroughly in between cutting/mixing meats and veggies.
Do restaurants have policies or a legal obligation to patrons who get sick from the food they serve?
I’m not sure. If it’s really that bad, like if you were in the hospital, I would suggest keeping a sample of the food you ate (from a doggy bag??) and call an attorney right away
How soon before I can start eating normally again?
When you start to feel better. Start with foods that are easy to digest (crackers, soup…) and work up from there.
I generally try to avoid eating chicken or when I go to an unfamiliar place. If I do on the rare occasion get it, I check throughly by cutting it open and inspecting it to make sure it was cooked really well. I prefer to get beef at restraunts just because I can easily tell if it’s been cooked well enough and if it’s a little rare it won’t poison me (unless we’re talking hamburgers which I usually tell them to char) I’ve also noticed that on kabobs or anything cooked on a skewer, that the meat closest to the stick doesn’t get cooked very well which may have been why you got sick. I also try to pay close attention to the temperature of the food that I am being served. For example if I order a salad and it isn’t super cold, that tells me that the dressing probably wasn’t refrigerated properly which is a recipe for disaster. I’ve gotten sick from salad dressings before which is why now I usually just ask for oil and vinegar when I’m out. Also steer clear from anything mayonaissey like potato salad, tuna salad etc. Lots of people get sick from these because they don’t always get stored properly. At home, invest in a good meat thermometer so you know when things have been cooked to a proper temp and don’t store leftovers in the fridge for more than 3 days. Lastly, I have read a few studies that have said that people who enjoy a glass of red wine with dinner are 50% less likely to get food poisioning (I guess the alcohol helps kill the bacteria before it can cause harm) so drink up!
Hey!
Didn’t read what ppl put so don’t blame me for repeating!
Food poisoning sucks!
Being on a plane too must have been hell!!! ahh!
My advice is not much…but to try to avoid food poisoning..you must make sure that all food you eat, even veggies are hot enough…especially meat like chicken! it must be piping hot…you can let it cool down before you eat it of course, but the only way to kill the bacteria is to make things HOT!
As for eating out…again make sure what you are eating is hot, if not, send it back to be warmed up! It should be hot when you get it!
If you aren’t sure of the place you are eating, eat something safe…i.e. not chicken, its the worst kinda meat for bacteria!
but alas, you can never be sure about a resturants hygiene. They could spread it any how, even onto salad, of which you can’t heat or course!
You could try to look online at resturants inspection reports, but again if you are traveling and see a new food place, thats not always easy!
Washing hands is really important yes….
If you get food poisoning…stay off dairy(milk,cheese etc) for a day or two, it feeds the bugs.
Eat safe things like crackers when you feel like eating again, but tbh eat what you like when you feel like eating again! As long as you know it won’t upset you.
And drink plenty of water or flat lemonade/sprite to replace your sugars and salts…espesh if you are being sick too. Avoid dehydrating!
and if your symptoms are really bad, go to ER or your doctor. Food poisoning can kill.
Hope that helps!
love x
thats no fun at all! Pepto Bismol is always a great help also eating crakers and bland foods! I would drink a big ole 7up or Mountaindew and plenty of water and of corse GATORADE, it fights off dehidration. I throw up everyday but for a better cause, IM PREGNANT!!!
bleh! that must have SUCKED. for me, the best thing for me to do when i feel really sick is to go throw up, just get all of the crap out of your system! it may not be the most glamourous place to do it, in a suction airplane potty, but hey! i was on a road trip, felt sick, threw up at a rest stop and felt perfectly fine after that!
either way, i think vomiting is the best thing you can do when you have food poisioning
IVE JUST RETURNED HOME FROM A THREE WEEK VACATION VISITING MY AUNT AND UNCLE IN SPRINGHILL FLORIDA,ONE NIGHT WE HAD A LIL CEASERS PIZZA AND A SIDE ORDER OF BB-QUED SPARE RIBS,ABOUT 1AM I GOT SICK AND THREW UP ABOUT FIVE TIMES,THE FORCE OF VOMITING WAS SO STRONG ,THAT I EMPTIED MY KIDNEYS,I HAD TO CHANGE MY UNDERPANTS AND MY BOXERS.MY AUNT AND UNCLE ATE THE SAME THINGS AND THEY WERENT AFFECTED.IT WAS EITHER THE FOOD,A STOMACH VIRUS,OR AS MY AUNT SWEARS I HAD ( NERVES) ! ONE WAY OR THE OTHER,I WAS ONE SICK PUPPY!
I had ate at a greek pizza place in the mall about 6:00pm. My stomach started to pain so i took some Milk of Magnesia. I feel asleep soon after. While I was sleeping around 3:00am I awoke only to vomit all over my bed! After about 7 vomits and a heap load of nausea I started to feel better only to start up once again. AND JUST MY LUCK I had a chorus concert the same day. I couldnt use the bathroom and kept vomiting. While in my chorus group I kept leaving the room to calm my nausea. In the end I felt better after the concert. WASENT A GOOD EXPERIENCE AT ALL.
You can’t be sure with any food you buy whether it’s gonna make you sick or not. I have had food poisoning from a pasta salad I bought from my usual lunch place–I think the mayo may have gone bad. I now avoid mayo (also for health reasons). If you are healthy, usually the sickness will pass in about 24 hours (stomach flu usually lasts longer). Once you have it, basically your body has to deal with it but taking Imodium helps coat your stomach and lessens slightly the looseness of your bowels, but you’re still going to feel lousy. Avoid anything with dairy that you can’t be sure hasn’t been sitting unfrigerated for more than an hour. Be skeptical of food you buy on the street. Make sure food is cooked thoroughly (if the chicken is still a little raw inside, don’t eat it). Even good restaurants will infrequently not be able to control what bacteria gets into their food though.
I hate being sick. Just watch what you eat and don’t cross foods!! I hope you get well soon!
Well, first of all, you don’t know for a fact that you got food poisoning from the Greek restaurant. Even if you feel like it was that for sure, 100%, there is no way of knowing unless a professional has tested the food. Plus, food poisoning usually takes 8-12 hours to show up. You might want to be open to considering other things that may have made you sick.
Food poisoning – both myself & my son – on an 8 hour flight from Honolulu to Houston. I had probably 4 hours of non-stop vomiting/diarhea & then it hit my son. Should I ever be fortunate enought to visit Hawaii again, I’ll stick to burgers & pizza at the airport restaurants and leave the Chinese stall strictly alone.
Sorry to hear you got sick from eating out. No one should get sick from eating out. Food poisoning is nearly 100% preventable. What needs to be done is the mandatory posting of warnings when a restaurant fails a government health inspection. The problem is most local politicians are against it. In Santa Clara County California, Democrat local county supervisors decided against requiring restaurants to post their government health inspection reports. The real rational for the decision was the politicians would loose valuable campaign donations from the restaurant owners and their friends. (A recent report showed some of the most popular restaurants are the dirtest.) The politicians’ decision just proves local politicians put their own re-election ahead of the health of citizens. If the politicians didn’t have their $120,000 a year politician job (+ $20,000 in benefits) then most would go back to being paid $20,000 a year. Also, they would have no chance for promotion to the California state legislator ($150,000 a year with benefits). I am just glad there are term limits to keep those people from being in office forever. Hopefully voters will get smarter about sleezy politicians that care more about having a good salary than about the people that vote for them. Citizens should know if a restaurant is serving leftovers, has bad food handling practices, or has an infestation of roaches (or mice).
Is that like speaking flatulence? No, really, I got sick from eating Food Slop (Food Service) at college and was in the dorm bathroom with diarrhea all afternoon making me miss my classes. It was probably 100% preventable if the workers would have washed their hands, cooked the food more, whatever… Sorry you got sick!!!
I have experienced that before, but it was much worse. Try having food poisoning on an 18 HOUR FLIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was horrible. I was coming I was coming home from India to America when I got it. I still dont know what caused it but I do know that I found it hard to eat anything else for the whole flight. So I know how must have felt.
I know how you must have felt.
Try having that same feeling for 18 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats what happened to me! It was horrible. The flight was half way around the world and I hated every second of it. I kept on vomiting and I could not eat anything the whole flight! I still don’t know what food I got it from.
I got salmonella from a sushi place a few years ago, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I was interviewed by some county board and they investigated the restaurant but I never heard anything more about it. Then, when all the Chinese stuff was being recalled, I found out infected fish was coming in from China, and you should always make sure the restaurant does not get their fish from China. It’s scary because there’s really not much you can do…you just have to trust that a restaurant is keeping things clean. It has made me a total germophobe, which I hate!
I ate a salad at Jack’s once and got so sick I at to go to the hospital and get an IV put in my arm for four hours to hydrate me. I was so dehydrated that I could hardly walk and so sick that I couldn’t drink anything.
Yeah I ate some raw steak that I bought at Cub last Friday. I guess I got E-Coli; the manager at Cub got pissed at me because I ate it raw, but I’m thinking that it probably would have been in there anyway, as my fiance didn’t get sick from his piece from the same package. Diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, had to take an IV at the doctors. After 6 days, just beginning to feel normal. I feel that you are taking your chances, I mean people got food poisoning from lettuce & spinach, the only way I can think of is to grow your own veggies or buy from Organic type of stores — more expensive maybe, but the extra you pay for your food could save a hospital bill, not to mention your life.
First of all, I would like to point out, that what you experienced may not at all have been food poisoning. The problem with getting sick after eating a meal is that the most recent meal is the “culprit”, when it could have been something well before that meal.
People prone to IBS, suffer from a compromised nerve system in their guts. There are several factors that take place in a normal gut, that do NOT with IBS. For instance, the rhythmic movements of the small and large intestine don’t always work right, and then the nerves themselves are more sensitive. But yes it could have been food poisoning,
what greek restaurant? odds are that i’ve been there… hahahaha.
I feellfor you as in one’s life a little food poisoning must fall. Yes it may be prevented by handwashing, but what if the food itself is rotten or spoiled.
My previos incident involved (PJ) pizza the one made with the freshest ingredients. Well my pizza was fresh all right. I was sick the whole weekend and when complained to the manger about it the on Sunday that I could not eat anything after ingesting that pizza and how my system would not allow me eat anything for fear of being nauseated continuously even up to 48 hrs later from that firt bite on Friday night .
I was compensated by the offter of another pizza in which I refused having flashbacks of what I had all ready endured. I guess I wanted an apology as some one made my pizza “too fresh.”
My second run in was from the best tasting egg biscuit I had from a local resturant while I was on my way into work one Friday. BOjangles is known for it’s biscuits and mines certaintly was well known. Once again I was down Sat, and Sun. 48 hrs. My family was concerned and wanted me to seek medical attention as my bowels wreaked havoc on my digestive system; not being able to eat and then taking it gently not knowing what may trigger me to vomit. Thus allowing my food to pass through my bowels at a fast rate and giving me the bubble guts.
The only thing you can do is like everyone else said pay attention to everything in a restaraunt! For instance I went to a nice restaraunt and the food was great and it seemed to be very clean, you could see the kitchen and see people making your food wich is good, but when I got my salad drsssing it was room temp the only dressing I eat is blue cheese, it’s already made out of bacteria, you have to keep it cold. It kinda ruined my appetite for the rest of the food.
I have gotten food poisning from a sbarros pizza some years back, my mom ate the same food I did and was fine, so I think alot has to do with what your body can handle, some people are more or less effected by differant bacterias, depending on there personal health and there bodys ability to handle and quickly expell bad bacteria , ever eaten something and threw up ONCE a little while after ? That was your body saying :” something is wrong with this food lets get it out of here before something bad happens…”
Being careful is all you can do. Food poisoning is misrerable. Plan white steemed rice, or maybe with a light non-dairy dressing or topping is awsome for food poisoning.
Food poisoning happens to the best of us. Now exactly what causes it and knowing whether or not that is your diagnosis are the important questions.
There are several types of “poisoning” caused by foods.
The most common form is salmonella. The only surefire way of guaranteeing that you don’t wind up on the toilet half the day in pain or standing over your toilet tossing up all of your “cookies”, then cook the food you’re going to eat for yourself and your guests.
As other posters already advised us not to cross contaminate meats and veggies, and cook everything so that it is all thoroughly hot through and through to the center and making sure that all cooked foods are just that… thoroughly COOKED. Then if it’s leftovers you’re going to eat then make sure all of the food has been refrigerated very well for all the days before eating the food and that it has not passed any expiration date, so to speak. A hint that the food is no longer any good to eat is by “the off smell or color” of the food itself. Many times if the food is no longer any good to eat, it will have spores of green mold that we kid around sometimes and call “pennicillin”. However, it is not really penicillin and if eaten will cause the person to get violently ill, as we described earlier.
I do not wish food poisoning of any kind on not even my worst enemy… Just be very careful when handling all kinds of foods and eating them.
This is definitely a disease that is very preventable. I recommend that if it happens to you in a restaurant, that you sue the owner of that restaurant.
Oh, I’ve gotten food poisoning several times, about 2 from home (1 was a frozen food) and about 3 times from restaurants. At home, one sickness was caused by undercooked ground beef, another was frozen frozen egg rolls. (Ugh, the egg rolls were one of the worst I’ve ever had) But I also have a majorly sensitive stomach…I’m actually sitting here right now sick. I don’t get loose bowels or vomit from my sickness, but it makes my belly hurt something awful, like I’ve been punched many times in my stomach. I unfortunately don’t have any advice except make SURE your food is completely cooked through and from a clean place.
please heat leftover foods before eating the next day
I always washes my hands before preparing foods, i am very particular about good clean hygiene standards. and i never re-heat leftover foods if it is left in a food tray i throw it away. so i have adapted to only make enough food for 1 session no theres no waste of food and i have saved a lot of money over the years.
I couldn’t have happened to a better rodent.
eat yogut, every day i feel if you do get food-poisoning it be as bad. good luck
Really, you’d probably be just fine eating at that restaurant again. They’ve probably been in business for a while, apparently, so they probably are not poisoning their customers on a regular basis. Statistically, it is unlikely you’d have the same problem.
DK
Yes I have, in October. I ate something and I fell asleep for about 4 hours. I woke up and I felt full, like i already ate. I had a bad headache and felt horrible. I tried to sleep early but couldn’t and I didnt tell my parents about it. The next morning I got ready for school, litterally fell to my side in the bathroom.. then when I left the bathroom I fell down, but in such weakness, I remembering just giving up but I got up since I knew my sister was about to get ready too. I got up and she came out and asked me if I was okay, i was ACTUALLY going to answer YES, but i ended up fainting. I woke up in my dads arms and everyone around me .. I was in such shock I didnt do anything and my parents panicked and called 911 – pretty hectic and I felt bad since i felt fine but i just couldnt tell them .. I was released later that day, I ended up missing school. I felt soooooo much better after! I guess all i needed was to have a day of relaxation. ONE TIP: DRINK COKE, it has lots of sugars and thats what i also read online that would help nausea. Or take peptobismol ! Oh and after that, i had an incident where i couldnt see anything, all i saw was yellow specks everywhere and i couldnt hear too good and i was dizzy, this happened after i got out of the shower. I literally had to sit on the bathroom floor for like 3 minutes. And after 2 months the food poisoning thing happened, i got my bellybutton pierced and I had to lower my head so i can clean and see my bellybutton .. i had to clean it and stuff for like a minute and i already felt a sudden dizziness, i even fell back and hit the shower .. but i dont get dizzy anymore.. just thought i’d add! lol
it’s really hard to avoid getting food poisoning from a restaurant since you don’t get to prepare it, but just pay close attention to the color and smell whether you’re ordering it or making it yourself. I’m big on that when it comes to sour cream, chicken, and beef. If it doesn’t smell right, the color’s off, or the texture isn’t the way it’s suppose to be, than pitch it. It’s not worth it. Like if sour cream starts to smell really sour and starts to take on a liquidy form, don’t eat it. I’m not sure if a restaurant is legally responsible, but they should be when they’re making your food and charging you for it! They’re going to give themselves a bad name for being careless!
I had food poisoning last week! It happened on mother’s day. we all went to this mexican place and I ordered milk..well, guess the milk wasn’t so fresh cause when i felt full the whole day and went to bed way early feeling kinda gross and bloated. I woke up that night at like ten or eleven and i felt sooo terrible and had the WORST stomach ache! I fell back asleep somehow and about thirty min later, my boyfriend who slept on the couch that night because i kept tossing and turning in bed, said i woke up out of a dead sleep and just pucked everywhere! i felt soo weak that i couldn’t move and slept in my own puke. it was soo horrible! I finally felt better after three days and tons of Pepto-Bismol.
So many things cause food poisoning, from rodent droppings to unwashed hands to live parasites. When I took a course in food handling I was shocked at how easy it is to contaminate food.
Sometimes you can’t avoid it. But there are things you can do. I never eat chicken or seafood on a trip. I also avoid fried rice, potato and pasta salads (including those NOT made with Mayo) and anything served at room temperature. Don’t eat meat, chicken or fish that is not cooked through and heated through. In other words, if it is warm on the outside but cold in the middle, skip it unless you are sure it is safe. Salads go the other way. If it is cold on the outside, warm in the middle, don’t eat it. Avoid sunny side up eggs, Ceasar Salad from places you don’t know.
Once you get food poisoning, don’t let it go more than a day, 24 hours, without consulting a doctor. Some types of food poisoning is caused by bacteria or parasites that need to be treated. Eat lightly, avoid diary products and drink as many clear liquids as you can manage. Once it is through your system you can eat as you wish but if you have a sensitive digestive tract, you might want to avoid heavy foods for a few days.
Here are some things I didn’t know. Frozen fish that appears to be covered in iced coconut can make you very ill. NEVER refreeze fish or eat fish that may have been refrozen. Some of it can be deadly. Bacteria grows in pasta and potato salads and causes food poisoning because the potatoes/pasta were too warm when salad was made. Always use chilled ingredients in a cold salad.
I’ve had food poisoning a few years ago. My sister got it at the same time. We both had a burger from a takeaway shop and were vomiting for about 3 days, not an experience I’d choose to repeat.
I work in a small restaurant and until working there I didn’t realise just how easy it if for food to get contaminated. Food has to stay below 5 degrees celcius and above 65 degrees celsius to prevent contamination. If it wanders into this range and the temperature changes a lot, it’s very prone to infection. Food should be heated or cooled as quickly as possible to stay below or above the danger zone to prevent infection.
Meat is also something to be careful of. It should only be frozen once, especially fish. The only time it is safe to refreeze meat is if it has been cooked (eg in a stew) and refrozen. When buying meat, if you buy it frozen, make sure it stays frozen on the way home and straight into the freezer, if it defrosts it has to be used. A lot of deli’s in supermarkets buy frozen produce/meats and defrost before serving to customers so if you intend to freeze it, ask for produce that is still frozen (learnt that lesson the hard way, spent nearly $50 on fish not realising it was pre-frozen before I brought it and it all went off).
Rice is also risky, should be served either HOT or COLD, not in between. Try to avoid reheating it if possible.
I do have one small question though, Winteropal (first comment) said about pasta/potato salads being made while the pasta or potato is still hot, and it can be risky. I make a hot potato salad, potato, mayo, bacon, onion and herbs etc but the potato is hot when I make it and deliberately so and I serve it hot. Is it a health risk? If so, maybe I should chill the potato before making it, but I do prefer it to be hot.
i hope you emailed sd so its in writing or called the sd health department and at least reported it.
rarely is it a problem only once.
The avoiding dairy products suggestion… What about the yogurts with the beneficial bacteria in them?
Response to Laura: do have one small question though, Winteropal (first comment) said about pasta/potato salads being made while the pasta or potato is still hot, and it can be risky.
Laura, I should have been more clear. Don’t use warm potatoes or pasta in a cold salad. Bacterica grows in the warm starch, is the main reason for the food poisoning we’ve always blamed on Mayo. Allow potatoes and pasta to cool. I had done this in the past, been in a hurry, let potatoes cool just enough to peel, salted them then added other ingredients, put warm salad in fridge. This is wrong. Now I let them cool completely before salting, refrigerate for a couple of hours before putting potato salad together. Much safer.
Hot potato salad is served quickly and, of course, is hot, not the same issue or danger.
Thanks Winteropal for answering my question, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to have my potato salad cold because it’s so much nicer hot. I make it fresh and serve straight away
I did make a mistake in my last post though, food should be kept below 5′C and above 60′C (not 65′C like I said).
There is one thing that everybody has over-looked in all of these encounters with “food” poisoning, it sits right there in front of you 90% of the time, taken for granted and never even add to the equation, on a hot day when your throat is parched, you just ate something a little spicy or hot, a nice cool glass of clear clean Water………. clean? maybe. Think about it.
I ended up in the hospital on Saturday, May 24, 2008.
I had extreme lassitude + dirareha + throwing up. I think it was caused by a Name lawn care package of seed and patch that I applied on Friday. Unable to get to manufacturer on holiday weekend Hospital Dr. called it “Gasteritus.” Feeling better now and able to take soft foods. Do you have any clues?
Food Safety is a big deal.. If you want to keep up on news and happenings in that particular area, the folks at Kansas State keep a blog on it. They spoke to us in our public health class at the K-State veterinary school, very informative.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/
Use it in good (or bad, depending on what you’ve eaten) health!
Timely blog. My mom is a bacteriologist who works in Bromatology, so I get to hear about all the serious cases. A few days ago, a young couple made the news here (Argentina) because they were poisoned with botulinum toxin. Now the man is dead and the young woman is fighting for her life :-/
The culprit? Apparently, a can of preserved tomatoes.
People should think twice before eating home-made preserves, because no matter how many precautions you take, the bacteria that produce this toxin may thrive, and even after they’re killed, the deadly neurotoxin endures.
i think boiling or heating the food again will solve lot of problems.
Had it last nite….horrible feeling. I did ask my dr for some pills for nausea tho, because it seems to always happen in the middle of the nite….so he gave me some, so at the slightest hint of nausea I take one. didn’t take it fast enough last nite….and had to have severe nausea. You can’t avoid it….we got a pizza at Dominos…and the guy who answered the phone a couple of times, while my husband stood there then went to the kitchen and opened foil packets of pepperoni and put them in a bowl and then tossed them w/his hands….who has used that phone and were their hands clean. I think plastic gloves should be put on to do such things directly w/food. tho I have seen people w/plastic gloves…make change in reg…and sweep the floor and use the dust pan w/the gloves on and then come back and handle the food……THEY HAVE THE GLOVES ON.. for Pete’s sake.
Well, I’ve never had it but my Grandma Connie did! She said that while she went to the bathroom, she threw up!! EW! YUCK! But like, if your stomach, or you just don’t feel right, and it’s been over like, one and a half to two days, go see your doctor immediately! It could be a lot of food poisining. But yea, if you reheat food, be prepared if you have food poisining if the food has been left in the refridgerator/freezer for more than five days!!
BE CAREFUL!!
!!!
In some states each restaurant/eating establishment is given a sanitation grade from the state dept of health and environmental control..I watch for these religiously..some folks dont seem to give them much thought because they say inspections are spotty and too much time passes before new inspections are done.Still, I think that the grades are good indicators of the general cleanliness of the place. You can do an overall assessment of the place when you walk through the door: Does the place look and smell CLEAN? Watch the servers and the cooks,if possible…Do they wear gloves? Do they have their hands around their faces a lot(ugh)? Are the windows/mirrors free of handprints,grease,food particles? Do the servers act like they care about the customers or do they act like they are on the second day of a really bad menstrual period?
In other words, be alert to what is happening in the place-really pay attention to your surroundings and the people who are preparing YOUR food. It’s YOUR HEALTH that you need to consider when you put anything in your mouth.