Food poisoning - who to talk to?

Esoteric_

Hey, I'll try keep this short!

My friend and I met up for dinner on a Friday. We went to a Chinese restaurant, and both ate the same thing (chicken curry, we're fussy eaters :pac:). I noticed that the chicken seemed kind of 'gooey,' and mentioned it to my friend but she said hers was fine. I didn't finish mine because it grossed me out, but I ate about half of it. Because we had both been busy that day, it was the only thing we had eaten all day.

The next evening, we met up for a few drinks. Both of us had stomach cramps, but I assumed mine were IBS related and ignored them. Within half an hour of entering the bar, the two of us (before even having a drink!) were vomiting really badly and had to get taxis home because we were too ill to even wait for buses.

We spent the next 4 days (me) and week (her) vomiting badly, with diahorrea and awful stomach pains. We both went to our doctors and were told it was food poisoning. Lab tests were done which confirm is was from the chicken.

So, where do we go from here? Do we report it to the Food Safety Authority, the HSA, or is there somewhere else more suitable? Also, can you email them, or do you need to call them? I called the restaurant in question but they either didn't understand me, or pretended not to understand me and hung up. It's a really popular restaurant, it's always packed, so I don't want other people suffering a week of vomiting!

Procrastastudy

There's a Chinese restaurant in Dumfries called the Pearl Palace. The locals refer to it as the Pearl something else after some had tests done on the food.

Forward on all your findings to the HSA.

Esoteric_

O...kay... Totally off topic there, mate!


Ahaha, you edited. Hmm. Yeah I was gonna do that, just trying to make sure that's the best way to go, because I've never had to report a place before.

Procrastastudy

LyndaMcL wrote: »

O...kay... Totally off topic there, mate!


Ahaha, you edited. Hmm. Yeah I was gonna do that, just trying to make sure that's the best way to go, because I've never had to report a place before.

Just EMail the HSA /Food people.

They wont be able to get back to you with their findings.

If you're 100% sure the lab report says its from the chicken from the restaurant rather than a bacteria normally found in chicken and you want to take it further contact a no foul no fee solicitor.

Esoteric_

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Just EMail the HSA /Food people.

They wont be able to get back to you with their findings.

If you're 100% sure the lab report says its from the chicken from the restaurant rather than a bacteria normally found in chicken and you want to take it further contact a no foul no fee solicitor.

It took a few weeks for the reports, they said it was the chicken we had, as it was the only thing we ate. Don't wanna go to a solicitor though, I'm not the litigation type. :pac: It didn't do any permanent damage, but wanna make sure it doesn't happen to someone else.

Mr Simpson

You need to contact the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. They'll then investigate the case and have an EHO visit the premises if necessary. Forward on any documentation you may have as well.

Procrastastudy

LyndaMcL wrote: »

It took a few weeks for the reports, they said it was the chicken we had, as it was the only thing we ate. Don't wanna go to a solicitor though, I'm not the litigation type. :pac: It didn't do any permanent damage, but wanna make sure it doesn't happen to someone else.

I know people think its a bad thing to do etc. but realistically if you suffered damage and you know it was definitely the restaurant a hike in their insurance premium might make them redouble their food safety procedures.

Really is about time we introduced public food safety posters in all premises serving food.

Forward everything on to the food people - if you are feeling very generous also forward it on to the restaurant.

cookie1977

Normally food poisoning would come on quicker then almost 24hrs (not sure of the time) later.
food poisoning usually start within 2 - 6 hours of eating the food.

Procrastastudy

cookie1977 wrote: »

Normally food poisoning would come on quicker then almost 24hrs (not sure of the time) later.
food poisoning usually start within 2 - 6 hours of eating the food.

It depends on the particular type - vomiting food poising normally comes on almost immediately. Thats not to say you wont vomit with the other varieties.

It comes down to what the quickest way to get it out of the system is - if you think about it (dont think about it for too long! ) it makes sense.

Mr Simpson

It depends on the bacteria causing the poisoning, some won't show symptoms until up to 48hrs later. The term food poisoning is very vague, there are so many different variations of it.

Esoteric_

cookie1977 wrote: »

Normally food poisoning would come on quicker then almost 24hrs (not sure of the time) later.
food poisoning usually start within 2 - 6 hours of eating the food.

It was about 8 hours later that the cramps started for both of us, the vomiting and diahorrea was another 8 hours or so after that. AFAIK the incubation time for food poisoning is 6-12 hours, but I could be wrong. But the doctors said that's what it was. I dunno much about it really, as I haven't read the reports.

Just called my friend there and apparently her doctor is forwarding on her reports to the FSA, so I guess I should get mine to do the same.

Cheers. Just wanted to make sure they were the right people to go to.

I would send them to the restaurant too, to be nice, but they hung up on me when I tried to tell them what happened. I wasn't even being bad about it, I was being nice and just letting them know!

cookie1977

LyndaMcL wrote: »

It was about 8 hours later that the cramps started for both of us, the vomiting and diahorrea was another 8 hours or so after that. AFAIK the incubation time for food poisoning is 6-12 hours, but I could be wrong. But the doctors said that's what it was. I dunno much about it really, as I haven't read the reports.

Just called my friend there and apparently her doctor is forwarding on her reports to the FSA, so I guess I should get mine to do the same.

Cheers. Just wanted to make sure they were the right people to go to.

I would send them to the restaurant too, to be nice, but they hung up on me when I tried to tell them what happened. I wasn't even being bad about it, I was being nice and just letting them know!

That makes more sense. Contact the FSAI
http://www.fsai.ie/makeitbetter/

Procrastastudy

LyndaMcL wrote: »

It was about 8 hours later that the cramps started for both of us, the vomiting and diahorrea was another 8 hours or so after that. AFAIK the incubation time for food poisoning is 6-12 hours, but I could be wrong. But the doctors said that's what it was. I dunno much about it really, as I haven't read the reports.

Just called my friend there and apparently her doctor is forwarding on her reports to the FSA, so I guess I should get mine to do the same.

Cheers. Just wanted to make sure they were the right people to go to.

I would send them to the restaurant too, to be nice, but they hung up on me when I tried to tell them what happened. I wasn't even being bad about it, I was being nice and just letting them know!

People being more litigation happy than you - they probably just didnt want to say anything they shouldn't. Fair play for being reasonable. The food guys know whos and issue and whos not so if it is just a nce off they'll be grand.

Well apart from this stupid insistence on grease traps but then I'm going OT again!

dudara

Contact your local Environmental Health Officer.

Esoteric_

dudara wrote: »

Contact your local Environmental Health Officer.

Cheers. That's exactly what info I was looking for. I knew about the FSAI, but very little else.

Thanks guys. Much appreciated!

sandin

Probably too difficult to be 100% certain it was the meal, but the FSAI take thse things very seriously especially when reports like this are made from the public.

They will put the restaurant on a watch list, probably do a random inspection (health officers work evenings and at weekends) - if there is anything small untoward they are given a warning and kept on the watch list. Anything major and they are closed immediately (12 places closed on the spot last Month).

In terms of restaurant hygeine, thankfully we have some of the most strict food prep & serve rules in the world, but some places still take the chance they won't get caught.

Miaireland

I would report it to the FSAI Ireland. You can email but I would follow it up with a phonecall offering to forward on the lab results once they are received.

The FSAI will probably inspect the restaurant and may also look at their suppliers.

I am not sure if the Enviromental Health deal with things like this anymore or is it now under the Authority of the FSAI but do give them a call.

To be honest I would leave it up to FSAI to contact the restaurant.

I hope you and your friend recover soon. It is a horrible thing to get particularly from a poultry product.

Nanazolie

cookie1977 wrote: »

Normally food poisoning would come on quicker then almost 24hrs (not sure of the time) later.
food poisoning usually start within 2 - 6 hours of eating the food.

Not always. I had food poisonning caused by unpasteurised cheese that had gone bad (my own fault), I ate it on the thursday evening, became sick on the friday afternoon. My husband also had the cheese, didn't get sick until the next day after he had some more cheese on the Friday (we didn't realise what had caused me to get sick until he got sick too)

cookie1977

Nanazolie wrote: »

Not always. I had food poisonning caused by unpasteurised cheese that had gone bad (my own fault), I ate it on the thursday evening, became sick on the friday afternoon. My husband also had the cheese, didn't get sick until the next day after he had some more cheese on the Friday (we didn't realise what had caused me to get sick until he got sick too)

Sorry but I didn't say food poisoning "always starts" I said "normally starts". There are of course exceptions but in this case the OP's did start earlier then 24hrs.

Esoteric_

cookie1977 wrote: »

Sorry but I didn't say food poisoning "always starts" I said "normally starts". There are of course exceptions but in this case the OP's did start earlier then 24hrs.

Yup, mine and my friend's started realistically about 8 hours afterwards, as that's when the cramps started. Took another 8 hours or so for the vomiting, but the pains kicked in within 8 hours.

GHOST MGG2

most food poisioning incidents from chinese restaurants stem from rice
and not from poultry.
Cooked rice turns out to be a potential source of food poisoning. Raw rice almost always carries dormant spores of the bacterium Bacillus cereus, which produces powerful gastrointestinal toxins. The spores can tolerate high temperatures, and some survive cooking.
If cooked rice is left for a few hours at room temperature, the spores germinate, bacteria multiply, and toxins accumulate. Ordinary cooked rice should therefore be served promptly, and leftovers refrigerated to prevent bacterial growth.
Having worked in the restaurant industry for over 25 years i have to say that rice was up there with poultry/raw meats in our carefulness of handling,cooking and storage.

Esoteric_

GHOST MGG2 wrote: »

most food poisioning incidents from chinese restaurants stem from rice
and not from poultry.
Cooked rice turns out to be a potential source of food poisoning. Raw rice almost always carries dormant spores of the bacterium Bacillus cereus, which produces powerful gastrointestinal toxins. The spores can tolerate high temperatures, and some survive cooking.
If cooked rice is left for a few hours at room temperature, the spores germinate, bacteria multiply, and toxins accumulate. Ordinary cooked rice should therefore be served promptly, and leftovers refrigerated to prevent bacterial growth.
Having worked in the restaurant industry for over 25 years i have to say that rice was up there with poultry/raw meats in our carefulness of handling,cooking and storage.

It was confirmed that it was the chicken which caused it in mine and my friend's case, but that's really useful information! I didn't know that, so thank you!

The Big Red Button

LyndaMcL wrote: »

It was confirmed that it was the chicken which caused it in mine and my friend's case, but that's really useful information! I didn't know that, so thank you!

How?

I'm honestly curious!

How did they trace it to the same restaurant, for both you and your friend, when it hasn't even gone to court yet?

I'm so surprised that they could do that! Would really love to know how.

Like, had you happened to bring test samples from the restaurant? Or what?

cookie1977

[USELESS INFO]Just to point out too that Bacillus cereus (aka B.cereus {b serious}, snigger sorry for the terrible nerdy microbiologist joke) isn't a totally bad bacterium. Some strains are used as probiotics (like the bacteria you drink in your yogurt drinks) in animals as they can kill other food poisoning bacteria such as Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2130471/
[/USELESS INFO]

cookie1977

chatterpillar wrote: »

How?

I'm honestly curious!

How did they trace it to the same restaurant, for both you and your friend, when it hasn't even gone to court yet?

I'm so surprised that they could do that! Would really love to know how.

Like, had you happened to bring test samples from the restaurant? Or what?

They'd really only be able to tell for absolute certain if there were able to test the food from the restaurant or they identified the bacterial infection and were able to associate it with a particular product.
B.cereus with rice
Salmonella with chicken

Nonoperational

First thing I'd do is go to the restaurant themselves. Let them know and they might review how they deal with chicken and/or rice. Good point on the rice by the way. It seems all innocent but it's not so!

PopTarts

Did you not like the advice given here

I see the same issue is in the Metro Herald's "Consumer Corner" today?

:pac:

cookie1977

PopTarts wrote: »

Did you not like the advice given here

I see the same issue is in the Metro Herald's "Consumer Corner" today?

:pac:

Must have been a slow news day. So why not steal an idea! Groan.

dudara

Posters - stick to the topic. No need to go off-topic.

dudara

Esoteric_

I'm waiting on more test results, but my friend said that apparently (I don't know how true this is tbh!) her mother went and got take-away from the place, same thing we had eaten, and got the chicken tested.

Now, I personally doubt that tbh, I'm just quoting back my mate. But according to her, it's all been confirmed.

In my case, it's been confirmed that I had salmonella, presumably from chicken.

Also, bloody metro herald plagiarising me :pac: