Food Poisoning

Question: Why do I get food poisoning from fast food places? I eat a lot at fast food places and I've noticed that I get frequent food poisonings lately. In about 50% cases of eating there I get a diarreah the next day. In about 5% I throw up, have temperature and cannot eat anything for a few days - stomach flue? And it is the same for fast food and upscale restaurants. The only places I dont get a food poisoning is in my company's cafeteria (that has mostly fast food) and the best restaurants in Seattle, where I live?

Answer: Be careful where you eat. Some places do not enforce sanitary practices as much as other places. If one of the employees doesn't wash their hands after going to the bathroom, touching money, or pretty much touching anything other than food, the food you eat can become contaminated. Or, if one of the employees is sick already, and touches your food, it can make you sick, too. I work in the food service industry and I am very strict with my employees to make sure they wash their hands often. However, lazy managers who don't care or employees who don't care will cause problems. Other than that, you may be eating too many fatty, greasy foods, and your body is sending you a message. Fast food is very unhealthy and you should only eat it once in a while if you really have to.

Question: What are some symptoms of intentional food poisoning? My wife and i suspect someone of poisoning her mothers food. she has a life insurance policy and her sister is the beneficiary, well she has diabetis and her kidneys are failing. And she has been getting bloody stools (sorry for the mental picture) . But i was wanting to know if there are any signs of food poisoning that we should look for?

Answer: Do NOT get a blood test. To detect a case of food poisoning, you should do a STOOL culture. As far as food poisonings are concerned, bloody stools are common with Campylobacter, Shigella and E. coli O157:H7 infection. These three bacteria are easy to detect with a STOOL CULTURE. Also, please note if there are any fevers, vomiting and nausea. In general, you should see a doctor if your stools are bloody. It could signal infection, hemmorhoids or colon problems (including cancer!). But lord knows, renal failure and diabetes can cause similar problems as well.

Question: How long does it take before food poisoning symptoms show up? My friend has just eaten some frozen food that was apparently defrosted by mistake and left in the freezer overnight and then turned back on, so the food was then re-frozen. She's just eaten it and is panicking in case she gets food poisoning. How long before symptoms should show up? What can she do if she starts vomiting, etc?

Answer: food poisoning symptoms can take up to 24 hours to show up. It'll start with feeling nausea, vomiting and get worse from there; possible fevers, chills etc. She can treat it according to these directions, but see a doctor if it lasts longer than a day. Avoid solid food but drink plenty of fluids. Avoid alcoholic, caffeinated, or sugary drinks, if possible. Over–the–counter rehydration products made for children such as Pedialyte and Rehydralyte are expensive but good to use if available. (They make these in popsicle form too, and that helps with the flu symptoms so would be good for food poisoning too). Gatorade and Powerade are fine for adults but dilute with water because too much sugar, which can worsen diarrhea. After successfully tolerating fluids, go back to eating slowly. Start with plain foods that are easy on the stomach: rice, wheat, breads, potatoes, cereals (low–sugar cereals), lean meats, and chicken (not fried) to start. Milk can be given safely, although some people may experience additional stomach upset due to lactose intolerance. Anti-diarrheal medicines can be taken too, by following directions on the package.

Question: Can cats get food poisoning from canned food if you leave it out too long? Once you open the can and put the wet food out at room temperature, what is the limit to how long you can safely leave it out? I know cats are more resistant to food poisoning that humans, but I don't want to take chances with my kitty!

Answer: Always, without exception, refrigerate the open cans right away! Better safe than sorry!!

Question: How long before food poisoning symptoms show up? My friend has just eaten some frozen food that was apparently defrosted by mistake and left in the freezer overnight and then turned back on, so the food was then re-frozen. She's just eaten it and is panicking in case she gets food poisoning. How long before symptoms should show up? What can she do if she starts vomiting, etc?

Answer: By now your friend would probably have forgotten all about her re-frozen pizza, but here's some info for you anyway Onset of food poisoning symptoms can be anywhere from 1-2 hours to a day or so. This is because the symptoms could be produced by the toxins made by bacteria, or by the bacteria themselves. Toxin-mediated food poisoning is generally much faster and more dramatic. Rehydration is the key; if she can't keep stuff down at all, has severe abdo pain or if there's blood etc, she should head straight to the hospital. By the way, frozen food is generally OK to be refrozen ONCE if it's been kept at refrigerated temperatures (i.e. if the temperature does not reach a level at which bacteria can multiply). So if the freezer was incompletely defrosted and the compartment was kept closed, she would probably be OK! (I hope so!)

Question: What are the symptoms of food poisoning and how long untill symptoms show up? I feel very nauses and my stomach is cramping like my intestines are notting up also sorry if tmi but I also have diahreah. Please help what else could it be? Or is it food poisoning?

Answer: Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but sometimes deadly illness. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea that occur suddenly (within 48 hours) after consuming a contaminated food or drink. Depending on the contaminant, fever and chills, bloody stools, dehydration, and nervous system damage may follow. These symptoms may affect one person or a group of people who ate the same thing (called an outbreak). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in the United States, food poisoning causes about 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and up to 5,000 deaths each year. One of the most common bacterial forms of infection, the salmonellae organisms, account for $1 billion in medical costs and lost work time. Worldwide, diarrheal illnesses are among the leading causes of death. Travelers to developing countries often encounter food poisoning in the form of traveler's diarrhea or "Montezuma’s revenge." Additionally, there are possible new global threats to the world's food supply through terrorist actions using food toxins as weapons.

Question: Can food poisoning set in an hour after you eat the possibly containmenated food? My co-worker and I ate sour cream and shreaded cheese from a fast food restuarant and think we may have gotten food poisoning. But it was only about 2 hours ago. Is that possible??

Answer: Depending on what kind of food poisoning it is, it is possible. Food poisioning symptoms can take 1 hour to 72 hours. Just a word of warning: If you want to hold the restaurant legally responsible, you'll have to go to a hospital and get a confirmed diagnosis. It will also be in your best interest to have a sample of the food you got sick from. This way, the lab can match the bacteria in your body with the bacteria found in the food. Then, you need to contact the health department and they will conduct an investigation.

Question: How long after eating can food poisoning symptoms start? I ate Sushi for lunch, after about an hour, and still now (about two hours since eating) I'm getting waves of nausea that come and go every 10-20 minutes that last about a minute or two, plus a sort of constant sick feeling or a mild stomach and lower stomach pain and cramping (Not sure if this is what a stomach cramp feels like). I've never had a problem with sushi before but this could have been left out too long or something, but now I'm sitting at work and wondering if it's going to get worse... My question is how long after eating can food poisoning symptoms start? It was only an hour until I started feeling a bit cruddy and within an additional half hour, I started getting the above symptoms. Could food poisoning come on that fast? (I might want to call the cafeteria staff and let them know that there might be a problem with they're sushi today or something). Any help (preferably with sources for something like this...) would be great, thanks a lot guys.

Answer: Each person is different in their reactions and timing. Hope this helps you. Food poisoning is a general term that refers to gastrointestinal illnesses (usually diarrhea and/or vomiting) caused by food that is contaminated with bacteria, parasites, viruses, or toxic substances. The actual cause of most individual episodes of food poisoning, however, never is pursued (e.g., a culture is not done) since most episodes are mild or moderate in severity and are over in a few hours to a few days. In fact, the diagnosis of food poisoning usually is made only presumptively, based on the patient's symptoms and the circumstances. Even in outbreaks of suspected food poisoning that involve many people, when careful studies are done, a specific cause is found no more than half of the time. Bacteria are the cause of most outbreaks of food poisoning for which a specific cause is determined. Bacteria cause food poisoning in three ways. After reaching the intestines, they may multiply and produce toxic substances that enter the intestine and cause diarrhea and/or vomiting without damaging the intestine itself. The bacteria also may multiply within the intestines and produce toxic substances that damage the lining of the intestine or they may invade and damage the intestine directly. Finally, some bacteria produce toxic substances that cause diarrhea and/or vomiting in the food before it is eaten. These bacteria do not need to multiply within the intestines, and the toxic substances they produce do not damage the intestine. To know with certainty that a bacterium is causing food poisoning, the bacterium must be cultured, usually from stool and rarely from vomitus. If the food suspected of causing the poisoning still is available, the food can be cultured. Identification of the causative bacterium may require a determination of the bacterial subtype since not all bacteria of one type, e.g., E. coli, cause illness. In some cases, the bacteria isolated from the culture may be tested to see if they produce toxic substances. In food poisoning caused by toxic substances formed by bacteria in food before the food is ingested, e.g., staphylococcal food poisoning, the toxic substance can be sought in the food, stool, or vomitus. The identification of toxic substances, however, is complex and is not done by most bacteriology laboratories.

Question: How can i get rid of food poisoning? This is my first time having food poisoning. I got it from Panda Express. What are some ways to get rid of it? PLEASE HELP!

Answer: You are just going to have to vomit and poop it out. That's why you are vomiting and pooping---your body is trying to rid itself of the bad food. When you can keep some fluids down, make sure it's Gatorade. You'll need to get re-hydrated again. But if you have a high fever with abdominal pain, you need to see your doctor----that's not food poisoning.

Question: What happens if a passenger gets food poisoning or appendicitis on a long haul flight? Like I understand that people get heart attacks on airplanes... But what happens if a passenger gets food poisoning or appendicitis on a long haul flight? Where would they emergency land? Do they give some sort of hard-core pain killer?

Answer: If at anytime a passenger (or crew's) life is at risk due to a medical condition, the aircraft will land at the nearest possible airport for medical assistance. In the mean time, aircraft personnel are usually trained with some first aid skills. Typically flights are routed to avoid long hauls over water. This is done mainly because it is difficult to place beacons for navigation in the open sea. For example a flight from San Francisco to Asia for example will fly along the coast northbound then turn around and head south along the Russian coast (the earth curvature doesn't make it farther but sometimes even closer). Aircraft personnel are not trained to provide medicine of any sort. It is not their place and the liability is too high.

Question: food poisoning? right so my dad cooked chicken 4 tea but it wasnt cooked all the way, we did realise before we ate it but i cut it & it was white wiv a bit of pink...i left it & ate something else then lifted the chicken with my knife & fork somewhere else on the plate then ate some rice. we then finally realuzed it wasnt cooked i didnt eat a signle bit of it but my fork did touch it...but the chicken was cooked slightly will i get food poisoning?

Answer: You should be fine. I actually dug into a chicken leg/thigh once that had blood pouring out of it! I stuck it back in the oven and realized later I hadn't changed forks before eating it. I didn't notice a thing.

Question: How long does it take for food poisoning to show it's ugly face? Someone please accurately settle this debate once and for all: how long does it take to get symptoms of food poisoning after you have eaten something bad? Our company hosted a Christmas dinner where they reheated frozen beef tamales twice. Of course, I did not know of this until after the fact. Now everyone is worried. We all ate at 12:30 pm. When will we know?

Answer: Few hours. Best the luck to you. If you didnt get it yet, that doesnt mean you got it, wait tomorrow morning when you wake up, if you dont have it then your fine. Just because they ere reheated frozen beef tamales twice doesnt mean its food poisioning, the food poisioning happens by food comtainmentation, cross-comtainmentation or comtainmentation at slaughter

Question: What are the top causes of food poisoning? Would serving oysters that have been buried in earth for 24 hours previous to cooking prove fatal or just a nasty bout of sickness? What are the top causes of food poisoning? My mother in law is coming to stay in a couple of weeks.

Answer: hmmm... I'm suspicious that you will use this information for evil...

Question: What type of food poisoning do you get from rotten eggs? I'm not talking about salmonella. What kind of food poisoning would a person get from eating a rotten egg that didn't have salmonella? Or would they be fine?

Answer: Have you ever smelt a rotten egg!!!!!? If you had, you would know there is no way you or anyone else could eat one. So you could not catch anything from one. Beulah

Question: How long does it take to notice food poisoning symptoms? There is a mexican restaurant in my city that is very popular, and very good. One of my friends got food poisoning from it about a month ago. I had to eat there today, and nothing i ate had meat in it, and its been about 7 1/2 hours, if i did get food poisoning from this, how long would it take me to know? More info: she was the only person id heard of getting sick from it and my friends have gone there since and eaten the same thing and been fine.... im just very cautious!

Answer: My experience was that I was VERY sick in about 12 hours. I could not hold water down. I was headachey and nauseous for about 4 hours before that so.... you should know soon! :) Either way, food poisoning is short, you would be ok in about 24 hours. It sucks, but it's not the end of the world - colds last longer! :)

Question: How much of a spoiled food do you have to eat to get food poisoning? I recently ate some spoiled pudding. However, I only had a spoonful (even less) because I quickly realized it didn't taste right. Is it likely that I would still get food poisoning from such a little amount? Thanks. By the way, it was tapioca pudding.

Answer: Not all food that is "spoiled" causes food poisoning. The greatest risk comes from chicken, turkey or meat that has not been cooked properly or has been stored badly. You don't say what kind of pudding it was or how it was spoiled but the chances are, if it tasted bad and you spat most of it out, that you are not going to get food poisoning. If it was a milk or cream based pudding and it had gone sour, that is likely to be a similar bacteria to those found in cheese and yoghurt and so won't do you any harm at all.