food poisoning question

[jbsmom]

So i ate some chicken at this restaurant on post. It tasted fine. my oldest son who is 16 had some too and so did my little 3 yr old.my stomach just started getting pains like sharp pains. but not double me over pains yet. I ate dinner about 7:30pm How long does it take food poisioning symptoms to show up? I noticed the pains first then now a little bit of nausea has crept in. Is food poisioning gradual or is it sudden violent? I ate more than my 2 boys did. They only had a couple of pieces and they ate from a different plate. Am i paranoid? Am I freaking myself out? How does food poisioning work? I thought most of it was from someone that has been sick that prepares the food. Is that true? Maybe I should have trusted my instincts and quit eating out. I have been expecting something. Things have been going too good except for the incident where my 7 yr got sick from too much soda. Does FP give you D too? Will that start first?

[out_of_order]

The reality is the majority of food poisoning happens at home, not at restaurants. You're just being paranoid because your emetophobia is telling you lies. The very young and the very old are more susceptible to food poisoning so it stands to reason that your children, especially the 3 year old, would have shown symptoms first and more than anyone else, by the mere fact that he's so much smaller and the food has less intenstine to travel through. So if he's fine, you're for sure fine. Please try to relax and distract yourself as best you can otherwise you're going to make yourself feel sick wih anxiety which is what makes most emetophobes sick more than anything else.

[fixxxer2012]

The reality is the majority of food poisoning happens at home, not at restaurants. You're just being paranoid because your emetophobia is telling you lies.

sorry but this statement isn't true at all. ive had bad food poisoning from burger king before. many people get sick going out to dinner, even high class places.

[spilled_milk]

I don't think out_of_order meant that ALL food poisoning happens at home. Of course it happens in restaurants too. I don't know the statistics on this particular subject, but I think it's safe to say it can happen anywhere.

The pains could be from anything, even digestion or gas. I often get sharp gas pains after eating. If they ate the same thing, they'd be feeling the same way right now. How are you feeling?

[out_of_order]

Spilled_milk is correct, I didn't say ALL food poisoning happens at home, and of course you can get food poisoning anywhere. If you're not familiar with the statistics, look it up. Statistically speaking, you're safer eating out.

[out_of_order]

Here you go fixxxer, http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/publi...th/foodsafety/

Enjoying time with your friends and family usually involves preparing and eating your favourite foods. You might be surprised that most food poisoning is caused by food that’s prepared at home. That’s why it’s important to follow food safety guidelines to prevent yourself and your family from getting sick. [emphasis mine]

[JadeNight]

Think about it, Fixxxer. you said you got food poisoning from burger king, that's fast food..that's a WHOLE other ball park of "food"

at most restaurants, there are chefs, that are skilled in cooking, and sanitation practices that the normal joe shmo either don't know or don't follow for whatever reason

I got food poisoning in 12th grade from a home cooked meal because the person didn't know how to properly cook chicken.

[fixxxer2012]

Ive known people to get very ill at the olive garden and red lobster. Those are both nice places to eat and not cheap. I was using burger king as one example of eating out.

[JadeNight]

Of course,
again, no one said there's 100% chance people will never get sick in a restaurant

but chances are higher that people know how to cook in restaurants
and that they have to follow some sort of sanitation regulation.

Just saying, the statistic does make sense

[fixxxer2012]

The problem is people come into work sick or still recovering and contaminate the food. Its illegal to do, the establishment can be fined but it happens. I know as my wife works at a bar & grill.

[olschesky]

fixer....sometimes i feel that the only time you comment is to point out statements that you feel are wrong.......you don't offer any help or comfort.....so why not just keep your opinions to yourself?

i'm pretty sure that more food poisoning occurs in homes than restaurants.....as jadenight said...most places require sanitation training, specific cleaners and cutting boards for foods, etc. i've worked in several large hotel restaurants and they were VERY strict about food health issues......maybe your wife's pub isn't.......doesn't really matter whether that statement was correct or not.....someone was looking for help.......

[out_of_order]

Ive known people to get very ill at the olive garden and red lobster. Those are both nice places to eat and not cheap. I was using burger king as one example of eating out.

How do you or they know it was from the olive garden, red lobster, or in your case burger king? Just because that was the last thing you ate before vomiting doesn't mean it was that that made you sick or that it even was food poisoning. Unless you/they went to a doctor and got diagnosed with a specific kind of food poisoning and unless they were able to track the source back to one of those restaurants, you/they are just guessing. Some food poisoning takes days and even a week or two to show symptoms (look it up, it all depends on the type of food poisoning. If you or they had food poisoning it could as easily have been from something you ate earlier in the day (at home maybe) or even the day before. Or it wasn't food poisoning at all. Maybe you had some kind of stomach virus, maybe they had too much to drink while at the olive garden, maybe they ate too much, got indigestion and vomited. Maybe the vomit happened from one of the other many reasons people sometimes vomit that has nothing to do with food (hormones, medication, IBS, gall bladder stones, pregnancy, etc etc etc etc). I really wish people would stop saying they had food poisoning or norovirus unless they were diagnosed by a doctor.

[out_of_order]

The problem is people come into work sick or still recovering and contaminate the food. Its illegal to do, the establishment can be fined but it happens. I know as my wife works at a bar & grill.

Why doesn't your wife report them to the health authorities?

And look, it's very unlikely ONE person will get food poisoning from a restaurant. When that happens, there's an outbreak of many people and you'd hear about it on the news. What are the chances that a sick worker contaminates food at a restaurant that hundreds of people eat at daily and only one or two fall ill? Come on.

[JadeNight]

Yeah, Olive Garden's food is extremely rich! I always feel sick after I eat it. But I wasn't poisoned.

[JadeNight]

Why doesn't your wife report them to the health authorities?

And look, it's very unlikely ONE person will get food poisoning from a restaurant. When that happens, there's an outbreak of many people and you'd hear about it on the news. What are the chances that a sick worker contaminates food at a restaurant that hundreds of people eat at daily and only one or two fall ill? Come on.

^ This was exactly what I was going to say

[fixxxer2012]

For your info we all got sick the day after burger king from various forms of chicken. The only one who didnt was my daughter who didnt eat it. Plus i tested positive for samonella. Thats how i know. I wont even go into the decade long list of gi issues i had after it. This is a sesitive subject to me. And yes i point out when misinformation is given. People get sick at resturants just as much as from cooking at home. Just because a few refuse to accept that doesnt mean im wrong. Sorry if you disagree. Its as ive said before too much false info given out here just to make us emets feel better. Education and reseach is key with this phobia. Remember im just as much an emet as you guys but i dont like things sugarcoated. Sorry if i offended anyone.

[fixxxer2012]

^ This was exactly what I was going to say

#1 so they dont loose their jobs.

#2 because there is no sick pay. You cant take a day off unless you find someone to cover your shift. If you dont show you get written up or fired. Thats at-will employment. Alot of people have to go in sick because of reasons like this. Not just in a restaurant enviorment.

[JadeNight]

Not really sure what that has to do with anything, because I know that people have trouble taking a sick leave, but not EVERY SINGLE PLACE is like that

I have known of places that have been reported, and it's done anonymously, is that what you mean by fear of people losing their jobs?

[fixxxer2012]

I assume most restuarants are like this. But yes i know this isnt the case everywhere. Some people have sick time and still come in sick for various unkown reasons. I was just pointing out what its like at my wifes job. Shes had to go in sick many times until the managers decide shes too sick to stay. Just the way it works unless you can find a good job that takes care of their employees.

[out_of_order]

If it's the law that food handlers can't work when they have something infectious, nobody can get fired. If they do, the place will get heavily fined or shut down. So if the employer refuses to follow the law, someone, even you can alert the authorities anonymously if necessary, and at least get the place investigated. Otherwise, why bother having laws in place to protect public health if employers refuse to follow them and employees and their families are too scared to blow the whistle on them? You and your wife are just as guilty as the sick worker and the employer for getting people sick.

[out_of_order]

For your info we all got sick the day after burger king from various forms of chicken. The only one who didnt was my daughter who didnt eat it. Plus i tested positive for samonella. Thats how i know. I wont even go into the decade long list of gi issues i had after it. This is a sesitive subject to me. And yes i point out when misinformation is given. People get sick at resturants just as much as from cooking at home. Just because a few refuse to accept that doesnt mean im wrong. Sorry if you disagree. Its as ive said before too much false info given out here just to make us emets feel better. Education and reseach is key with this phobia. Remember im just as much an emet as you guys but i dont like things sugarcoated. Sorry if i offended anyone.

1. So you know better than the government agencies who say that food poisoning happens more often at home? It's not MY opinion.
2. I agree that a lot of false info is given here. I'll give you that. But this is not one of those times.

[fixxxer2012]

Nothing really futher to discuss here. Be thankful if you never get food poisning because for people like myself that have its not fun.

[fixxxer2012]

If it's the law that food handlers can't work when they have something infectious, nobody can get fired. If they do, the place will get heavily fined or shut down. So if the employer refuses to follow the law, someone, even you can alert the authorities anonymously if necessary, and at least get the place investigated. Otherwise, why bother having laws in place to protect public health if employers refuse to follow them and employees and their families are too scared to blow the whistle on them? You and your wife are just as guilty as the sick worker and the employer for getting people sick.

Even if you reported every case it would still happen. all restaurants have yearly health inspections and one surprise inspection. when the 3 of us had foodbourne illness form burger king in 2003 it was reported to the health department but nothing came of it. that was with a positive salmonella test. i believe there has to be a certain number of people to get sick at the same time from one place to launch an investigation. a little off topic but since were on the subject i guess you think we can stop all sick passengers on cruise ships from boarding and causing noro epidemics? Point being no matter what we do these things will happen. Heck we can't even get people to understand the simple task of keeping their hands clean. Hope you don't think im picking on you either. I just hate when false info is given. If you do a simple google search you can see how many reports people make each year of food poisoning from restaurants. But i agree people can be ill from cooking at home too, i don't know the numbers for comparison. Most times i think illness at home is from under cooking food or from products being contaminated that end up going into recall.

[out_of_order]

No, I don't feel like you're picking on me and I hope you don't feel I'm picking on you. As far as I'm concerned we're just having a discussion, a debate. It would be boring if all of us always agreed with each other 100%. I personally would take eating at a reputable restaurant over eating at a person's house any day. You feel safer with the home-cooked, go for it. Whatever works for you.

I think the reason they don't do anything if only a few people report a food poisoning is because it's really difficult to prove where you got your salmonella (in your case) from. That's why, unless a whole whack of people get sick and they can trace it back to one restaurant, it's impossible to sue a restaurant.

No, I don't think we can stop sick passengers on a cruise ship. I don't think we can stop much of anything anywhere, that's the problem. No matter how much we wash, sanitize, cook our food to death, avoid sick people... no matter how careful we are, germs are everywhere and once in a while some people are going to get sick. The single best thing we can do is stay as healthy as possible by eating right, getting enough sleep, keeping our stress (ha!) to a minimum, things like that... because a strong healthy immune system is the single best defense against ANY illness, not just stomach viruses.