Illness reportng etiquette

Can - and ought - I report on a restaurant where two of us got sick? We ate the same thing, and the third person wh ordered something different did not.

Well it could destroy their business so you have to ask yourself if that's what you want and of course be 110% sure. Salmonella can be spread person to person too and take up to 24 hours to present itself.

Agree with CB. You could have picked up something the day before but with no problems until you ate somewhere else. It's really, really hard to pinpoint food poisoning.

Agree. Without a lab report you can't prove anything. And if you go have a talk with the establishment they will likely deny it - or worse. As far as going public in your accusation, I would advise against it for all the reasons above.

Glad I posted. I'm not saying that it was salmonella. Three of us went to dinner, and two of us who do not live together ordered the same thing. Hours later, and not having eaten anything else, we both got sick. Seems pretty cut and dried.

Anyone who wants to know can PM me.

Canada_Mike wrote:Glad I posted. I'm not saying that it was salmonella. Three of us went to dinner, and two of us who do not live together ordered the same thing. Hours later, and not having eaten anything else, we both got sick. Seems pretty cut and dried.

Anyone who wants to know can PM me.

Diarrhea or stomach pain? How many hours later?

At least this didn't happen......

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/woman-dies-after-michelin-starred-meal/ar-BBTUUtg?li=AAggFp5

To bad its in Spain because I would like to have treated some "nice" neighbors to dinner...

We were both vomiting in the middle of the night. I've also since heard from people who have gotten ill at several well known and well established restos. I did communicate with mine, and they were astonished, and apologetic.

You know, it's a wake-up call for some of these places to hear when people get sick after eating there. It's easy to be too cavalier when preparing food for people - especially in this hot time of year. It's good you told them and their response was right.

Happened to me a few months ago, different resto, 2 others sick too, and the dueña refused to believe it was possible. Beware restos that are struggling to hang on regardless of how much you want to help them make it. Makes me gag to drive by it now.

CanuckBob wrote:Well it could destroy their business so you have to ask yourself if that's what you want and of course be 110% sure. Salmonella can be spread person to person too and take up to 24 hours to present itself.

What you say is true, however, there is another side of the coin.

My wife and two friends went to a restaurant last night. My wife got a dinner to go and brought it to me and I put it in the fridge.

My wife was feeling ill to her stomach when she got home. About midnight, her friend sent her a WhatsApp and said her and her boyfriend were sick as dogs. Stomach pain and vomiting.

So this doesn't look like something picked up a few days ago, etc.

So at what point is it OK to post where these three people got sick after eating?

I remember one instance where it was found that a kitchen service person had Hep B and dozens of people were exposed. And it's not uncommon to read stories about several people at a party, in the story I read, it was a wedding party, became will due to some issue with one of the things they ingested.

I believe you are a retired attorney so maybe you could enlighten us as to what the libel/slander laws are in this regard?

CanuckBob wrote:I believe you are a retired attorney so maybe you could enlighten us as to what the libel/slander laws are in this regard?

I am not a retired attorney, I was kicked out decades ago, a fact well known to those on this board. To respond to your question:.

In Mexico, in 1857, the Mexican Constitution gave Mexican citizens freedom of speech, and in Article 6 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, it states that" the exchange of ideas is to be left undisturbed with the exception of those ideas that are an attack on morality, an attack on a third party, provoke crimes, or disturb public disorder."

It appears if one gives a factual account without malice or intent to harm, it is OK to post a negative review of any business and even to comment on individual actions of individuals as long as it isn't political, etc. Probably OK to say you think such-and-such is doing a good job as a casual comment.

Well they have Yelp and Trip advisor for just this purpose. You will have a bit more anonymity over there.

CanuckBob wrote:Well they have Yelp and Trip advisor for just this purpose. You will have a bit more anonymity over there.

I didn't give the name and did send them a PM on Facebook.

I am sure the restaurant will triple check everything. I also know that there is no way any edible retailer can check the quality of their suppliers. If the restaurant isn't told, they have no way of even checking.

I posted it because maybe some others had the same problem.

I'm not out to trash the restaurant, just help it.  SURPRISE!

Sounds like you handled it correctly IMO.

Don't forget Fresh Produce and Ice Cubes...

Spoke with someone who was trying to trace her husband's sickness...
She couldn't remember either eating something different, and she hadn't been ill.

He had a Coke... with Ice.... .... maybe ...

It's very hard to be sure.

As a food handler that was trained and certified on food borne illnesses it can happen rapidly and be caused by many things in an operating rest. or home.

At the Mercado Libertad in Guadalajara, I ate lunch at one of the many food stands with my daughter and her friend some years back. They both had liquados; I did not. They both got violently ill a few hours later. That sort of clarity does not happen too often.

When it happens quickly, it is usually that you are reacting to a toxin that some pathogenic bacteria has produced. Consuming the actual bacteria, whether it produces a toxin or not, takes a while longer to react to after it's made itself happy and starts proliferating in your gut.
I got violently ill on P.E.I in Summerhill after consuming only four mouthfuls of clam chowder our first night there. Thought I was going to die the pain was so bad and November is usually OK for shellfish. Some regional outbreak of something in the harvest.

Too late to edit the above post after I found this article. It's very long but reads like a fascinating story. Wanted to edit "Summerhill" to "Summerside" which is where we were in the last two weeks of November 1987.
So many things that we consume can make us sick.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260746137_Hanic-The_1987_PEI_Toxic_Mussel_Episode-A_Personal_Perspective-March_2014

Summerside, great place. I went there with friends, the Somervilles.

Anyway, interesting, because I've often wondered how I know exactly when the stomach thing happens, whether it's right away or later, as you describe.

It should be enough to tell your friends and acquaintances your expereience and suspicions about an illness.

The desire to say it loudly on a public forum is distasteful.

A group of women came to Chiapas and several of them got sick..like everyone who go there in the warmer month.. They tried to figure out what the cause tof the illness was and from which food but a few days after they left, I was at the pharmacy and there was a bunch of medecine at the counter and I asked the pharmacist what was the problem was in town. The answer was the air. In San Cristobal peope do not like the wind during march or april because the popular belief is that it brings sickness.. Thepharmacist and my neighbor who is a doctor both believe it is correct and a lot of sickness comes from the fact that during that time there is lots of burning and fecal matter in the air.. I do not know if they are correct but that is the belief there.. DO not breath if you do not want to be sick..Some people gt it some do not and if you live ther eyou get it less violently and for a shorter amount of time than the tourists but you get it as well.. So you can add this to the list of problems during windy and warm weather..the restaurant are not always at blame and not wahing your hads often is also a main problem.