Food Poisoning - Prevent & Recognize Food Poisoning, Food Borne Illness Hazards

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How To Recognize

Food Poisoning/Food Borne Illness Signs & Symptoms

Last Updated: June 23, 2010

First Published: August 18, 2008 by Michael Doom, REHS

 

SYMPTOMS & ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS

I can not stress enough that if you or the person you are responsible for, especially a child, elderly person, pregnant woman or someone who is already ill, or has a compromised immune system, and is showing signs of a food poisoning or food-borne illness or anything with related symptoms or any type of allergic reaction, do not wait or hesitate to call or go directly to your doctor or emergency room or call 911.  You can also call your local Poison Control Center to ask questions and get information on what to do next. 

Here Are the Most Common Food Poisoning Symptoms:

  • Frequent vomiting lasting longer than 1 day (Adult only)

  • Severe diarrhea - loose stool every 1 to 2 hours lasting longer than 2 days. (Adult only. Children would be less than a day)

  • Severe Dehydration - dry mouth, very dizzy or lightheaded, fast heartbeat and breathing, very little or no urine, no tears, sunken eyes, very lightheaded or dizzy.

  • Very severe, sudden abdominal pain.

  • Possible botulism symptoms - headache, double vision, vertigo or dizziness, loss of reflex to light. weakness, droopy eyelids, constipation, dry mouth, muscle and respiratory paralysis.

 

The CDC estimates that 76 million Americans get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 people die from food-borne illnesses each year.  The highest incidence of death due to food poisoning occurs in children, elderly and people who are chronically ill or with weakened immune systems, such as cancer and kidney disease patients.

Determining if your illness or symptoms are food related starts with separating it from the common flu, or stomach flu, and cold virus symptoms.  The flu is customarily respiratory (like a cold with aches and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea).

Food Poisoning Symptoms are different from a cold or flu:

  • If diarrhea or vomiting is your most severe and immediate symptom, chances are your illness is caused by something you ate. The most common food poisoning microorganisms have diarrhea and/or vomiting as their main symptoms.

  • Food-borne illnesses tend to start quickly and end quickly.  Food-borne illness symptoms develop much quicker than the flu once they start. Flu symptoms usually develop slowly, over a day or two.  With the flu you may start to have a headache, a slight fever, then weakness, a sore throat, respiratory symptoms and so on.  On the other hand, food poisoning will hit you much more rapidly, and then just the same, typically allows you to bounce back quicker than the common flu and cold viruses.

  • Another clue as to whether you have experienced food poisoning is if you were not the only one to become ill. Although this does not happen every time, in many cases more than one person will become ill from eating the same contaminated food and may experience the same or similar symptoms at the same time. Someone may or may not become ill from eating the same thing you did, but if they did and their symptoms are similar, then there is a much greater possibility that you were both food poisoned.

 

TREATMENT

If you do not go to the doctor, I recommend having someone either stay with you or check in with you regularly.  Also at minimum, call your doctor to request any other foods or liquids, and off the shelf medicines you can take.  You will need to stay in bed and rest, attempt to take in mild fluids or water, even if you are frequently vomiting. 

For an extensive list of natural treatments, remedies and other possible cures, click on the link and read my article at www.FoodPoisoningPrevention.com/Treatements_Remedies.htm

About the Author

Michael Doom worked as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) for Los Angeles County for more than 21 years.  For most of these years he worked as a field inspector and Supervising Senior REHS in the retail food inspection programs. His experience within Los Angeles County has taken him to some of the smallest “mom and pop” restaurants and markets in the poorest areas of south Los Angeles, as well as to the largest facilities and affluent areas on the west side. He has literally conducted thousands of inspections of numerous types of restaurants, food markets, warehouses, events, and more; educated hundreds, if not more than a thousand, food facility owners, managers and employees on food sanitation and food safety , and how to prevent food poisoning hazards; has supervised more than 50 field inspectors that were responsible for an inventory of food facilities larger than many U.S. states.

Mr. Doom has a B.S. in Biology from Loyola Marymount University, an REHS with the state of California, holds a Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential from the Project Management Institute, and a Master's Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University.  Mr. Doom continuously works to expand his knowledge and experience in the subject of food safety, sanitation and food poisoning prevention.

He can be reached at Mike@foodpoisoningprevention.com