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Food poisoning

If you believe that you are suffering from food poisoning you should go to your doctor and explain your concerns.

If you work in a food business you must inform your manager/supervisor immediately. If you are not a food handler but work with vulnerable groups such as elderly or young people you should let your manager/supervisor know of your concerns.

Symptoms of food poisoning:

  •  Headache
  •  Feeling sick (tummy pains)
  •  Nausea (wanting to be sick but can't)
  •  Vomiting
  •  Diarrhoea

Council food safety teams routinely investigate cases of food poisoning.

These are reported to us by the laboratories of the Health Protection Agency, normally as a result of people contacting their GP. Many of these investigations are carried out over the phone but more severe infections are normally dealt with by a visit to the patient.

Our aim is twofold:

  • To try to identify the source of the infection
  • To prevent the spread of any such infection either in the household, social contacts or through workplace activity (food handlers, nursing and care staff pose the highest risk of contamination).

If you suspect that you are suffering from an infectious disease including food poisoning, you should consult your GP and you may be asked to provide a specimen for diagnostic purposes.

You can also contact us if you think you have caught food poisoning. As with all matters of a medical nature, your personal details and any information you provide will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.

Please remember that it is not necessarily the last meal consumed which is the source of infection - some infections have an incubation period of several days and sometimes more. Just because other unaffected persons may have consumed similar foods does not mean that those foods are not the source of infection - people have varying degrees of susceptibility.

Also remember that food contaminated with food poisoning bacteria will appear and taste perfectly normal.

We have information sheets on the main types of food poisoning bacteria, please contact us for further information.

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