Would you tell them their food made you sick?

[Katana_Geldar]

Try and give him the benefit of the doubt 'It might just be me', but if he's any good hell look into it thoroughly.

[ilrag]

It's true that different kinds of food borne illnesses can take days or weeks to show up.

One time my husband and I ate 100% the same foods (even sharing dishes at a tapas bar) one day and he was incredibly ill for 24 hours straight. I was fine (although I felt a little sick from listening to how sick he was).

[nutraxfornerves]

One other thing to realize is that some types of food poisoning (there are over a dozen common varieties of food poisoning) can take up to a week or more to show an onset of symptoms.  So while you may think it was last nights shrimp it may have been a salad from last week that really caused it. 

This is pretty important. You can look at this chart from the US Food & Drug Administration to see the various organisms that can cause food poisoning, how long it usually takes for symptoms to show, and what are common causes.

Another thing you can do is to report it to your local public health agency. They may already be investigating an incident where you might have been involved & don't know it--like that salad from last week. The FDA puts it this way

Reporting illnesses to your local health department helps them identify potential outbreaks of foodborne disease. Public health officials investigate outbreaks to control them, so more people do not get sick in the outbreak, and to learn how to prevent similar outbreaks from happening in the future.

If you report it, your name would not be given to the restaurant when the health people investigate.

[mrkitty]

My sister used to own a restaurant. One time I had dinner (at a different place) and within a few hours I was violently ill. A few days later when I told my sister about it, she said when she took a health department class on food safety, one thing she learned was that a lot of times what people think is food poisoning is actually chemical contamination. According to her, food poisoning can take several days to even weeks to manifest with symptoms - but chemical contamination can be immediate or within a few hours. An example of accidental contamination (that is apparently not uncommon) is how food is stored or prepped. Sometimes, for example, they might have cleaners or bleach-soaked sponges or leaking bottles stored on shelves above food prep areas, and thus chemicals *can* fall onto the food.

I'm not saying this happened, but anything is possible.

But most importantly, Shoo - how are you feeling?

[Polly]

Hope you are feeling better by now.

I am sure you have done so at this point, but I agree with informing the restaurant (all the better if you can talk to a manager or someone else responsible but who is not the owner, in order to 'de-personalise' it). Keep it purely for information purposes as opposed to definitely saying you got food poisoning there. Make it clear you are letting them know so they can check it out and possibly prevent anyone else getting sick, as opposed to it being a complaint. After all, you do eat there all the time and have loved the food in the past, and as others have pointed out there are various possible causes of your illness.

I totally understand you not being able to eat there for a while though. Associating something with having made you ill and thereafter avoiding it is hardwired in us for evolutionary reasons I am sure! When I was very young (5 maybe) I was very ill after having a blackcurrant-flavour diluted drink for the first time. Such an inoffensive thing, but to this day I can't stand it. My niece can't eat cucumber for the same reason.

[VorFemme]

In 2007, Lil Sis and I were eating at various places on her side of town to check out who would be catering my daughter's wedding the end of July.

The Italian place that had a long purple fiber from a plastic kitchen scrubber in her breaded chicken Parmesan got knocked off the list - even before we realized that the two waiters with about half the tables seated were so far in the weeds (too busy to keep up for those without experience as wait staff) that we had no trust that the business would be able to handle catering our event four months later. 

I will grant that the one table of twelve that was monopolizing the two waiters and the bus person wasn't HELPING matters - any time anyone walked by they asked for refills on drinks, bread, salad, clean forks that the baby had dropped, or something...but they were ignoring the rest of the tables trying to keep up with what was a black hole sucking down ALL their time & energy while demanding MORE.

Unlike the people who were trying to let them know that there was a kitchen issue (plastic scrubbing strand) in food that was NOT going to go over well if it got served to multiple tables/diners.

We mentioned it to the store clerk across the street when we got there - her DD had worked there, had them cater her wedding, and was friendly with the owners...who were letting their kids take over so that they could retire...I went back for lunch (cafeteria style) a couple of years later. 

We also got told to pay for the food, even after demonstrating the plastic strand (and that only the pasta & sauce had been edible or eaten).  They did "comp" it - but the table for twelve still had all their attention and they seemed not to understand what we were saying the first three times that we explained that there was plastic contaminating the food on the plate. 

Much eyerolling by us and later by the clerk across the street - I still wonder if Mom & Pop took things back in hand to train the kids and the waiters a bit longer?

[Shoo]

I'm feeling a lot better than I was 24 hours ago.  I just ate a little something, and while I don't feel "sick" I can tell my insides have been upset, KWIM?  I can't seem to drink enough water.  SO THIRSTY.

My husband really really really didn't want me to call the restaurant.  Like others have mentioned in this thread, we really have no sure way of knowing it was the shrimp I ate that made me sick.  We live in a small town, so he thinks if others were getting ill, we'd have heard about it.  He's probably right.  The owners of the restaurant literally live right behind us, and we see them all the time.  I don't know....   I'm so uncomfortable bringing it up.  Needless to say, I didn't call today.  I probably won't, though I know most of you have said I should.

Thanks for the advice and information, though.  I really do appreciate it!  But at the end of the day, I don't want to have an uncomfortable relationship with my neighbors, and I'm afraid telling them I got sick after eating in their restaurant might do that. 

[mrkitty]

I am so glad you're feeling better, Shoo!

You can always make an anonymous call to your local health department. They can then decide if there's reason to follow up with the restaurant (if there is a health code issue, they can help them resolve it, and if not, no harm no foul). That way, you're taking steps to ensure food safety for everyone AND your neighbors never need know that you called.

That's only if you feel comfortable about following up on this. Or, you could just see a doctor and find out what they suggest? (It might be worth it in any event just to make extra sure you're not actually experiencing the onset of a shellfish allergy.) If it's a true case of suspected food poisoning or chemical contamination or whatever, the doctor will automatically report to health department, so you don't have to do anything.

In any case, I hope you continue to get better. 

[KitKat]

Does the restaurant have a manager/asst manager other than the owners?  You could call without leaving your name.

[TootsNYC]

Does the restaurant have a manager/asst manager other than the owners?  You could call without leaving your name.

And in fact, you should call the *restaurant*, and speak to whoever answers the phone. I wouldn't call the neighbors at home. This is business, not personal. So call the place of business.

[Emmy]

I agree with most of the others.  If the food is bad, you will save the restaurant and fellow diners some misery and making the restaurant uncomfortable is better than what could happen if several more people are sickened from the bad food.  You don't even have to blame the food directly, just mention that it may not have been the food, but you just wanted to examine that possibility to others don't get sick. 

A few years ago, I ordered a tuna dish in a restaurant.  The dish was not well done (it was how it was supposed to be).  DH had something else, but he took a bite of mine.  I was violently ill early the next morning and he was fine.  I called the place and mentioned the problem with the thought that I wouldn't want somebody else to get ill from the fish if that was the problem.  They were really apologetic and nice about it, but they said nobody else called about the problem and that the fish was fresh.  They offered some free goodies which I declined.  It was winter, so there was a chance it could have been a 24 hour bug.

[Mr NiceGuy]

You should call the business, not the neighbors, and let them know what happened.  Also, as someone who works in the food industry, I would caution against saying that 'you had food poisoning' unless you have seen a doctor and had that confirmed.  It's far more common to have something disagree with you than it is to actually receive a bacterial attack.  I would explain that you ate there for dinner and that you were sick later that evening & that you wanted to let them know so that they could make the proper checks of their product.

[Outdoor Girl]

I've called the health department before, when I was sick after a meal out.  I have a bit of an iron gut so it is unusual for me to get food poisoning but I wanted them to know, just in case there were other reports.  It would be useful information for tracking purposes, if there were an outbreak.  Not calling is what makes it really difficult for the health department to track these things.

In my case, there were no other reports and I chalked it up to a GI virus.

[wheeitsme]

We had a mexican restaurant we used to go to (another state).  One day our salsa had china in it.  We called over the waiter and let them know.  We weren't angry, but we figured they'd want to know so they could pull it.  Our waiter apologized profusely, and then the manager came over and apologized and thanked us.  And when the bill came, they comped everything.

[MurPl1]

Shoo,

Couple of things - one) you will be doing them a favor by telling them there's a possibility there was an issue with their food.  They can't address it unless they know about it and if they don't address it, it will hurt their business.  two) if it's a small town and everyone feels the same way as your husband, then no one will ever speak up.