I have read so many horror stories about restaurants and fast food places. I haven’t eaten at any of them in maybe 20 years except pizza. I don’t actually recall ever getting sick from them tho.
I do know that I never got sick from my Mother’s or my Wife’s cooking. I used to work at a large Summer retreat that served around 3000 people. The food was great but it seemed we had serious food poisoning strike about every Summer.
I remember the Summer of 65. The staff Dr. was passing out some kind of opium derivative in paper cups. He literally had gallons of it. I just remembered it was paregoric.
I used to eat tons of that crap as a young adult.
Most people think they got sick from something they just ate (like at a restaurant) but it is much more likely to be the result of something they ate days ago.
| Contaminant | Onset of symptoms | Foods affected and means of transmission |
|---|---|---|
| Campylobacter | 2 to 5 days | Meat and poultry. Contamination occurs during processing if animal feces contact meat surfaces. Other sources include unpasteurized milk and contaminated water. |
| Clostridium botulinum | 12 to 72 hours | Home-canned foods with low acidity, improperly canned commercial foods, smoked or salted fish, potatoes baked in aluminum foil and other foods kept at warm temperatures for too long. |
| Clostridium perfringens | 8 to 16 hours | Meats, stews and gravies. Commonly spread when serving dishes don't keep food hot enough or food is chilled too slowly. |
| Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 | 1 to 8 days | Beef contaminated with feces during slaughter. Spread mainly by undercooked ground beef. Other sources include unpasteurized milk and apple cider, alfalfa sprouts and contaminated water. |
| Giardia lamblia | 1 to 2 weeks | Raw, ready-to-eat produce and contaminated water. Can be spread by an infected food handler. |
| Hepatitis A | 28 days | Raw, ready-to-eat produce and shellfish from contaminated water. Can be spread by an infected food handler. |
| Listeria | 9 to 48 hours | Hot dogs, luncheon meats, unpasteurized milk and cheeses, and unwashed raw produce. Can be spread through contaminated soil and water. |
| Noroviruses (Norwalk-like viruses) | 12 to 48 hours | Raw, ready-to-eat produce and shellfish from contaminated water. Can be spread by an infected food handler. |
| Rotavirus | 1 to 3 days | Raw, ready-to-eat produce. Can be spread by an infected food handler. |
| Salmonella | 1 to 3 days | Raw or contaminated meat, poultry, milk or egg yolks. Survives inadequate cooking. Can be spread by knives, cutting surfaces or an infected food handler. |
| Shigella | 24 to 48 hours | Seafood and raw, ready-to-eat produce. Can be spread by an infected food handler. |
| Staphylococcus aureus | 1 to 6 hours | Meats and prepared salads, cream sauces and cream-filled pastries. Can be spread by hand contact, coughing and sneezing. |
| Vibrio vulnificus | 1 to 7 days | Raw oysters and raw or undercooked mussels, clams and whole scallops. Can be spread through contaminated seawater. |