Food Poisoning - General advice and guidance
for those suffering food poisoning


Suffering Food Poisoning -
Information if you are suffering from food poisoning

The Duties of Environmental Health Staff

Environmental Health Staff have a responsibility to investigate incidences of food poisoning. When one or more persons become ill with sickness and/or diarrhoea it may be symptoms of food borne illness, a viral infection or some other cause.
The most effective way of finding out whether it is food poisoning is for the victim to provide a faecal sample for testing. Whilst this is very unpleasant it is very useful in identifying whether a food poisoning bug is to blame.

It may not be due to your last meal

It is very tempting to assume that gastrointestinal illness occurring very soon, or often just after a 'suspect' meal must be food poisoning from that particular meal but, although some causes of food poisoning have incubation periods measured in a few hours most take days to become apparent.

Food is not always the cause
The most common forms of food poisoning generally result in illness characterised by diarrhoea and/or vomiting. However, the majority of cases of sickness are caused by a virus, which is spread from person to person, and not through food.

What to do if you suspect you have food poisoning

  • Visit your GP, and submit the sample according to your GP instruction.
  • If you handle food in the course of your work, inform your employer immediately and refrain from work.
  • Avoid passing the infection by washing your hands thoroughly after using the toilet.
  • If you think your food poisoning was caused from a food premises on the Isle of Wight please contact us, link at the bottom of the page.

What happens next?

  • The Laboratory is required to notify the Environmental Health Department if there is a positive result
  • The Environmental Health Department may contact you to identify where you may have obtained the infection and to ensure it cannot be passed on.
  • If you are a food handler, work with children under 5 or the elderly, you should abstain from work until 48 hours after your symptoms cease
  • Children under 5 should be kept away from nurseries until 48 hours after their symptoms cease.

More information can be found at the following link http://www.hpa.org.uk



Page last updated on: 11/04/2008