Food poisoning and infectious diseases

Symptoms of food poisoning

Symptoms of food poisoning include:

• feeling sick or being sick
• diarrhoea
• tummy pain
• a high temperature
• feeling generally unwell

It is important to realise that the cause of your symptoms may not be due to the last meal that you ate, sometimes symptoms do not start for a few weeks.

If you think you have food poisoning

• contact your GP and submit a stool sample 
• avoid swimming pools for 14 days 
• ensure you are symptom free for 48 hours before socialising with others

Our Environmental Health officers will investigate reports of food poisoning on receipt of a notification from the health board.

More information on food poisoning can be found via the NHS’s website. 

Why investigations take place

Many different types of bacteria, parasites and viruses can cause vomiting and/or diarrhoea. 

The purpose of any investigation is to try to prevent the spread of illness and to try and find out what has caused it.

Advice is given to the patient or the patient’s guardian, if they are a child, on how this may be achieved.

Investigations can help obtain information that may be able to assist us in our inspections of food businesses and food sampling programme.

What we will ask

On receipt of a notification, we will contact the person with the symptoms (or their parent or guardian) and ask them questions regarding:

• what and where you've eaten prior to illness
• details of any symptoms
• if you’ve been on holiday abroad
• whether or not your GP has taken a faecal sample
• has anybody else you have eaten with also experienced any symptoms

Food poisoning outbreaks

An outbreak is where two or more cases with the same infection or symptoms occur around the same time and place.

In places such as residential care homes, nursing homes, children’s nurseries and schools our Environmental Health officers will investigate outbreaks of diarrhoea and vomiting as these may be caused by problems with food but are more often caused by viruses spread by vomiting. 

They should know their general levels of illness, particularly cases with vomiting and/or diarrhoea, therefore if there are raised levels this may indicate an outbreak. 

If several people ate at the same venue and have the same symptoms, this may be due to a food poisoning outbreak.

Our investigation into the outbreak will involve

• interviewing people who are ill
• interviewing others who ate at the venue but didn't have symptoms and taking samples (if appropriate)
• inspecting the implicated venue

If you believe that you are suffering from food poisoning, or if you require information on how to prevent food poisoning, please contact us.