Food Poisoning *
Food Poisoning bacteria

  
Which food poisoning cases are investigated?

All confirmed cases of food poisoning and certain other cases of infectious diseases are notified to the Health Protection team by either local GP's or hospital laboratories.

What exactly does the council do?

The council carries out investigations into possible sources of and reasons for the infection. All people for whom we receive a notification are sent a letter with background information about the infection and possible sources, together with a questionnaire asking about foods consumed and activities prior to the onset of illness. Investigations are then carried to establish a possible source. This is both in order to prevent others from being affected and to determine whether the law has been broken. Where the poisoning is thought to be due to unsafe food from a food premises within the district, we investigate further.

It may not be due to your last meal

Often, if people become ill in this way just after eating at a restaurant or ready-cooked food bought from a shop they will be sure that this is the cause.

But, food poisoning bacteria take quite a long time to reproduce inside the human gut and some people are more resistant than others so it may be some time before there are enough to cause illness.

Very often it can be something eaten as long as two, even three, days before the symptoms show, which caused the problem.

Some food poisoning symptoms can appear more quickly. This is usually caused by the poison or toxin which some bacteria make. If there is a lot of this in the food when eaten the stomach is likely to react quite quickly by vomiting to try to remove the poison. This can happen within a few hours of eating the affected food.

Another very fast acting type of food borne illness is that of allergic reaction. This can vary from unpleasant tingling in the mouth and rashes to anaphylactic shock and death.

If you require advice or further information, you can contact us:

By Phone: 01376 551414 ext 2211

By Fax: 01376 557767

By Email - csc@braintree.gov.uk

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More Information *
For further information, please contact BDC Customer Service Centre at csc@braintree.gov.uk
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