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What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

nytimes.com

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Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#31

Post by weaksauce »

just4themoney wrote: post #30
jghn wrote: post #29

When people say they have "food poisoning" and blame it on something in particular I always point out that it's almost never what you think it is. However, even knowing that doesn't help a whole lot with the queasiness that one associates with that food item. I've had a few GI bugs which have caused me to never be able to eat at the "offending" establishment ever again, even though I now the likelihood that the menta…

I got sick drinking a bit too much limoncello once day. Now I can't stomach lemon flavored seltzer. I taste it and feel like I'm going to vomit.

That's called taste aversion.

Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#32

Post by oliv__ »

omilu wrote: post #14
icantdrive55 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to prove. Meal is gone. Should I save my throw up? I have had 18 gauge wire in my buritto, but figured it was just an accident. I have worked in restaurants. Some are filthy. Some workers could care less about food handling, especially the restaurants that hire the cheapest help, which is most. It's pretty easy to pass a health inspection. Just keep the meat on the bottom shelf, and keep the coolers at the…

>>>And it's increasingly expensive Especially when you have a family, one night out is equivalent to a weeks worth of groceries. Cooking at home is the easiest way to stretch your money, if you can find the time.

*make the time

Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#33

Post by oliv__ »

naasking wrote: post #23

Gastrointestinal issues are almost never due to the last thing you ate, unless you're living in a third world country. It's usually the highly contagious norovirus, which you typically get from shared bathrooms and door handles. Most people just call it food poisoning because that's just how our brains work, as a protective bias.

Citation needed

Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#34

Post by kbos87 »

My family used to own a restaurant. We used to get occasional calls from people claiming to be sick. People would be dumb enough to call us screaming, with an indignant attitude, blaming something they ate at our establishment an hour ago.

Foodborne illness usually takes longer to set in, and in most cases, is something they prepared for themselves at home. Not all restaurants are perfect of course, but most take precautions, not risks, when it comes to their livelihoods.

Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#36

Post by naasking »

oliv__ wrote: post #33
naasking wrote: post #23

Gastrointestinal issues are almost never due to the last thing you ate, unless you're living in a third world country. It's usually the highly contagious norovirus, which you typically get from shared bathrooms and door handles. Most people just call it food poisoning because that's just how our brains work, as a protective bias.

Citation needed

See outbreaks:

https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/trends-outbreaks.html

50% of food borne illnesses are already caused by norovirus. Now look at the graph above, and notice that non-food based transmission of norovirus is almost 8x higher.

Differentiating between norovirus from actual food poisoning is not too difficult either.

Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#37

Post by jk2323 »

boyce wrote: post #3

As a restauranteur, I (very occasionally!) get calls from people accusing us of making them ill, threatening bad reviews and demanding vouchers or refunds. The majority of the time it's someone who tries the same scam on every restaurant. Fortunately, around here at least, independent restaurant owners and managers keep in contact with each other and keep a track of these things. I did hear about one scammer recently…

"Other times it's someone who has actually eaten with you but forgotten that they had seven beers with their steak."

I think you Bozo can't tell the difference of being drunk and having a hang-over from food poisoning. Tragic!

Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#38

Post by davzie »

elorant wrote: post #11

Since last August, when I had a severe GERD issue that took six months to go away, I keep a very detailed daily journal of everything I eat, the time I eat it and any kind of symptoms it might be causing me even hours later. It's the best way, and probably the only one, to isolate foods that make my stomach upset. Now I can correlate symptoms with foods/hours and draw conclusions based on hard data. It has helped me…

I did this too. Actually I found it didn't really provide me with any concrete solution to my issues. You know what solved it? I started meditating because my anxiety about the GERD itself was through the roof. My blood pressure dropped and my GERD symptoms started just not appearing. Incidentally, the more I read about stress being linked to GERD incidents the more it makes sense. If you're struggling with GERD, a fantastic, free e-book to read is called "Down With Acid". It explains how it all works and could come about and is really informative.

I find that treating the symptoms as soon as they appear with a combination of Gaviscon (for throat burning reflux) and Ranitidine (for the stabbing heart pains) and keeping on those remedies for a few days helps. The best description I could find was imagine putting your finger over a candle flame. At first it doesn't hurt, but if you hold it there long enough it burns and fucking hurts. Now even the smallest bit of heat on your finger is going to be really painful! When I followed this analogy by making sure I treat the symptoms instantly, I no longer worry about GERD on a day-to-day basis. Big post for me, but I spent 2 years researching and really doing everything I could to understand how this happens and how to treat it and I hope this helps anyone else reading who has these symptoms.

Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#39

Post by Cerium »

omilu wrote: post #14
icantdrive55 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to prove. Meal is gone. Should I save my throw up? I have had 18 gauge wire in my buritto, but figured it was just an accident. I have worked in restaurants. Some are filthy. Some workers could care less about food handling, especially the restaurants that hire the cheapest help, which is most. It's pretty easy to pass a health inspection. Just keep the meat on the bottom shelf, and keep the coolers at the…

>>>And it's increasingly expensive Especially when you have a family, one night out is equivalent to a weeks worth of groceries. Cooking at home is the easiest way to stretch your money, if you can find the time.

Faster too, once you learn to cook some daily dinners. I can serve pasta, sauce, rolls, and salad in 15 minutes.

Re: What to Blame for Your Stomach Bug? Not Always the Last Thing You Ate

#40

Post by askvictor »

dpark wrote: post #28
askvictor wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no correct way to cook escolar aka butterfish aka olestrafish. It's banned for sale in some places, should be banned everywhere.

I've eaten escolar multiple times with no ill effects. I certainly think restaurants should educate people about the fish but I don't see that it should be banned.

I can see the warning on the menu...
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