Can a Lawyer Help if I Am Unsure How I Got Food Poisoning?

 Posted on December 27, 2024 in Food Poisoning

Sometimes, it is quite obvious where you got food poisoning from. If you and several of your friends eat at the same restaurant one night and all get sick, you can fairly easily deduce that the restaurant is responsible for your illness. However, if you are the only person you know who became ill, it might be harder to determine what the source of your food poisoning was. By working with public health officials and tracking your symptoms, an experienced Illinois food poisoning attorney can often help to identify the source of your illness. If you have recently experienced severe food poisoning and you are not sure where you got it, you should consult a lawyer.

Comparing the Timing of Symptoms and Type of Pathogen

One way to determine where you most likely got food poisoning from is to track the timing and onset of your symptoms. Most foodborne pathogens, like E. Coli, Norovirus, and Listeria follow a fairly predictable course when they infect a person. Some take days to set in after a person eats contaminated food, while others take effect within 30 minutes. If you know what type of foodborne pathogen you were sickened by, this can help your attorneys and public health officials alike determine the source.

For example, say you found out at the hospital that you had Staphylococcus Aureus. Symptoms normally set in within the first 8 hours and may appear as early as 30 minutes after you ingested the contaminated food. If you became ill overnight and the last thing you ate was a sandwich from a local sub shop, this strongly suggests that the sandwich shop was the source of your illness.

Tracking Local and National Outbreaks 

Both local and national health authorities track known outbreaks. When multiple people become sick around the same time, health authorities will often ask each sick person to list the things they ate around the time they would have ingested the pathogen. By comparing responses, public health officials can often identify a single restaurant or single menu item all of the infected people reported eating.

For example, say five people in your area are in the hospital with severe E. Coli infections. E. Coli infections take three to four days to set in, so health authorities would ask each person what they ate during that time period. If every single sick person states that they went to the same burger restaurant and all ordered an item that contains lettuce, public health agencies can reasonably determine that the batch of lettuce served by that burger restaurant is the likely source of the illness.

Contact an Illinois Food Poisoning Attorney 

If you caught food poisoning from an unknown source, Newland & Newland, LLP may be able to help you identify the source and pursue legal action. Our aggressive Illinois food poisoning lawyers will do all we can to help you hold the responsible party accountable. Contact us at 312-981-0409 for a complimentary consultation.