Food poisoning allegations and investigations

Duties of Environmental Health Officers

Environmental Health Officers (EHO) 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 ill person to provide a faecal sample for testing.  Whilst this is very unpleasant it is essential for the purpose of identifying whether a food poisoning bug is to blame.  Your doctor can arrange to take samples and have them examined at the Public Health Laboratory.  Environmental Health Officers from the Food Safety Team may get involved if you work in the Food Industry.

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.

Often the food that causes the problem can have been eaten 2 or 3 days (or even up to 10 days) before the symptoms appear.

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 (diarrhoea is very rare with this type).  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.

A common allergic reaction, which is usually not dangerous but can be very unpleasant, is thought to be caused by a histamine build up which sometimes occurs in certain kinds of fish, for example tuna.  This is called scombrotoxin poisoning.

An allergic reaction which can be very serious is the reaction to nuts and nut products.  Some people have even been known to react to eating food cooked in a pan which has previously been used with peanut oil.

Reporting food poisoning

Reports of food poisoning reach the Environmental Health Officers by different routes.  Sometimes people have gone to their doctors who then report the illness to the local authority.  Doctors are required by law to report suspected food poisoning amongst other infections diseases.

More often, sufferers of gastric illness report it themselves to the council, usually because they believe it was caused by a restaurant or food shop in the borough.  The EHO will respond by asking for a lot of details about the illness and the meals history of the persons affected.  There will also be questions about the ill person's job (in case they work with vulnerable people like nursery staff or are food handlers).  A faecal sample will probably be requested and advice given on the avoidance of inadvertently spreading the infection to others.  Food handlers should be aware not to return to work until 48 hours after the last symptoms have ceased.

Inspecting a food premises

If a restaurant or food shop is implicated, the EHO will carry out an inspection of the premises and this may include taking food samples for examination.  Mainly the EHO will be looking at what bacterial risks arise from the type of food handled in the business and how food is stored, prepared, cooked and served.

The important thing is to identify any step in the food preparation where there might be a risk of bacterial contamination or growth which is not controlled.  This would be discussed with the proprietor, who must then change his processes to ensure the risk is eliminated or acceptably reduced.

It is not often that absolute proof is found to tie an event of gastric illness to a particular business; this is for all sorts of reasons.  Often no faecal samples are provided or the incident is reported after the person is well, so a sample would be pointless.  Then it also may be too late to take a worthwhile food sample and without finding the same bug in the victim and the food, there is always room for doubt.

Of course, if a whole party of people at, say, a wedding reception, go down with identical symptoms at the same time, then the circumstantial evidence may be all that is needed to satisfy a court.  Although it might be that one of the guests unwittingly spread a gastric virus around the whole gathering and so it would still be necessary to isolate a food poisoning bug from two or more of the guests to be sure.

Formal action

Having taken all steps to try and identify the cause and put right any deficiencies in the hygienic practices of the food business and/or the victims, the EHO would consider the possibility and value of taking some punitive action against the perpetrator, if one was found.

Bad publicity can ruin a food business and put an end to a person's livelihood but food poisoning can kill.  Careful consideration of all the circumstances is needed to decide whether subsequent court action is an appropriate course of action.

One thing the EHO will never do and that is negotiate compensation for any victims.  That is purely a matter for the victim themselves, although reports from the inspecting officer may form part of a petitioner's case or a business's defence.

For further information on this  or any of the above please contact the Food Safety Team:

Environment and Health, Chester City council, The Forum, Chester CH1 2HS

Tel: 01244-402322, 402323, 402307, 402481, or via email: foodsafety@chester.gov.uk.