Foodborne illness (food poisoning) happens when someone eats or drink food that is contaminated with harmful germs, like bacteria, parasites, or viruses, or chemicals.
Common signs and symptoms of foodborne illness are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps or pain, dehydration or fever. You can start feeling sick hours to over a week after eating or drinking contaminated food. You can be sick for hours to over a week. If your symptoms are severe, seek medical attention by calling your healthcare provider or going to a walk-in clinic or emergency department.
If you think you became ill after eating out at a local business or have food safety concerns:
- Where you ate
- Date and time
- What you ate
- Your symptoms and when they started or your food safety concerns
A Public Health Inspector will follow up with you and may ask you to submit a stool sample to help in their investigation. If you have leftover food, the Public Health Inspector may want to collect it and send it away for testing, so keep it cold in the refrigerator.