The worst food poisoning I ever had was a few days after returning from a weekend vacation with friends.
Thats classic food poisoning.
But sometimes the situation is less clear.
The same germs that cause food poisoning are also common causes of stomach flu ortravelers diarrhea.
Over the next week,half of the flight attendants who worked on that plane got sick.
Call it food poisoning or a stomach bugeither way, they got sick.
Other organisms follow a similar route, but usually not with such ruthless efficiency.
Maybe some fecal bacteria from the farm (say,E.
Then you cook the burger, but not all the way since you like them rare.
Your immune system kills off most of the bacteria, but not quite enough.
The bacteria make a toxin that makes you sick.
Intuition is bad at helping us track down the source of food poisoning.
In truth, our biases probably influence where we point the finger.
So if you cant always blame your last meal, who should you blame?
It turns out theres a pretty big window of opportunity, depending on what exactly made you sick.
The FDAhas a handy chart here.
Its normal to not feel like eating for a day or two.
You may want to ease back into eating with simple, bland foods like crackers.
Its important to seek help if youre at high risk of complications.
coli), or anyone who is elderly or has a condition that weakens their immune system.
Should You Report It?
But what if youre just puking on your own?
But still, better than nothing.
(You may even be pleasantly surprisedsome condiments are good for months.)
Temperature is a better gauge than color when youre working with meat.
Thats the temperature range in between fridge temperature and piping hot.
Title photo byAnton Brand(Shutterstock).
