Contracting Food Poisoning
Dec 11, 2009 Lawyer Attorney
It is easy to become a victim of food poisoning if you are not careful in preparing food, or if you happen to eat out somewhere where they were negligent in their handling of the food. It has become quite common to contract food poisoning, and the seriousness of it can vary from case to case.
Food poisoning commonly occurs when an individual eats or drinks something that is infected with some form of chemicals or parasites. However, the most commonly reported form of food poisoning is bacterial poisoning. Bacterial poisoning usually occurs when the food has not been heated, stored, or cooked properly. Bad hygiene on the parts of the chefs preparing food can also be a contributing factor. Some restaurants fail in washing hands before and after handling food, or using unclean kitchen utensils.
What are some of the symptoms to look out for?
As everyone’s body reacts differently to food poisoning, there are no hard and fast rules on how soon you will become ill after contracting the bacteria. Some people become ill straight away, whilst others may take a few days. How ill a person gets will depend on how healthy the individual is, and the seriousness of the food poisoning itself. Some are able to recover quite quickly, whilst others take longer. Symptoms of food poisoning can vary from case to case, but usually involve vomiting, stomach upsets, dehydration, and fever. Usually these can be cleared up with the right medication. However, some of the more serious cases of food poisoning can lead to death.
Avoiding E-Coli poisoning
E-Coli poisoning is found in the lower intestines of healthy mammals. Once this bacteria is transferred to food it can cause food poisoning if ingested. Washing your hands and cooking food thoroughly is essential in stopping this from happening. It is also important to wash your hands after touching the food so that the bacteria is not transferred to other food through touch.
Salmonella
This type of bacteria is usually found in meat and poultry, eggs, and unpasteurised milk. It can also be found in untreated water and seafood. In order to avoid salmonella poisoning, it is essential that you heat food thoroughly, particularly with regards to meat. It is also important to wash hands thoroughly after handling the food to avoid transferring the bacteria to other food.
Unfortunately, salmonella food poisoning is particularly hard to get rid of once ingested, and has the potential of causing serious long-term health problems. The particularly vulnerable members of society include the elderly and the ones with a history of health problems.
Am I entitled to make a claim after suffering food poisoning?
You may be entitled to make a personal injury compensation claim if you suspect that your food poisoning was caused as a result of another person’s negligence. You may also be able to make a claim if you contracted food poisoning whilst abroad on a package holiday.
If you wish to make a claim you will need to provide us with supporting documents to help your claim. These can include any medical reports from your GP and relevant receipts from restaurants. Our solicitors will assess your case and help you in your claim.
Ayesha Salim , editor of the UK Lawyers Network, writes articles about solicitor, Lawyer, compensation claims, find a solicitor, legal, lawyer, law help advice, solicitors litigation
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