Food Poisoning Claims on Holiday

What is food poisoning?

Food poisoning is dangerous and can cause significant injury to those who ingest food that has been contaminated and can be fatal for babies, young children and the elderly.  It can also be dangerous for pregnant women, people who are already due to a medical condition or are recovering from medical illness.

There are many ways that food can be contaminated including microbes, bacteria, parasites, poison, incorrect food handling, poor person hygiene, poor packaging of food, unclean work surfaces in kitchens or other areas, poor ventilation, dust, pets, vermin, poor drainage supply/waste disposal.  Bacteria multiply very quickly at the wrong temperature.  It is dangerous to store food between 5 degrees Celsius and 63 degrees Celsius this is known as the “temperature danger zone”.

It is well known that hundreds of bacteria can be deposited by a fly and can multiply to millions of bacteria in just a short period of time such as several hours.  Toxins will grow and multiply in food and continue to manufacture toxins.  If food is left in the sun it can produce enough toxins to affect your health.

Types of toxin producers:

Staphylococcus Aureus
Avoid rice or you could become sick with staphylococcus aureus as it is a heat resistant toxin and you may suffer with abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting for between 6 to 24 hours.  You may also suffer for diarrhoea for up to 16 hours after eating such food.

Clostridium
If you eat meat and vegetables that have been affected you will suffer from abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting in 8 to 22 hours slightly longer after eating such contaminated food.
Food can also be infected because of not being cooked properly, a person’s poor hygiene or pests/insects landing on the food.

Salmonella 
If you suffer from Salmonella you will suffer from various symptoms including fever, headache, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting and diarrhoea.  You will also feel week and dehydrated.

Campylobacter
Again it is spread by poor hygiene and pest/insects on food and causes abdominal cramps, diarrhoea and you may have to go to hospital.

Typhoid
This can be picked up in a dirty swimming pool and also can be contracted by poor hygiene in food preparation.
If you contract typhoid you will develop symptoms slowly but they may last for a longer period of time and you may experience a high temperature, nose bleeds, and dizziness, and headaches, spots on your abdomen, dehydration and diarrhoea.

E.coli
This is usually picked up through uncooked meats and again you may suffer high temperature, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps and abdominal pain.

Listeria
If you are a pregnant woman, young child or elderly this could be fatal and can be picked up by eating unpasteurised soft cheese/pate.  Your symptoms will include nausea, vomiting, high temperature, muscle pain, diarrhoea and convulsions.

Norovirus
This is a virus that spreads very quickly through poor hygiene and hand contact it is easily spread and leads to diarrhoea, vomiting, high temperature and can last a few days.

There are other causes of food poisoning such as

• Amoebic Dysentery
• Cryptosporidium
• Shigella

How We Can Help

We can provide you with advice on any food poisoning claims and other assistance you may require as well as going through and explaining the entire claims process with you.

If you think that you have suffered illness on holiday or you have been involved in an accident on holiday which you believe is the tour operators fault you can contact Stephanie Prior, partner and Head of Medical Negligence for a free and confidential conversation on 020 7485 8811.

You can also contact Stephanie by e-mailing stephanieprior@osbornes.net or by filling in our online enquiry form.

Stephanie  is a Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel member, AvMA Panel member and an APIL senior litigator.