Should I tell the restaurant that my brother got food poisoning there?

[RalphLaurenG]

It's a pub/restaurant where I had my birthday meal a couple of weeks ago. It generally has really nice food. But I saw my brother yesterday and he told me he thinks he got food poisoning at the meal. He had a chicken starter that no one else had. We can't be 100% sure, obviously, but it seems that's the only place he could have got ill. He'd been staying with our parents for two days prior so eating the same food as them. His symptoms fitted exactly with food poisoning (mother is a nurse and knows about food timelines for getting ill, etc). He was really very poorly, vomiting non stop for 12 hrs.

My question is - should I say something?? Obviously there's nothing they can do now, but maybe their food hygiene isn't great which could put other customers at risk?

It's a couple running it by themselves and I'm quite friendly with them. I'm also prepared for them to not believe me and say as much.

What's the MN consensus???

I think a couple of weeks later is too late, other customers would presumably have also been affected so hopefully one of them let them know

I think if he considered it the source then it would be up to him to raise it with them.

When this happened to me I told local Environmental Health, and they were onto it straight away.

No, becayse he didn’t get a stool sample done and habe it traced. He could have got it up to a week previous to symptoms. I’m surprised your mother didn’t explain that.

Did he go to the dr? Environmental health would follow it up but if he didn’t then there’s not much to go on but I’d still report it to them. If there’s a pattern of cases then it could be important. I wouldn’t report individually, no

www.food.gov.uk/contact/consumers/report-problem/report-a-food-safety-or-hygiene-issue

He can report as a suspected food poisoning case and I would just in case he’s not the only one

If this happens again, get a stool sample done, contact Environmental Health and they will investigate properly. Can’t really do much several weeks later. Also, everyone always thinks it is the last place they ate out. There are many other ways of contacting food poisoning…

2 weeks on and be thinks he got food poisoning? Seems a bit too far gone tbh

You're meant to tell environment health as its happening and they check it out. A few weeks is too late to do anything unfortunately

Thanks everyone. I didn't see him until the weekend and I think he felt a bit bad because it happened at my party.

Of course it could easily have been something else/elsewhere but it seems a bit suspicious. No one else ate the chicken starter he had and no one else was ill.

No

Food poisoning tends to last longer than 12 hours, its more likely to be viral, which isn't any less nasty, just generally not food bourne, more likely passed from a person or door handle etc!

@GameofPhones

When this happened to me I told local Environmental Health, and they were onto it straight away.

this what you should do. they need to check procedures etc. others may be harmed. ring the local council where pub is located.

Definitely contact environmental health. They will call and check them out.

No you shouldn't say anything, your brother got ill not youot was down to him to deal with it, he didn't bother getting a stool sample, he "thinks" he got it there but in reality has no idea at all as food poisoning symptoms usually within a few days of eating the food that caused the infection but can be a few hours or not for a few weeks so as he wasn't tested he has no idea at all where he picked it up or even if it was food poisoning.