To have hoped restaurant might apologise for food poisoning?

[Koulibiak]

Went out with friends and DH on Friday night. Small chain, I think they have three restaurants in total. By Saturday early morning DH was violently sick with food poisoning, this continued for the next 24 hours. It’s pretty clear this was from what he ate at dinner, as we had the same lunch.

I emailed the restaurant to notify them, told them exactly what he had (he was the only one of us to have the chicken), asked them to throw away any leftover chicken from that batch and reminded them to cook meat through (it was done on a bbq).

AIBU to have expected the restaurant to email back, even if just to say sorry? I wasn’t asking for any compensation, but I’d have thought they would be at least a bit concerned that they’re poisoning their customers.

If I was chef owner of an establishment, I'd definitely not reply if you'd reminded me how to cook!!

Jeez!

May not be food poisoning. I got sick on the Thurs night/Fri morning, none of my family got sick but pretty sure it was a bug and not food poisoning as I had had same meals as partner. Also lasted 24 hrs.

This 😂

Op, you don't know that he got food poisoning there.

I haven’t read all replies but you should really report this to environmental health and they will investigate. It might be that other people were also ill.

Them saying sorry is accepting the liability. They may express somewhat of a sympathy but I wouldn’t expect anything since it is in writing.

Thank you, I have done that following earlier advice from this thread.

Docs confirm poisoning with stool samples, you then get sent a form from environmental health / council as they are notifiable.

Even then can be almost impossible to prove where it came from due to incubation times etc.

I had campylobacter last year, nobody else. Only me. Still no idea where from.

Dad had salmonella when travelling.

Absolutely savage and way worse than any bug, landed me in A&E

Would be careful of pointing the finger on this one, we’re in peak bugs / viruses season after all

food poisoning feels quite different to a virus it feels as if the poison in your body is attacking you and I’m sure you dh can tell the difference

I think it would be polite for the restaurant to reply but if they do it shall be vague as they shall not want to accept liability

i don’t think yabu to complain

hope your dh feels better soon

Did he go from being well to feel awful, very quickly, OP? By which I mean, from well to awful was < 1 hour? This is diagnostic.

Poor guy was sick about 5am Saturday morning

Incubation periods for most common food poisoning bugs =

norovirus 12-48 hours, but 1.5 days is very typical
campylobacter 1-10 days, but 2-4 is most typical
E.Coli 3-4 days
Salmonella 6 hrs to 6 days, 3-4 days is typical
Clostridium perfringens : 6-24 hours, not really associated with vomiting, though
Vibrio parahaemolyticus, did he have shellfish?
A few other unusual microbes are possible.

Noro looks like good bet for OP's DH, but not from the restaurant, probably from somewhere else he went on Thursday or Friday, it's the one most associated with violent vomiting, the others are feverish diarrhea illness mostly, the others aren't mostly associated with severe vomiting.

I would try and get a sample bottle from GP surgery today and get a stool sample off ASAP. That's the only way you'll know. It's not too late to send one. I had FP, ( Salmonella). I was ill for 5 days and although I'd never been in labour, when I had it, I still attest ( 3 labour's later) that the cramps were as bad as labour pains.
Microbiology actually phoned me at home to get details and contacted Environmental Health. I was then sent a form to fill out from EH.
Funnily enough it was one of the best meals out I've ever had. ( But it was meat being cooked on a griddle, so high risk, I suppose).
Hope your DH is feeling better, FP or Noro, it's bleak.

Oh, to add, I had vomiting, but it wasn't violent, projectile-type vomiting. But had the worst diarrhoea known to man and the cramps...!

It can be much longer than 24 hours if it’s bacterial. OP, you are not an epidemiologist and don’t understand food poisoning, which is a complex topic as there are many different types.

If several of your group had eaten one meal and all were sick, while the other members who did not have that meal remained well, it’s likely you’d have a valid case, but as it was one person, he could have picked an infection up from anywhere he’s been over several days.

If your husband did have food poisoning, then several other customers will likely have complained. I see you have contacted the public health authorities. Hopefully they will do an investigation.

I was ill for five days after eating at a restaurant before I spoke to GP who did give me something. He said food poisoning was very difficult to prove after three weeks of on off diarrhoea I did provide a sample but nothing confirmed.

It's been proven that the majority of food poisoning is from eating out I read. But unless you get a lot of cases confirmed, 24 in a restaurant near us you'll never know.

You don't know it was from what he ate at that restaurant at all.
Most foodborne illnesses take anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
Things like norovirus which is one of the faster ones are more likely to be on door handles and utensils etc.

So it's not clear he got it from the chicken.

Sorry where are you getting this?
That's just nonsense

reminded them to cook meat through (it was done on a bbq)

To be fair, if it wasn't cooked through then I'd expect your husband to have noticed.

Of course they won't apologise! That's admitting liability. Best you report to Report a food safety or hygiene issue | Food Standards Agency but it's pretty impossible to prove.

Update - the restaurant has been in touch with a thoughtful and considered response. They are investigating and promised to get back to me.

Never in the waiting area. I did get someone to drop off a KFC once when DD was in. But we were in a cubicle by then DD can't miss meals as it makes her health condition worse. She needed to eat before evening meds. I have occasionally took in a meal deal if I know we will be waiting over a mealtime.

It can invalidate their insurance. Yes you're right you can draft a non committal response that doesn't actually admit liability but it's difficult for insurers to give policyholders examples of what is and isn't acceptable and policyholders can't really be expected to understand what might in a court of law be seen as an admission of liability. So they are instructed to send everything to the insurers without a response