Report food poisoning

If you are suffering from food poisoning you will know about it. Typically food poisoning takes a couple of days before onset of symptoms and it can be more than a week before symptoms end.

Common symptoms include:

diarrhoea
stomach cramps
vomiting
fever
nausea
headache
dizziness

In most cases bacteria are responsible for causing food borne illnesses (such as campylobacter or salmonella), but not all. Other causes include:

viruses can cause gastroenteritis, such as Norovirus - also known as 'winter vomiting disease'
mycotoxins can be carcinogenic - 'toxic mould' can affect some dried foods
poisonous plants and fish - like scombrotoxic fish poisoning, lectin toxins in plants such as red and white kidney beans and cyanogens in bitter apricot kernels, cassava and lima beans
Prions - an infectious agent resulting in nvCJD and BSE

If you have believe you have any of the above symptoms we recommend you visit your doctor as soon as possible to submit a stool sample which can then be tested to identify food poisoning bacteria which may have caused the infection. You should also report the potential source of infection to us so we can investigate further.

Likewise, you can let us know if you suspect a food premises of not following food hygiene procedures from the food complaints page.

Report a food poisoning or food hygiene issue

Last updated 16 October 2023