How Common is Food Poisoning at Restaurants?

The annoyance, inconvenience, and risk to your health that food poison creates can provide the basis for a lawsuit. You can sue a restaurant that served food that made you sick if your case meets scientific standards. Evidence of certain bacteria in your food provides vital evidence that helps make your case. At Dash Injury Law, you may file a personal injury claim if you received harm and can prove it.

Recognizing Food Poisoning as a Danger to Health

An infection that comes from bacteria, parasites, or viruses in the food you eat can cause a foodborne illness. Some chemicals may cause it too. Food poisoning occurs to about 48 million people each year. More serious than one may think, food poisoning results in an estimated 128,000 hospital visits and as many as 3,000 deaths annually. When you think about 1 in 6 Americans getting food poison every year, it can cause grave concern.

Not pleasant by any standard, food poisoning may cause discomfort for some people that lasts only a few days. However, the suffering that it imposes on hospitalized victims and their loved ones deserves compensation. When a restaurant fails to follow food safety practices, negligence can cause more than discomfort. These foodborne illnesses occur most frequently:

  • E. coli

The cause of about 75,000 people getting sick every year, E. coli hospitalizes almost 2,000 of them. Perhaps more well known than other foodborne illnesses, E. coli kills up to one hundred people every year. Caused by animal intestinal bacteria, it can contaminate meat, milk, fruit, and vegetables. Victims may have abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, dehydration, and other symptoms.

  • Salmonella

Another animal-based bacteria, salmonella causes symptoms similar to E. coli. Life-threatening experiences include more than two days of diarrhea. In addition, high fever, severe dehydration, vision loss, and difficulty speaking may occur.

  • Botulism

Usually coming from improperly canned vegetables and juices, botulism can require hospitalization. In addition, the disease can impact the body’s nervous system.

  • Listeria

Science regards listeria as one of the deadliest foodborne illnesses, and it comes from unpasteurized dairy products. Some deli meats may contain it too. The infection poses a higher risk for certain groups of people. Someone who has listeria can have convulsions, headaches, confusion, and a loss of balance. Unborn babies and newborns may die from the infection. Anyone who has a weakened immune system may need hospital treatment.

  • Hepatitis A

A restaurant worker with Hepatitis A can infect food by touching it with bare hands. Undercooked shellfish provide a frequent reason for getting infected. Symptoms requiring medical attention include yellowing skin and eyes, fatigue, abdominal pain, appetite loss, and nausea.

Understanding How Food Poisoning Happens

While disgusting to think about, foodborne illness comes from the unsafe handling of food. When restaurants fail to practice food safety, germs thrive in the kitchen’s workspaces. Food poisoning may occur from these unsafe practices:

  • Food prep workers’ unwashed hands
  • Unclean utensils or cutting boards
  • Inadequate refrigeration
  • Untimely thawing of frozen goods
  • Unwashed fruit and vegetables
  • Raw seafood
  • Lack of pasteurization
  • Undercooked meat or fish

Coping with Foodborne Illness

Medical treatment for food poisoning can give you a reason for a personal injury lawsuit. Food poisoning usually comes on quickly, and your body responds right away. You can lose fluids and electrolytes, which causes dehydration. Your doctor can provide treatment for the effects that most victims experience.

The National Institutes of Health lists replacing lost fluids as the best treatment for a foodborne illness. However, your doctor’s written record of your treatment provides valuable evidence. It shows the harm that you felt because of the negligence of others.

A medical diagnosis of food poisoning and lab tests can provide vital evidence. While some people recover without injury, the viruses and bacteria in food can produce dire outcomes. Results may include paralysis, liver damage, brain infection, and other conditions that can cause death.

Deciding to Sue a Restaurant for Food Poisoning

The harm you suffer from eating contaminated food can make you want to sue a restaurant for personal injury. When you decide to take legal action, you can do some things to support your case. Symptoms begin to show up within a few hours in some cases. Others take a day or two to appear. A visit to your primary care professional as soon as you notice any problem with how you feel provides an excellent first step. A medical record gives your case vital evidence of the damage a restaurant caused you to suffer.

  • Keeping a Log of Meals and Snacks- While your doctor records your diagnosis and treatment, you can create a log that describes what happened to you. Starting with the date and time when you had the meal that made you sick, write down when your symptoms began. You may notice some effects within six hours, while some cases may require up to 48 hours. Either way, note anything else you ate before symptoms appeared. If you can remove any other cause of your illness, it may help to pinpoint the actual source.
  • Counting the Unpleasant Experiences- Food poisoning can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. However, many other conditions present the same symptoms. A description of specific, unpleasant issues may show the severity of your foodborne illness. A record of each visit to your doctor and the number of days in hospital helps build a case for legal action. The details of the terrible days you experienced can help provide a basis for compensation for your suffering.

Choosing Effective Legal Guidance

At Dash Injury Law, you can receive a free consultation with a caring attorney who understands your pain. We believe that justice requires compensation for injuries that a restaurant’s negligence caused. You do not pay any charges until we resolve your case through a court judgment or a settlement with the at-fault party.