What Should I Do if I Got Sick After Eating Out?

If you are severely ill or if your symptoms persist, you should contact your physician. In most cases, medical tests must be conducted to confirm the specific cause of the food-borne illness. Contact the food service establishment and advise them of your concerns.

Most restaurants will have a Disclosure or Food Advisory of some sort on their menu. It will usually look like:

*These items are cooked to order. Consuming raw or undercooked foods can increase your likelihood of foodborne illness, especially if you have underlying medical conditions.

There should be an asterisk (*) or some indicator of the menu items that could be served raw or undercooked (burgers, eggs), or which have the potential for foodborne illness or allergy risk (fish, dairy, etc).

Contact Delta County Health Department, (970) 874-2165, to file a complaint, or fill out the Restaurant Complaint Form and return it to the Environmental Health Division, 255 West 6^th Street, Delta, Colorado 81416. The staff will request information detailing with what foods were eaten, when they were eaten, when the symptoms started, if others are ill with similar symptoms, and a 72-hour meal history.

Temporary Events

If you want to serve food at a festival, fair, or fund-raising event, you are required to obtain a Retail Food Establishment License. Your facilities for preparing, storing and serving food must meet the requirements of the Colorado State Retail Food Establishment Regulations.

You must fill out and submit an Application for a Temporary Food Service Establishment to the Health Department at 255 West 6^th Street, Delta, Colorado 81416.

Tax-exempt and charitable organizations are exempt from licensing if they serve food on less than 52 consecutive days in any given year within the county in which the organization is located.

Preventing cross-contamination is one step to help eliminate food- borne illness. Cross-contamination of food is a common factor in the cause of foodborne illness. Foods can become contaminated by microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) from many different sources during the food preparation and storage process.

Understanding Cross-Contamination

Cross-contamination is the contamination of a food product from another source. There are three main ways cross-contamination can occur:

• Food to food
• People to food
• Equipment to food
• Food to Food

Food can become contaminated by bacteria from other foods. This type of cross-contamination is especially dangerous if raw foods come into contact with cooked foods. Here are some examples of food-to-food cross-contamination:

• In a refrigerator, meat drippings from raw meat stored on a top shelf might drip onto cooked vegetables placed on lower shelf.
• Raw chicken placed on a grill touching a steak that is being cooked.
• People to Food

People can also be a source of cross-contamination to foods. Some examples are:

• Handling foods after using the toilet without first properly washing hands.
• Touching raw meats and then preparing vegetables without washing hands between tasks.
• Using an apron to wipe hands between handling different foods, or wiping a counter with a towel and then using it to dry hands.

Equipment to Food

Contamination can also be passed from kitchen equipment and utensils to food. This type of contamination occurs because the equipment or utensils were not properly cleaned and sanitized between each use. Some examples are:

• Using unclean equipment, such as slicers, can openers, and utensils, to prepare food.
• Using a cutting board and the same knife when cutting different types of foods, such as cutting raw chicken followed by salad preparation.
• Storing a cooked product, such as a sauce, in an unsanitized container that previously stored raw meat.

Preventing Cross-Contamination

Follow these steps to prevent cross-contamination and reduce hazards to food:

• Wash your hands thoroughly between handling different foods or after using the toilet.
• Wash and sanitize all equipment and utensils that come in contact with food.
• Avoid touching your face, skin, and hair or wiping your hands on cleaning cloths.
• Store foods properly by separating washed or prepared foods from unwashed or raw foods.
• Try preparing each type of food at different times, and then clean and sanitize food contact surfaces between each task