Food Poisoning

[Butterflyaway]

I am not sure exactly where to put this, or even if it should be on a forum.

I would like to ask if any member had food poisoning yesterday/today?

Please reply here if you did, but do not mention the shop, restaurant, bar or wife's name, where you believe the problem started.

From 20:30 last night I have had the worst food poisoning ever. Vomiting every hour and then it started coming out the other end. It has now been 15 hours and it has started to slowly improve.

I have my suspicions where it started, but I would like you to PM me, so as not to cause unnecessary speculation.

I cannot narrow down the location as yesterday I travelled between Catalkoy and Karsiyaka!

If the mods feel this topic should not be here, please feel free to delete it.

Thank you.

[brianc]

we had a terrible food in one of the small cafes in the middle of Girne two weeks ago, we tried but refused to eat it , the owner wanted to charge the full price, we did not pay.

the next day we complained about it to the Girne Health departments (Naile, the boss) with the name of the place , where it is , what we had.

The departments is situated near the police station in Girne, opposite the Baris park.

[Dalartokat]

Food poisoning takes 48 hours to come out, so where you were yesterday does not necessarily follow that it was that establishment, what you ate prior to that also should be investigated as well as the fluids you took also. Not always simple to define.

[Johnny Lee]

Sorry you are wrong, Food poisoning can have dreadful effects within a few hours. Have you ever been muscled. It is rapid and in most instances around 6 to 8 hours.

[TB10pilot]

If you Google food poisoning, you will read that it can start within a few hours and also within a few days!

[Heaven]

It could be a stomach bug as my husband and I have both been unwell since last night. I feel nauseous and have had bad stomach but not actually sick. My husband has had bad stomach which started 4 this morning. Hope you are feeling better

[johnny1]

food poisoning needs about 7 hours,..so you can always tell where you got it from.

[karmels]

Butterflyaway.
In which area would you put your suspicions for the problem.
I ask this as it may help those who ate out yesterday to give you an answer.
I would not ask you to name any restaurant for the reasons you have already quoted.
As for Dalartokat statement about food poisoning I would suggest she sticks to the money program, food poisoning could strike after just two hours depending on the strain of bacteria that is present in the food.
I hope you both have a fast recovery, it is very unpleasant.

[Butterflyaway]

Thanks for the replies.

Things are a little better, but no appetite. Have not been out.

My suspicions, if I assume my problem started some time yesterday, are as follows:

1. A well known pork counter at a supermarket that sounds like Tesco.
2. A lesser known eaterie, that specialises in home cooked Turkish food very near Unwins.

These are only my suspicions. I only post in case someone else is is the same situation and visited either of the places mentioned above.

I cannot say with any degree of certainty, it was either of them. I have never had an issue with either establishment.

[ham on brown]

Personal hygiene can also be a cause, campylobacter can be passed from animals as well. Dogs cats and farm animals etc. bit of info here http://www.patient.co.uk/health/campylobacter-leaflet. There's nothing worse than the shits,hope you can flush it out soon

[Dalartokat]

See that Karmels is his usual rude self. I suppose we are now going to hear how long he has lived in NC blah blah blah..........

It depends on whether the poisoning comes from a bacteria itself or from the toxins within the bacteria. The toxin type may take only a couple of hours to show up with cramping, nausea, and vomiting. The bacterial type takes longer, as it usually moves through the entire gastrointestinal system and the germs multiply. This would take 24 - 48 hours after ingesting.

If you ate fish, shell fish it is a different matter and would be instant. As Ham on Brown has pointed out also hygiene is also important.

If people don't pursue any further by telling the authorities and taking samples you will never know.

[Johnny Lee]

I ate a seafood breakfast In Makro Halesowen in 1976 at 10,00am, by 12.15 noon I was very very ill on a drip in Dudley Guest Hospital. I had been muscled, that's what the tests showed ( a dirty muscle). I have not eaten one since. Yet the strange thing is by 10.00pm, the same evening I was OK and eating a Chinese Curry.

Also here in TRNC many many bars wash glasses in cold water, How many bars etc. have proper glass or dishwashers. I have been appalled at what I have seen here , I got dreadful poisoning and fairly certain it came from drinks in a bar in Lapta strip that has since been taken over.

To wash dishes etc. and Glasses and kill the germs and bacteria the water should be to hot to wash by hand.

Also Ice ???? how many bars have proper Ice machines ? even in the UK many of the pubs and clubs etc. when tested the machines did not meet the requirements of cleanliness.

Its a mine field' lets not forget the 3 or 4 people a few years back who got served the poisonous fish and by the time they got back to their hotel I believe almost paralysed and close to death.

I think I will stick to eating at home it's cheaper ,better and clean

[Heaven]

A word of advice. Don't eat salads at restaurants. I have watched salad produce delivered here and chefs cut them up and serve them without washing them. I learned the hard way after going to a very well known chain of restaurants in LefkoŞa. I ate the salad! I was so ill as I developed an amoebic parasite and was on strong pills for 10 days. IF any stomach bug carries on to the next day PLEASE take a stool sample down to the local lab for testing. Sterile urine pots can be purchased from the chemists and just place a stool sample in it. The cost of testing is nothing and results back same day unless they think a culture is needed. Puts your mind at rest and well worth it. Campylerbacter etc can be picked up.

[Dalartokat]

I ate a seafood breakfast In Makro Halesowen in 1976 at 10,00am, by 12.15 noon I was very very ill on a drip in Dudley Guest Hospital. I had been muscled, that's what the tests showed ( a dirty muscle). I have not eaten one since. Yet the strange thing is by 10.00pm, the same evening I was OK and eating a Chinese Curry.

Also here in TRNC many many bars wash glasses in cold water, How many bars etc. have proper glass or dishwashers. I have been appalled at what I have seen here , I got dreadful poisoning and fairly certain it came from drinks in a bar in Lapta strip that has since been taken over.

To wash dishes etc. and Glasses and kill the germs and bacteria the water should be to hot to wash by hand.

Also Ice ???? how many bars have proper Ice machines ? even in the UK many of the pubs and clubs etc. when tested the machines did not meet the requirements of cleanliness.

Its a mine field' lets not forget the 3 or 4 people a few years back who got served the poisonous fish and by the time they got back to their hotel I believe almost paralysed and close to death.

I think I will stick to eating at home it's cheaper ,better and clean

Agree with what you have said, hence also why I said in my posting about intake of fluids being checked. This is why most people now use straws. Would never have ice in drinks and go along with Heaven's reply on salads.

How many of you have gone out at lunch time had a drink and lunch, got back home and gone out again at night, maybe for evening meal and a drink. It's not that simple to say what you ate last was the cause of your upset. Whether people like it or not, there are many people who do not wash their hands after using facilities, they push a door and contaminate the door plate and it's a circle. That's why Heaven said get a sample tested and if nothing else, at least you are not accusing the wrong people.

How many of you test the bottle tops on water you have in restaurants and cafes, to check the seal hasn't been broken, it could be filled with tap water.

[muzza]

Dalartokat is correct regards seafood, whilst back in the UK a few years back I went to a curry house & ordered a Prawn Curry, I was lucky to have made it home about an hour later before it started.
It was coming out of both ends , it was a good job the sink was next to the toilet.
I was ill for 3 weeks & lost nearly 2 stone in weight, needless to say I have never had a Prawn curry since.
Food poisoning can happen anywhere, & I sympathise with anybody who contacts it.

[Barney]

People associate food poisoning with food that smells "off", that's not the case. spoilage bacteria will not necessarily give you poisoning. Probably the most important factor that one should consider is how the food is stored. it should either be refrigerated or kept hot enough to kill harmful bacteria, Food kept warm for a few hours, if infected, is the most dangerous. If you see a food handler rubbing his/her face, mouth or nose then he's a bl...dy amateur in my opinion, avoid the premises. Everyone in the food handling business should have to pass a basic food handlers course - but of course they don't. The onset of symptoms is dependent on which bacteria caused the problem, something to do with endotoxins and exotoxins produced by the bug I believe.

[karmels]

Dalartokat.

My knowledge of food poisoning comes fro 50 years in the food industry also I am a city and guilds master chef, I do not post anything in regards to money as I haven't a clue, and yes I have lived in Northern Cyprus for a very long time BLAH BLAH, not in the UK like you. I am probably old enough to be your grandfather, God help the thought.

[Jonnie]

There is so much miss-info in this thread. The only way you can tell what you have is to have it tested. Simple. Food poisoning can come on very quickly, the most simplest, Staph Aureus can come on with in 1-3 hours but you recover from it quickly. Bacteria that have produced toxins can also effect quickly depending on how much toxin they produce and how much the consumer consumes.

Like I said it you want to know what you have have it tested, once you know that you may be able to deduce how you acquired it.

[Johnny Lee]

In a nutshell ,It can start within the hour of consumption and the affects can possibly last a life time ,or even result in death. We refer to it as Food poisoning but contaminated drinks can be just as evil.

But hopefully most of us will just have a bad case of the Eartha Kitts, stomach cramps, sickness and a few other nasty's'

Enjoy your meals out today, don't forget to ask them how they wash their dishes and glasses etc and did the chef wash his hands after using the loo and also think about he fact that certain religions don't use toilet paper.

The only place in TRNC that I have had drinks served on a regular basis and the glass as still been hot from the glass washer is the Merit Royal Casino.

So god only knows how the smaller bars etc. wash their glasses to the required standard.

[muzzamint]

When I arrived here in Jan 2014 I had a meal in Belapais tuna salad to be precise. I felt ill and was ill for over a week but as I had a friend staying I didnt do anything about it. Eventually I ended up in hospital after a test showed that I had picked up a parasite. I was on antibiotics for two weeks and have not eaten a salad at a restaurant since.

[frontalman]

After 11 years of eating seafood, salads, curries and basically everything else all over North Cyprus, my name must be Lucky because I've never had a twinge! Could be because I've developed a tolerance after sampling the wife's offerings One thing I will say though, be careful of ketchup, mayonnaise, etc. this time of year - if it's already opened or nearly empty, it may have been sitting in a cupboard, unrefrigerated through the winter, just a thought.

[Heaven]

Ha ha Frontalman, you better hope your wife didn't see that comment or you can expect the biggest case of food poisoning ever!!!! One of the major problems with us from England is that we had so much shoved into tap water to kill bugs, so many antibiotics, so many rules about hygiene that our bodies struggle with any contamination! Having said that there should certainly be more hygiene taught to some restaurants here. You say about ketchup etc. how often are salt and pepper pots cleaned that they put on tables. Some look really grotty and I have watched cats on the table licking them! But we soooo love Cyprus and wouldn't live anywhere else!

[waddo]

And a few thoughts for all of those who live here for a while then go elsewhere for another period: Do you empty your freezers when you are going away, throw out all your ketchups and mayo etc before you leave, empty and clean out your cold water machines and kettles as well? How many people "regularly" empty their top 1 ton water tanks and use the normal 1 or 2 ton bottom tank to make sure the water is always fresh and clean? How often do you get your aircon checked and cleaned out before using it for heating in the winter? Throw away your old toothbrush when you go away for a while, buy a new one when you get back? There are so many different ways you can pick up a bug - direct from the handle of the super market trolley to the nose you scratch next! - that it becomes a case of Howard Hughes unless you are prepared to be a little cautious and think before you do things. Only had food poisoning once here in over 14 years and for sure that was just a case of bad frozen squid but I still eat squid even though it took me many years to try it again. Be safe out there.

[Groucho]

Not sure you can rely on the bottom tank being fresh and clean either... it's often been sitting just as long as the top tank and when it starts filling up it will be water that's been sitting in the pipes for yonks too! There isn't much logic in running 'fresh' water here unless it's passing through a microbiological filter.

[Butterflyaway]

Update:

Now my wife has it!

Possibly caught off me, she has in the past caught my hay fever

However, there was one thing that we ate about 36 hours apart. Exactly the same time difference between our bouts of food poisoning.

So, this points, but I make no accusations, that this could be the ham that was bought in the supermarket with the name that sounds like Tesco. It might also be a coincidence, but the lady serving me, did suggest I try the new arrival, which I did, then bought 0.5kg's.

I remember it was about 45tl per kilo, so it was not a cheapo.

[Brend]

It could also mean that she has caught a bug off you.
Brend

[Heaven]

Butterflyaway. If you bought this ham from the supermarket that also used to have gourmet after the name then let me tell you that after going once for ham I never did again as they used the same slicer for cooked and uncooked meat! That is a big no no. However I hope your wife gets better soon. Also I went to buy some of the packeted chorizo and parma ham to find they were all out of date, so reported it to manager who had them all removed from the cooler.

[Groucho]

I'm a bit perturbed by the proximity of cooked and uncooked meats and in particular pork in some establishments - this needs to be sorted pronto. Food hygiene standards are for safety not fun and never should the two types of foodstuff share the same air-space let alone share a slicer - although I'm struggling to imagine what uncooked meat you slice on a bacon slicer in any of the shops here. I like escalopes but would not use a cooked meat slicer even for that... hand-cut and beaten thin is best.