# Almost instant food poisoning? Had to be...but how? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481 "2008-10-25T05:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/21 "2008-10-26T03:42:58Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > And you didn’t realize there was a problem until you SWALLOWED? Wow. Well, it smelled good after I stuck it in the microwave and I didn’t notice the small amount of mold until afterwards. It did taste strange at the first bite, but I had topped the dog with mustard, relish and onions. I was visiting my father’s house and thought it was the generic brand mustard that tasted bad. It was during the second bite that it really tasted bad, but I swallowed anyway. I figured, hey, cheap mustard ain’t going to hurt me. Just a few seconds later it felt like someone punched me in the gut. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/22 "2008-10-26T04:16:11Z")
I was once at a conference and had breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. Waffles and sausage. After eating, I sat down for the symposium and five minutes into it, became horribly and violently ill. I was so sick I wished for death. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/23 "2008-10-26T05:08:47Z")
There are a lot of vague terms being bandied about in this thread. I have had a violent reaction to spoiled food in as little as 15 minutes. If “having a violent reaction to spoiled food” works as a definition of “food poisoning,” as I suggest it does, then there are some terms to be defined and agreed upon in this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/24 "2008-10-26T05:57:53Z")
[quote=“1920s Style “Death Ray”, post:2, topic:469481”] The food had been sitting in an Esky [/QUOTE] What the hell is an Esky? ---
**Author:** ![Bravo\_Romeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bravo\_Romeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bravo_Romeo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/25 "2008-10-26T06:13:04Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > What the hell is an Esky? An “ice box”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/26 "2008-10-26T06:24:40Z")
> [@Hyper Aware](#): > > An “ice box”. OK, that’s the name my grandmother used for a refrigerator. But unless it was unplugged or otherwise not working, how would 6 hours of refrigeration let food get spoiled? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/27 "2008-10-26T07:18:20Z")
It’s not a refrigerator, it’s a simple insulated box that will keep food or drinks cool for a while. [Esky - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esky) In a previous life I would’ve called it a “chilli bin”. ---
**Author:** ![mampdx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@mampdx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mampdx)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/28 "2014-05-29T04:20:13Z")
As I have, most unfortunately, discovered on four occasions (involving, in order, shrimp, swordfish, tuna, and a Caesar dressing with anchovies), there is actually one type of fish- and seafood-related food poisoning where symptoms can start to appear as early as _5 minutes_ after consumption: acute histamine toxicity. Evidently, it’s often confused with seafood allergies, but the most common cause – and what felled me each time – is inadequate refrigeration or spoiled fish. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481/29 "2014-05-29T14:11:03Z")
Six years later, the OP is still puking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-instant-food-poisoning-had-to-be-but-how/469481.md?page=1)