My wife and I had supper at my Sister and Brother-in-Laws house tonight for Mothers Day. Whole chicken (made on a smoker) 7 layer salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, 3 bean salad. My B-I-L and my wife have a little rivalry when it comes to cooking. I’m reaping the benefits of it!:);)!!!
Everything was excellent. But about 20 minutes into dinner I felt very sick to my stomach. Like I was going to freaking puke! I ran into the bathroom. I didn’t puke but I did
Scheißen Sie meine Darm draußen! !!!
And then felt fine.
About 10 minutes after I exited the bathroom the same thing happened to my Sister. 20 minutes later the same thing happened to my Niece. Then my Mother (who did in fact, throw up.), but afterwards felt normal.
On the way home my Wife felt sick and I had to pull over to a gas station so she could empty her bowels (emergency style!) and then felt fine.
Everyone felt okay after their little “episode”.
WTF?
I’ve had food poisoning before but it didn’t just attack quickly and then go away. I was sick for at least several days afterwards.
Is it possible to have just a “touch” of food poisoning?
I did an experiment the other day involving steak.
It was a very good and expensive steak and I knew that it had be thawed far too long. I smelled it and it was the slightest bit off. I cooked it anyway and did an experiment by having two small bites.
Later in the night, I could feel my stomach churning and all through the next day I felt the slightest bit sick.
That’s a touch of food poisoning.
Normally, food poisoning takes a few hours to kick in.
Are you sure it wasn’t an allergic reaction or something you ate earlier?
Yup, food poisoning. There are different kinds of food poisoning: Some kicks in almost immediately, and some starts 4-6 hours later. Either kind can have a broad range of severity.
About the quickest onset of food poisoning due to an infectious agent is a half hour (usually several hours) for Staph aureus. Bacillus cereus food poisoning can hit within a couple of hours. 20 minutes is really pushing it for an infectious agent and/or its toxin, but there are of course non-infection-related toxins that can cause food poisoning symptoms.
And yes, food poisoning can vary widely in symptoms and duration, depending in part on how much you eat and the level of involvement/contamination of food.
One near-certainty – this wasn’t norovirus, which can potentially cause symptoms 12 hours after exposure, more commonly a day or more. And I haven’t heard of someone just having a passing episode of nausea with norovirus and feeling fine almost immediately.
You and your wife may have gotten food poisoning from some source, and the other family may have gotten it from another source. It could be coincidence that the symptoms from the two sources presented at similar times. Also possible would be if all of you shared a meal between 12 and 24 hours earlier. However, you are reporting different sets of symptoms. Most people logically connect the last thing eaten with the onset of food poisoning, but that’s not usually the case.
Correct.
I must have missed the 20 minute figure. But what are the odds of two families that know each other getting sick together?
My guess: OP & wife got food poisoning from a common source. Bathroom stunk to high heaven, making the others sick.:eek:
It could have been a toxin rather than an infectious agent. What was used in the smoker? Also, there may have been some bacteria that was killed off, but left a toxin behind. The onset, IMO points to a toxin, not bacteria or virus.
Were there pre-dinner drinks or appetizers, a raw vegetable platter perhaps? Commercial ice or ice made in an icemaker? Though a 20 minute interval is possible for food poisoning, I’d be more suspicious of something consumed a couple of hours before the dinner that just happened to “kick in” after you all began dinner.
Food poisoning symptoms can be contagious. But the whole chicken cooked on a smoker makes me suspicious. That’s an excellent way to promote bacterial growth in the interior of a chicken. I smoke a lot of things, but for chicken it has to be cut up, and cooked hotter and faster than other fowl or meats.
Yeah, it’s easiest/best to spatchcock that bird, but I’ve never had any issues with smoking a whole chicken at 225 until cooked through. (Although I now prefer smoking at higher temps to get better, crispier skin.) That said, if one of the foods in the OP were responsible for the apparent poisoning, that’d be my number one suspect.
But the whole chicken cooked on a smoker makes me suspicious. That’s an excellent way to promote bacterial growth in the interior of a chicken. I smoke a lot of things, but for chicken it has to be cut up, and cooked hotter and faster than other fowl or meats.