# Is it possible to have a "touch" of food poisoning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234 "2011-05-09T04:22:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/1 "2011-05-09T04:22:41Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![blood63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@blood63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blood63)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/2 "2011-05-09T17:00:05Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/3 "2011-05-09T17:09:03Z")
> [@blood63](#): > > Are you sure it wasn’t an allergic reaction or something you ate earlier? No. Other than dairy I have no food allergies. Besides, this happened to almost everyone at the table. An allergy wouldn’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/4 "2011-05-09T17:22:01Z")
sounds like the classic symptoms of norovirus. It just isn’t norovirus unless it’s firing out both ends, simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/5 "2011-05-09T17:56:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/6 "2011-05-09T18:26:29Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/7 "2011-05-10T00:15:19Z")
B. cereus sounds plausible. Been there, shat that. Staph toxin produces more vomiting than intestinal distress. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/8 "2011-05-10T00:55:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/9 "2011-05-10T03:15:01Z")
> [@Amblydoper](#): > > 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: ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/10 "2011-05-10T23:59:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/11 "2011-05-11T00:22:55Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > The onset, IMO points to a toxin, not bacteria or virus. We’d need an autopsy to be certain. Can somebody please kill **pkbites** and bring him to a hospital for tests? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/12 "2011-05-11T02:42:42Z")
According to Google Translate: _Scheißen Sie meine Darm draußen_ = “You shit out my intestines” ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/13 "2011-05-11T03:08:20Z")
Pending anyone who can properly speak German: _Scheißt Ich meine Darm draußen!_ ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/14 "2011-05-11T03:39:16Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > Pending anyone who can properly speak German: > > _Scheißt Ich meine Darm draußen!_ Well, that’s a relief! ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/15 "2011-05-11T04:27:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/16 "2011-05-11T06:26:22Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > My guess: OP & wife got food poisoning from a common source. Bathroom stunk to high heaven, making the others sick.:eek: 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. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/17 "2011-05-11T06:59:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/18 "2011-05-11T14:39:54Z")
OK, I know who isn’t allowed to bring food to a dopefest. ---
**Author:** ![skearton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@skearton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skearton)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/19 "2011-05-11T14:45:21Z")
Did the bird have a high grease content? Did he inject it with any flavoring? Some of those oils seem to go through me pretty quick without fail. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234/20 "2011-05-11T15:07:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, it’s easiest/best to spatchcock that bird. I think that’s illegal in most states 😃 Yeah, open the bird up so it gets exposed to heat all around. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-touch-of-food-poisoning/581234.md?page=2)