Florida Food Poisoning

Just how safe is the food you eat? Despite federal regulations and local inspections, more and more people across the nation are contracting food poisoning from foods tainted with E-coli, salmonella, and other types of contamination. If you have contracted food poisoning, it is important to get prompt medical treatment. An experienced Florida Personal Injury Lawyer in this field will advance the costs and expenses necessary to successfully litigate these cases.

Types of Food Poisoning

You can contract food poisoning from food or beverages served at a fast food shop or an elegant restaurant, from fresh produce you prepare yourself, or from packaged foods. Food poisoning can be caused by a wide range of bacterial and viral pathogens, parasites, chemicals, and toxins, including:

• E-coli
• Hepatitis A
• Norovirus
• Salmonella
• Listeria
• Campylobacter
• Calicivirus, or Norwalk-like virus
• Giardia lamblia
• Cryptosporidia
• Cyclospora
• Clostridium botulinum (causes botulism)

A knowledgeable Florida Injury Attorney in the Food Poisoning Claims subject will assist you to successfully litigate these cases.

How an Outbreak Happens

Food poisoning can be caused by food handlers who are infected with a communicable disease or who do not wash their hands adequately after using the bathroom. Leaving foods at room temperature, failure to wash a knife or cutting board between uses and other food handling errors can cause some types of food poisoning. Produce can become contaminated if it is irrigated or washed with water containing human or animal waste. A skilled Florida Attorney in the Food Poisoning Claims area will fight for you.

Harmful contaminants can be added during the manufacturing process. For example, diethylene glycol, a poison used in antifreeze, was added to tooth paste and melamine, an ingredient normally used in plastic manufacturing, was used in pet foods manufactured in China. An experienced Florida Lawyer in this topic will fight and fight and fight for you.

Food Poisoning Statistics

Food poisoning is widespread and can be extremely dangerous. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that 76 million cases of foodborne disease occur each year in the United States. Foodborne illness results in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually. The elderly, infants, and those with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to food poisoning. So are healthy people who are exposed to a very high dose of a toxic organism.

Common Symptoms

Food poisoning can cause a broad array of health problems, including liver and kidney disease. However, diarrheal illness is perhaps the most common symptom. In food poisoning cases, diarrhea can be accompanied by:

• High fever (101.5 or higher)
• Blood in the stools
• Vomiting
• Dehydration

Food Poisoning in Restaurants

Restaurants are subject to strict federal and state regulations. Despite these, incidents of food poisoning in restaurants continue to happen many on a very large scale. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as many as 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses occur each year in the United States. These cases are related to many different kinds of sanitation problems and bacteria, including E. coli and salmonella.

Sadly, the people most affected by restaurant food poisoning are already some of society's most vulnerable: children and the elderly, whose bodies are not equipped for the tough job of fighting off an E. coli infection.

If you have suffered a serious illness as a result of food you ate at a restaurant or purchased from a retailer it is important to talk with a lawyer about protecting your rights. A lawyer can give you guidance, including preserving evidence such as the product that poisoned you. The restaurant owner should be held responsible for your illness. A professional Florida personal injury attorney in this field will advance the costs and expenses necessary to successfully take legal action for you.