How long before food poisoning symptoms show up?!


Question:

How long before food poisoning symptoms show up?

My friend has just eaten some frozen food that was apparently defrosted by mistake and left in the freezer overnight and then turned back on, so the food was then re-frozen. She's just eaten it and is panicking in case she gets food poisoning. How long before symptoms should show up? What can she do if she starts vomiting, etc?


Answers:

By now your friend would probably have forgotten all about her re-frozen pizza, but here's some info for you anyway
Onset of food poisoning symptoms can be anywhere from 1-2 hours to a day or so. This is because the symptoms could be produced by the toxins made by bacteria, or by the bacteria themselves. Toxin-mediated food poisoning is generally much faster and more dramatic. Rehydration is the key; if she can't keep stuff down at all, has severe abdo pain or if there's blood etc, she should head straight to the hospital. By the way, frozen food is generally OK to be refrozen ONCE if it's been kept at refrigerated temperatures (i.e. if the temperature does not reach a level at which bacteria can multiply). So if the freezer was incompletely defrosted and the compartment was kept closed, she would probably be OK! (I hope so!)




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