Food-borne illnesses can be hard to stomach

One of the most important things we did before opening A La Carte in 1986 was to take a course in health and sanitation at Orange Coast College.

Today, it is mandatory to have at least one employee in restaurants at all times who has completed this course and is certified. It was our good fortune that the class was taught by Bob Merriman, then the head of the O.C. Department of Health.

At first, we dreaded the idea of listening to lectures about cockroaches, cutting-board cleanliness and food-borne illness. As the class unfolded, we found ourselves enthralled. The stories our teacher told rivaled any drama on TV.

For instance, a group of people became ill after attending a picnic in the woods where they had not rented enough Port-A-Potties. There was a champagne fountain and a lot of drinking.

Due to the paucity, people were relieving themselves in the woods. Then, they returned to the fountain to replenish their drinks. It is the nature of these fountains that, in order to get a glassful, a person’s hands are often bathed in champagne, especially when one is already tipsy. The bacteria on the hands of the guests was being washed into the champagne and re-circulated.

The next day a lot of people became very ill. Only through extensive questioning and careful analysis was this mystery solved.

In Orange County, we are fortunate to have a very diligent health department that inspects restaurants every three months, although occasionally at A La Carte, when the department was overburdened, we didn’t see an inspector for six months because our record was excellent.

Despite this, over the years, we still had two complaints requiring the sanitarian to come for a surprise inspection — which we passed with flying colors. The department cannot let any complaint go unchecked.

At the shop, we were occasionally confronted with an angry customer who insisted that they had become ill immediately after eating our food.

This was always difficult to deal with because the person was usually upset and didn’t want hear a lecture on food-borne illness; but if you, dear reader, are not in the throes of intestinal distress, perhaps we can give you some information on the subject as well as some tips for prevention and, finally, how to report a restaurant if you have a legitimate claim to a food-borne illness.

Most people think that the meal that they just re-experienced so unpleasantly was the one that caused their illness.

Actually, very few cause symptoms before six hours and those that do tend to have the mildest symptoms; 12 to 72 hours after eating is more likely, especially if you have very serious symptoms and definitely so if you have a fever, which takes at least 24 hours to develop.

It takes 12 to 36 hours for the bacteria to multiply sufficiently to cause symptoms. Commonly, these symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps and sometimes fever.

Most illnesses come from poor hygiene and improper food handling. Both the restaurant and the customer can be responsible.

Restaurant workers and customers alike can contaminate food by not washing their hands thoroughly after using the toilet. The simple admonition to do so, in every restaurant bathroom, is still not taken seriously enough.

Meat, milk and eggs must be kept refrigerated. In two hours at room temperature harmful bacteria will grow on these foods at an alarming rate.

For this reason, doggie bags are one of the most common sources of food-borne illness. They sit on your table and then in your car and may not get into the refrigerator for who knows how long.

Another danger is cross-contamination of foods. Raw chicken juices can be a lethal weapon. Dripping onto a cutting board that has not been properly cleaned or not cleaned at all, they lie in wait for the next foodstuff to contaminate. Any raw food cut on this board and then eaten without cooking will cause illness within six to 72 hours.