Potential food poisoning alert.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

My roomate got home and started vomiting. It looks like food poisoning, though he has not called a doctor. He had Eggs Benedict at Soundbites in Ball Sq for lunch. Any other cases of food poisoning there? We like the place, but obviously we'll stay away for a while.

Comments

[mderidder.livejournal.com]

I've been served practically raw french toast there, but noticed before I ate it.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I really would not go casting aspersions on a restaurant based on such limited evidence. A stomach virus can incubate for weeks -- he could have been infected with something a week ago and it's just bad timing/coincidence that the symptoms hit him just after eating the eggs. Also, there are plenty of other things it could be other than food poisoning or a virus. (gall bladder, my personal bugaboo....)

Anyway, hope he feels better soon.

That's why I'm asking if anyone else has experienced something similar

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

after eating there...

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Actually, not really. If you leave a restaurant and feel sick soon after, there's over a 90% chance it is food poisoning/improper food handling/etc. (according to a Johns Hopkins study about a decade ago).

I agree with that...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

The time between eating to vomiting was about 4 hours. That seems a little too short for salmonella. But there are other bacteria or viruses with 1 to 3 hours incubation periods. Hopefully it's something mild.

Re: I agree with that...

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

The last time I had (presumed...) food poisoning there was also about a 4 hour incubation window. 24 hours and one trip to the ER for fluids later, I was okay. Hope your roommate feels better soon.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

if you suspect food poisoning, contact the Board of Health. If they get other reports, they can investigate.

Good tip. Thanks.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

...

[mrboboto.livejournal.com]

I eat out a lot, and if I never went back to any of the places that have made me puke I'd have very limited options.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

One thing--before you very possibly libel a local restaurant with a post that will be around and searchable well beyond the range of a stomach bug, maybe you could get this checked out by a physician? Not trying to be nasty, but you did say you he had not had medical treatment.

word

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

this is why over on chowhound posters are not permitted to write about instances of 'food poisoning' and the like. It's very difficult to prove and is libelous to boot.

[wench33.livejournal.com]

I had eggs benedict there on the 25th around 3 in the afternoon. I was off-feeling Thursday night, but then woke up at 6:30 AM Fri and spent the rest of my day throwing up and I was crampy/sick until around Monday night.

But really there has been a nasty stomach bug going around the Boston area so it could have been that as well.

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

I went to ZingsWings this eve (I think that's what it's called now; used to be called Sound Bites Pizzeria and Grill (across from the brunch place)--run by the same folk. I got wings there and 1 or 2 seemed a little too pink...the rest seemed fine (no cope to return them, and really, the rest were fine). I think they basically do a decent job with food prep, though if I ordered wings again I think I might ask them to cook them a bit more than they usually do...

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

There's so much norovirus around right now that my first thought wouldn't be food poisoning. But whatever it is, I hope your friend is feeling better very soon!

[sungold123.livejournal.com]

I'm neutral as far as Sound Bites goes, but just a little egg knowledge...

You're always at a slight risk of salmonella if you're eating undercooked eggs. Poached eggs are usually slightly undercooked, and hollandaise sauce is made with raw eggs. Maybe try scrambled next time?

[read-w.livejournal.com]

The egg yolks are cooked in hollandaise, though it takes a careful cook to heat them high enough to kill salmonella (150°F) but not so high as to set. Straight egg yolks at this temperature will set, but when they're mixed with lemon juice, as in hollandaise, the setting temperature goes up a lot. The acid from the lemon juice also means that you can keep hollandaise at its holding temperature (about 110°F) without growing nasties in it.

But I'd be surprised (and impressed) if they're making real hollandaise—it's a lot of work and not easy to keep for hours.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

Another tip: I don't know firsthand, but have been told that it is difficult to diagnose Food Poisoning with any degree of certainty. I believe that you basically have to analyze a sample of the vomit.
Nasty, I know, but just a heads up!

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Suprised this post wasn't about Golden Light!

Never been there.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Did you have a bad experience at Golden Light?

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Just to add to the general grossness, I recently had a conversation with a friend who got her MPH last year. She commented that if you get sick shortly after eating, and you're pretty sure it was the food, it was most likely fecal contamination. Things like salmonella and the like take longer to gestate. With the time frame given, it may have been unclean hands (your friends or the servers/cooks/etc) that were the culprit, not undercooked eggs.

Food for thought... if you feel like eating anytime soon, that is.

[ralla-del-sol.livejournal.com]

I once read that the #1 food you should never order out is hollandaise sauce as it is has a very short storage life and is nearly impossible to guarantee freshness. Sorry to hear your roommate was so sick :(