Environmental Health works closely with colleagues at NHS Ayrshire and Arran to investigate confirmed cases of food and water-borne illness.
Food poisoning is most often caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or water containing harmful bacteria or viruses.
Symptoms of food poisoning
Symptoms can include:
- nausea and vomiting
- diarrhoea
- stomach cramps
- fever
These symptoms can also be caused by non‑food-related illnesses.
How long symptoms can last
It can take days, sometimes weeks before you get unwell. The length of time your symptoms will last will also depend on the type of food poisoning you have.
Food poisoning may affect one person or a group of people, depending on whether they have eaten the same contaminated food and their individual susceptibility.
Most people recover within a few days, although some may experience more severe symptoms.
Norovirus
Norovirus, also known as the winter vomiting bug, is the most common cause of stomach and gut upset in the UK.
Symptoms, such as nausea, projectile vomiting and diarrhoea, normally last between 12 and 60 hours, and most people make a full recovery within one to two days after the symptoms start.
Non-food borne illness
Non-food borne illness with similar symptoms can also be caused by:
- contaminated drinking water
- contact with animals and their young
Staying safe around animals
Be aware of good hygiene practices when visiting places with animal contact, such as at petting zoos, open farms and lambing events.
It's important to understand the risks and the steps you can take to stay safe.
Health and Safety Executive: Animal contact at visitor attractions or open farms
What to do if you think you have food poisoning
If you or someone else is suffering from symptoms related to food poisoning, or non-food borne illness it is essential that you contact your GP to submit a stool sample.
Hospital laboratories test all samples and if any notifiable organisms are present the results will be passed to Environmental Health for investigation.
Environmental Health investigations
If we receive a positive notification we will take details from you, including a history of food consumed over several days, to try to find out the source of the illness.
We also need to establish if you are likely to present a food poisoning risk to other people, for example, if you are a worker in a food business, you could inadvertently pass the illness on to others through cross-contamination of food products.