The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates approximately 48 million people become ill from food-related diseases each year resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths.
Dr. Darrin Privett, an emergency room physician with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, comes on the show to discuss the best ways to keep food from spoiling and how to recognize possible food borne illness.
Selected Podcast
Important Ways to Prevent Food Poisoning
Featured Speaker:
Darrin Privett, MD
Dr. Darrin Privett has worked at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as an emergency room physician for nearly ten years. He is very active in the community and is a regular speaker at a number of community events, including the annual Water Safety Expo at the Santa Clarita Aquatic Center. Transcription:
Important Ways to Prevent Food Poisoning
Melanie Cole (Host): The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates approximately 48 million people became ill from food related diseases each year resulting in over 100,000 hospitalizations and as many as 3,000 deaths. My guest today is Dr. Darrin Privett. He’s an emergency room physician at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Welcome to the show. Dr. Privett, is there any way to prevent or avoid food poisoning?
Dr. Darrin Privett (Guest): Well, that’s a good question, right, because if we had a clear understanding to avoid something like food poisoning, then we’d do all that we could do to avoid it because no one ever wants to have severe vomiting or diarrhea. Certainly, when we go out and we eat at restaurants or various establishments, where we do eat, sometimes that can be difficult. Obviously, if we’re eating their food and if we see that the food potentially is uncooked or raw or not to our liking or has a different taste, I think first and foremost, you want to stop eating that particular food. And, obviously, if you’re at home, we just want to make sure that we can try to avoid eating certain foods that are raw, especially chicken, and make sure that all of our foods are properly cooked and, most importantly, always want to practice really strict hygiene.
Melanie: Are there certain foods that are more predisposed to causing food poisoning?
Dr. Privett: The most common that we see is particularly with chicken, and sometimes you worry about the development of bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Sometimes we can see that more prominently with chicken but it can happen with any particular food that can be soiled with bacteria, and so sometimes it’s hard to tell.
Melanie: What about things like spinach, e-coli? We’re seeing more and more with the vegetables--things that are coming in from other countries or you look at the bag of spinach and you see there’s some really dark nasty looking leaves at the bottom. Are those things susceptible to poisoning us or giving us food poisoning or is it just food that’s gone bad?
Dr. Privett: That is true, too. We see that a lot of times when people develop traveler’s diarrhea, sometimes that food can be contaminated with vegetables, particularly salads. Usually, if it’s washed properly with good filtrated water, that can avoid that. And so, there are some outbreaks that we do see with food that comes in from various countries, and so I think, obviously, if the vegetables or the salad in particular doesn’t look feasible and that doesn’t look edible, despite how hungry you are, you probably should avoid that. You always want to make sure that you rinse it and clean it properly, and try to wash away anything that could potentially be contaminated.
Melanie: So then, how would somebody recognize if they’ve been food poisoned versus the stomach flu which could happen to anybody at anytime? But, how do we know that it’s food poisoning?
Dr. Privett: Great question and, typically, whenever a patient comes into the emergency room complaining of symptoms suggestive of a food poisoning such as abdominal pain, primarily worsening nausea that causes multiple episodes of vomiting or diarrhea; sometimes they can have body aches, headaches, usually after the vomiting. And I tell them that sometimes it’s very difficult for us professionally to determine whether or not this is food poisoning or you might have a little viral syndrome that can cause similar symptoms. Typically, we try to ask direct questions that may be related to any episode where they might have eaten something recently but, for the most part, you can't really determine that unless we have a really spike in patients who come in and sometimes we can send off cultures. But, even then, those particular tests will come back in one or two days, particularly stool cultures. Sometimes we get notified by the CDC in our area where we practice, where we’ve seen an incidence or a spike of particular symptoms and/or if there is a particular culture that came back positive to be aware of certain outbreaks. And so, sometimes it’s really difficult clinically to determine that. The good thing is that whether it’s food poisoning or a stomach virus or stomach flu, typically, the symptoms, despite being very similar, the treatments are the same. So, sometimes it doesn’t really matter whether we try to determine that or not unless we have a surge in patients that come, and obviously in our community we want to determine if there is sometimes is an outbreak so we can make sure that the community is aware of that and then treat it appropriately.
Melanie: And, Dr. Privett, if you suspect that you have food poisoning, what are some of the treatments available, and when should you look to seeing a doctor about the situation?
Dr. Privett: Well, the good news, most of the time, your symptoms are mild and can improve without any specific treatment. However, sometimes, if the symptoms become unbearable and unrelenting, there is some treatment that we can do. Obviously, if you’re nauseous, we have some specific anti-nausea medication that we can stop the nausea and inhibit progression to vomiting. As far as the diarrhea goes, we typically try to avoid any type of anti-diarrheal agents. We want to let whatever is in your system get out of your system. And then, of course, we just want to hydrate you. So, we may specifically treat your symptoms that you’re having. There is the concept of basically whatever goes out of your system, as long as we can put it back in and balance that equation out we’re okay. Obviously, if you’re having diarrhea, that can be easier said than done because we can just try to hydrate you orally, and then try to advance your diet appropriately. Sometimes, obviously, if you’re vomiting, that can be more of a challenge because we have to stop the vomiting. I particularly tell patients that most of the time when we get sick to the stomach, we have few episodes of vomiting or diarrhea, we don’t necessarily have to run to the emergency room. Sometimes we can wait it out and let our stomach settle, and then once our stomach is no longer as nauseous, we can try to hydrate ourselves by starting out drinking some fluids, particularly some electrolyte rich fluids. There’s so many things in the market now that you just want to start out drinking some electrolyte rich fluids--try to rehydrate yourself. And then, once your stomach feels okay, you can start taking some edible foods, some types of foods that can buffer your stomach out. Particularly, we like to have crackers or bread or something that’s fairly mild—oatmeal--that can buffer the acidity in your stomach. And then, once you can tolerate that, then you can advance more appropriately. Sometimes, you get to the point where you just, you’re like a domino and once it starts to fall and you just get nauseous and start vomiting, you can't stop vomiting, and then you come to the emergency room, we have the medication that we can stop that cycle and stabilize you. And then, for the most part, sometimes, patients are surprised that when they come in, we don’t necessarily go right to an IV line. We can do that orally. There’s some anti-nausea medication, particularly Zofran, which is a dissolvable tablet which is great because now we can put that right in your mouth, let it dissolve. You don’t have to worry about swallowing it and starting to vomit. Once that gets into your system, then we can wait a little bit and then try to hydrate you again, and that’s pretty good. Sometimes, the vomiting just won't stop, and so in those cases where it becomes more marked severe in your symptoms, we can put an IV in and then hydrate you and get it to stop from there.
Melanie: Are there any over-the-counter medications like Imodium or Pepto-Bismol that you recommend trying in that case before they go off to the emergency room?
Dr. Privett: Yes, you can try taking those anti-diarrhea agents. It just depends on how your stomach. Sometimes it hard to tell because sometimes you start out with diarrhea and you’re not vomiting. That, obviously, is easier to treat, and so you can take those over-the-counter medications. Pepto-Bismol, ironically enough, is a great anti-diarrhea drug, and is one of the first-line treatments for traveler’s diarrhea that people can have. So, yes, you definitely can start with some of the over-the-counter stuff. Even if your stomach is starting to feel nauseous, you’re going to try and take some type of acid relief, or acid reducer like Pepcid or Prilosec or some type of TUMS to mellow your stomach. Meclizine is a great anti-nausea medication that third-world countries use. So, yes, there’s definitely some over-the-counter stuff that you can try to take before you run to the emergency room.
Melanie: To wrap it up, give us your best advice about the foods that you feel people should be a little bit more aware of that may be more susceptible to botulism, e-coli--just food poisoning in general--your best advice as an emergency room physician about food poisoning
Dr. Privett: I think the best way to prevent food poisoning is like we introduced at the beginning of this podcast is just to practice strict personal hygiene. And you want to make sure that you cook all you foods adequately. Try to avoid any type of cross-contamination of raw and cooked foods, and just make sure you keep all your foods at an appropriate temperature, and make sure that items that need to be refrigerated are, and that items that need to be eaten hot and cooked are as well. And when you’re eating food, particularly with your vegetables and your salads, just make sure that’s been properly cooked, and if there’s anything that looks visible--when you see your plate, you look at your food and something just looks amiss, it probably is and you probably want to make sure that you avoid that because you’re setting yourself up for the potential of developing food poisoning. And then, obviously, if you’re eating some type of chicken or other meats, and it doesn’t look completely cooked, then don’t eat it. There’s times that I’ve been at a steakhouse and I’ve ordered a particular steak the way that I like, and it comes back and it’s not the way that you want to eat it--it’s not cooked the way that you ordered it, and you lust look at yourself and you talk yourself into eating it. But, if it doesn’t feel right, don’t talk yourself into eating it. Make sure that you see those warning signs, take the appropriate precaution, and try to avoid your setup for developing food poisoning.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. What great information. You're listening to It’s Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. And for more information, you can go to www.henrymayo.com. That's www.henrymayo.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Important Ways to Prevent Food Poisoning
Melanie Cole (Host): The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates approximately 48 million people became ill from food related diseases each year resulting in over 100,000 hospitalizations and as many as 3,000 deaths. My guest today is Dr. Darrin Privett. He’s an emergency room physician at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Welcome to the show. Dr. Privett, is there any way to prevent or avoid food poisoning?
Dr. Darrin Privett (Guest): Well, that’s a good question, right, because if we had a clear understanding to avoid something like food poisoning, then we’d do all that we could do to avoid it because no one ever wants to have severe vomiting or diarrhea. Certainly, when we go out and we eat at restaurants or various establishments, where we do eat, sometimes that can be difficult. Obviously, if we’re eating their food and if we see that the food potentially is uncooked or raw or not to our liking or has a different taste, I think first and foremost, you want to stop eating that particular food. And, obviously, if you’re at home, we just want to make sure that we can try to avoid eating certain foods that are raw, especially chicken, and make sure that all of our foods are properly cooked and, most importantly, always want to practice really strict hygiene.
Melanie: Are there certain foods that are more predisposed to causing food poisoning?
Dr. Privett: The most common that we see is particularly with chicken, and sometimes you worry about the development of bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Sometimes we can see that more prominently with chicken but it can happen with any particular food that can be soiled with bacteria, and so sometimes it’s hard to tell.
Melanie: What about things like spinach, e-coli? We’re seeing more and more with the vegetables--things that are coming in from other countries or you look at the bag of spinach and you see there’s some really dark nasty looking leaves at the bottom. Are those things susceptible to poisoning us or giving us food poisoning or is it just food that’s gone bad?
Dr. Privett: That is true, too. We see that a lot of times when people develop traveler’s diarrhea, sometimes that food can be contaminated with vegetables, particularly salads. Usually, if it’s washed properly with good filtrated water, that can avoid that. And so, there are some outbreaks that we do see with food that comes in from various countries, and so I think, obviously, if the vegetables or the salad in particular doesn’t look feasible and that doesn’t look edible, despite how hungry you are, you probably should avoid that. You always want to make sure that you rinse it and clean it properly, and try to wash away anything that could potentially be contaminated.
Melanie: So then, how would somebody recognize if they’ve been food poisoned versus the stomach flu which could happen to anybody at anytime? But, how do we know that it’s food poisoning?
Dr. Privett: Great question and, typically, whenever a patient comes into the emergency room complaining of symptoms suggestive of a food poisoning such as abdominal pain, primarily worsening nausea that causes multiple episodes of vomiting or diarrhea; sometimes they can have body aches, headaches, usually after the vomiting. And I tell them that sometimes it’s very difficult for us professionally to determine whether or not this is food poisoning or you might have a little viral syndrome that can cause similar symptoms. Typically, we try to ask direct questions that may be related to any episode where they might have eaten something recently but, for the most part, you can't really determine that unless we have a really spike in patients who come in and sometimes we can send off cultures. But, even then, those particular tests will come back in one or two days, particularly stool cultures. Sometimes we get notified by the CDC in our area where we practice, where we’ve seen an incidence or a spike of particular symptoms and/or if there is a particular culture that came back positive to be aware of certain outbreaks. And so, sometimes it’s really difficult clinically to determine that. The good thing is that whether it’s food poisoning or a stomach virus or stomach flu, typically, the symptoms, despite being very similar, the treatments are the same. So, sometimes it doesn’t really matter whether we try to determine that or not unless we have a surge in patients that come, and obviously in our community we want to determine if there is sometimes is an outbreak so we can make sure that the community is aware of that and then treat it appropriately.
Melanie: And, Dr. Privett, if you suspect that you have food poisoning, what are some of the treatments available, and when should you look to seeing a doctor about the situation?
Dr. Privett: Well, the good news, most of the time, your symptoms are mild and can improve without any specific treatment. However, sometimes, if the symptoms become unbearable and unrelenting, there is some treatment that we can do. Obviously, if you’re nauseous, we have some specific anti-nausea medication that we can stop the nausea and inhibit progression to vomiting. As far as the diarrhea goes, we typically try to avoid any type of anti-diarrheal agents. We want to let whatever is in your system get out of your system. And then, of course, we just want to hydrate you. So, we may specifically treat your symptoms that you’re having. There is the concept of basically whatever goes out of your system, as long as we can put it back in and balance that equation out we’re okay. Obviously, if you’re having diarrhea, that can be easier said than done because we can just try to hydrate you orally, and then try to advance your diet appropriately. Sometimes, obviously, if you’re vomiting, that can be more of a challenge because we have to stop the vomiting. I particularly tell patients that most of the time when we get sick to the stomach, we have few episodes of vomiting or diarrhea, we don’t necessarily have to run to the emergency room. Sometimes we can wait it out and let our stomach settle, and then once our stomach is no longer as nauseous, we can try to hydrate ourselves by starting out drinking some fluids, particularly some electrolyte rich fluids. There’s so many things in the market now that you just want to start out drinking some electrolyte rich fluids--try to rehydrate yourself. And then, once your stomach feels okay, you can start taking some edible foods, some types of foods that can buffer your stomach out. Particularly, we like to have crackers or bread or something that’s fairly mild—oatmeal--that can buffer the acidity in your stomach. And then, once you can tolerate that, then you can advance more appropriately. Sometimes, you get to the point where you just, you’re like a domino and once it starts to fall and you just get nauseous and start vomiting, you can't stop vomiting, and then you come to the emergency room, we have the medication that we can stop that cycle and stabilize you. And then, for the most part, sometimes, patients are surprised that when they come in, we don’t necessarily go right to an IV line. We can do that orally. There’s some anti-nausea medication, particularly Zofran, which is a dissolvable tablet which is great because now we can put that right in your mouth, let it dissolve. You don’t have to worry about swallowing it and starting to vomit. Once that gets into your system, then we can wait a little bit and then try to hydrate you again, and that’s pretty good. Sometimes, the vomiting just won't stop, and so in those cases where it becomes more marked severe in your symptoms, we can put an IV in and then hydrate you and get it to stop from there.
Melanie: Are there any over-the-counter medications like Imodium or Pepto-Bismol that you recommend trying in that case before they go off to the emergency room?
Dr. Privett: Yes, you can try taking those anti-diarrhea agents. It just depends on how your stomach. Sometimes it hard to tell because sometimes you start out with diarrhea and you’re not vomiting. That, obviously, is easier to treat, and so you can take those over-the-counter medications. Pepto-Bismol, ironically enough, is a great anti-diarrhea drug, and is one of the first-line treatments for traveler’s diarrhea that people can have. So, yes, you definitely can start with some of the over-the-counter stuff. Even if your stomach is starting to feel nauseous, you’re going to try and take some type of acid relief, or acid reducer like Pepcid or Prilosec or some type of TUMS to mellow your stomach. Meclizine is a great anti-nausea medication that third-world countries use. So, yes, there’s definitely some over-the-counter stuff that you can try to take before you run to the emergency room.
Melanie: To wrap it up, give us your best advice about the foods that you feel people should be a little bit more aware of that may be more susceptible to botulism, e-coli--just food poisoning in general--your best advice as an emergency room physician about food poisoning
Dr. Privett: I think the best way to prevent food poisoning is like we introduced at the beginning of this podcast is just to practice strict personal hygiene. And you want to make sure that you cook all you foods adequately. Try to avoid any type of cross-contamination of raw and cooked foods, and just make sure you keep all your foods at an appropriate temperature, and make sure that items that need to be refrigerated are, and that items that need to be eaten hot and cooked are as well. And when you’re eating food, particularly with your vegetables and your salads, just make sure that’s been properly cooked, and if there’s anything that looks visible--when you see your plate, you look at your food and something just looks amiss, it probably is and you probably want to make sure that you avoid that because you’re setting yourself up for the potential of developing food poisoning. And then, obviously, if you’re eating some type of chicken or other meats, and it doesn’t look completely cooked, then don’t eat it. There’s times that I’ve been at a steakhouse and I’ve ordered a particular steak the way that I like, and it comes back and it’s not the way that you want to eat it--it’s not cooked the way that you ordered it, and you lust look at yourself and you talk yourself into eating it. But, if it doesn’t feel right, don’t talk yourself into eating it. Make sure that you see those warning signs, take the appropriate precaution, and try to avoid your setup for developing food poisoning.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. What great information. You're listening to It’s Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. And for more information, you can go to www.henrymayo.com. That's www.henrymayo.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.