In the past two decades Washington has been a hotspot for food-borne illness. It started in 1993, when E. coli-contaminated meat from Jack in the Box put Seattle at the center of one of the worst food poisoning outbreaks the country has ever seen. A decade later news of a Washington cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the first mad cow disease case in the country, again put Washington in the limelight for issues of food safety. And even in summer 2007, with the latest E. coli scare linked to beef from United Food Group, our state was one of several where people who had eaten the meat were diagnosed with E. coli.

Why is Washington at the forefront of food-borne illness?

“I think part of it is bad luck,” says Bill Marler, whose years as one of the nation’s leading food-borne illness litigators make him an expert in the matter. “It’s a combination of bad timing and a good health department.” Other people in other states get sick, but Washington is able to diagnose and pinpoint the sources of illness more effectively, he says.

How do you know if your food made you sick?

Diarrhea? Fever? Abdominal pain? It could be the flu. It could also be campylobacteriosis, the most common bacterial food-borne illness. Usually only 3,000 cases are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annually, but many more exist. Estimates are that between two and four million cases occur in the United States each year. They could come from undercooked chicken, shellfish, mushrooms, or eggs. In most cases, the disease will take two to 10 days to show up, and should last no more than a week.

Though it’s the most common, there are others to look out for, including E. coli, botulisim, and Listeria. These diseases can cause long-term complications, and sometimes even kill. If you see blood in your stool, have double vision, droopy eyelids, and/or trouble speaking or swallowing, seek help immediately.

If you think your food made you or your family sick, the USDA has this advice:

1. Save the evidence. If a portion of the food is available, wrap it up and freeze it. Save all the packaging material and cartons. Note what type of food it is, the date, the time you consumed it, and when you started feeling sick.

2. Seek treatment. If the ill person is a young child, elderly, pregnant, or has a weakened immune system, seek medical care immediately. Also, if the symptoms are severe or prolonged, contact a doctor.

3. Report the illness. If you suspect the food served at a restaurant or large gathering was tainted, or if the tainted food is a commercial product, call the local health department or your county health agency. A list of Washington county agencies is available on the Washington State Department of Health Web site. 

“Most people who get a food-borne illness never figure out what it is that made them sick,” says Marler. Others who have their suspicions often fail to act. “The only way to change bad food-service behavior is to catch it,” says Marler. “It’s the only way to loop back to the company and say, 'You did a bad thing.'”

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