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With all the rich and different festive foodstuffs available, it is little wonder that a bout of sickness and diarrhoea is common in many households in December but, depending on the source and the severity of the illness, there may be some victims who will be thinking of making a Christmas food poisoning claim once they have recovered.
The first area of risk is the office party or celebratory meal, particularly if outside caterers are used to bring food to the work premises.
Not only are there likely to be plenty of hidden germs in areas which are not usually used for food preparation, storage and serving but transporting the ingredients for a sumptuous buffet could well put the party guests at risk of ingesting bacteria.
One would hope any delivery or serving staff will be well-versed in hygiene regulations with scrupulously clean hands, but in an unfamiliar environment in may be difficult for them to maintain usual standards.
Reheating food, especially meats such as chicken, can often be a problem area where bugs including the potentially dangerous e-coli can proliferate because the heat has not been sufficient to kill them.
Some of the favourite ingredients of Christmas dinners can be quite potent harbourers of salmonella, which can be particularly harmful to children, elderly people and anyone with a compromised immune system or some underlying medical conditions.
Under-cooked meat and fish can be a risk
Seafood, such as prawns or salmon, must be cooked well and kept thoroughly chilled in order to be safe to eat. The main danger of bacteria proliferating is if they are left in a warm place, for example, on a serving area.
Similarly, raw poultry – turkey, chicken and goose – almost always contains harmful bacteria which must be killed by bringing to a high internal temperature (50C/130F) and kept at that level until cooked all the way through. Pork, too, must not be served pink.
Mixing uncooked and cooked meat is another recipe for potential Christmas food poisoning and subsequent ill health, which can be a risk in both domestic and commercial situations.
Although many victims of illness suffer as a result of the actions of staff in shops, restaurants or catering businesses, it is equally possible for an infection to be passed on because of poor hygiene practices in someone's home.
If a restaurant or other trader can be proved to be at fault in providing food which is unfit for human consumption, then compensation for personal injury may well be payable to the sufferer. It is important that the local authority environmental health officers are informed of a potential problem as soon as it arises both to prevent further occurrences of infection and to collect evidence of the circumstances.
Solicitors for a Christmas food poisoning claim
Bacterial stomach infections are unpleasant for anyone and can cause long-term problems for some susceptible people; if you are one of those, you may be eligible to make a Christmas food poisoning claim because you have been made ill by the negligence or actions of someone else.
Pain, suffering and loss of earnings can all be taken into account by a personal injury solicitor when he is assessing the merits of a compensation case.
If you would like YouClaim to give you legal advice or act on your behalf, you can be sure of the best professional attention from our experienced and sympathetic lawyers.
What's more, by using the no win no fee system, you can be assured that every penny of damages won will be directly passed to you without deduction.
It's easy to find out more about how we can help with a Christmas food poisoning claim so don't delay, contact us through the website or call us now on 0800 10 757 95
