Nelson: Always report food poisoning to authorities

What can an Athens-area citizen do if he suspects he has gotten food poisoning from a restaurant he has eaten in?

Recently, an Athens Banner-Herald editor received an e-mail from some friends - two couples - who thought they had gotten food poisoning from eating raw oysters at a local restaurant and wondered if the newspaper had heard similar reports. The editor also heard from another friend who claimed to have gotten sick from eating a sandwich at the same restaurant.

Despite some efforts to find others who might have had a similar unfortunate experience, we were unable to determine if this was a consistent pattern at the eating establishment.

Sarah Peck, public information officer with the Clarke County Environmental Health Department said her office had not gotten any complaints from the public regarding bad oysters or food poisoning cases at any restaurant in town.

Peck did, however, offer some suggestions for what people should do if they ever think they have gotten food poisoning from a local eatery.

If you think you have eaten something that has given you food poisoning, you can file a complaint against the restaurant or at least voice concerns by going to the Northeast Health District's website, www.publichealthathens.com and clicking on the yellow oval marked food-borne illnesses. More specifically, the Web address is publichealthathens.com/ food-borne_illness.htm.

There you can access a health department form and fill it out, Peck said. The person can fill out the form anonymously or he can include a name and address. Contact information is more helpful, though, Peck said.

Those without computer access can call the Environmental Health Services part of the Clarke County Health Department, which is part of the Northeast Georgia Health District. The number is (706) 583-2658.

The health department encourages people who experie