When good picnics go bad…

If you want to protect your picnic against a foodborne illness invasion, you’ve got to know what you’re up against. Nothing captures the charm of summer quite like a picnic in the great, green outdoors. The classic combination of sunshine, fresh air, good food and good company is just about unbeatable. But don’t let that carefree picnic attitude fool you – a picnic gone bad will never be forgotten. I thought nothing was more tragic than a picnic spoiled by rain. Today, I know that avoiding rain is as easy as watching the weather forecast. The real spoilers at summer picnics are food poisoning and foodborne illnesses. Silent and invisible to the naked eye, they hide in your wife’s potato salad. They lurk in your neighbor’s barbecued chicken. Without gathering thunderclouds or any clue to warn you and your guests of the impending disaster, it’s up to you and the chef to protect yourself, your family, your unsuspecting neighbors and your trusting coworkers from the worst fate to befall a picnic — a bacterial invasion.

A survivor’s tale

At the time of her food poisoning experience, patient was 13 years old and enjoying herself at her family’s annual summer picnic by the lake. Out to have a good time she played Frisbee with her brother, kicked her cousin’s soccer ball into the lake and made several return visits to the buffet line. Sound like the makings of a treasured childhood memory? Well, it would have been — if not for the potato salad. The buffet line, which had been set up on a couple of picnic tables at 11 a.m., remained open through the most sweltering noontime hours and into the late afternoon. And thought to bring several coolers packed with ice for the cheese, mayo, meat and drinks, the potato salad sat untended at the front of the line. Loaded with eggs and mayonnaise, the potato salad was her favorite, and she made sure to grab a helping of it each time she went back to reload her plate. Although she’s much older now, her memories of the ordeal are still quite vivid.

"She started feeling sick toward the end of the picnic, and, before she knew it, she was seriously ill – vomiting, diarrhea, you name it. She was so miserable and embarrassed." As would be expected of a food poisoning case such as this, she was not only one who got sick. Shortly after she reached the safety of the latrine, her aunt and two cousins were banging on the door. Though she’s been struck by food poisoning once since then, she views her picnic episode as the "worst possible food poisoning scenario." The other time she was fortunate enough to be in the privacy of her own home, not out in the middle nowhere fighting her aunt and cousins for the port-a-potty. That’s something she won’t have to do again. That’s also the reason potato salad is no longer her favorite picnic treat.

False alarm? Or the real deal?

Not all instances of food poisoning or foodborne illness as obvious as her. In fact, many isolated incidents of food poisoning are mistaken for 24-hour bugs or brief episodes of the stomach flu. Often, several people ingest the same infected dish, but only one person becomes ill. The attack rate is hardly ever 100 percent. Usually, about one-third of the guests are affected, so it’s not unusual for a few diners to get sick and others not. We’re all sensitive in a different way. Patients often have difficulty understanding how their dining companions could have eaten the same meal they did but come out unscathed. "If you and three of your friends, for example, are exposed to someone with viral disease, you’re not all going to get it." Following this logic, if you and your family all eat from the same contaminated casserole, perhaps only one of you will get sick. And what can you do if you suspect that you’re suffering from a foodborne illness? Not much. In the typical kind of poisoning that might come from summer picnic food, you’re sick for 24 hours or less and that’s the end of it. There’s really no treatment. In other words, once you’ve got it, you’ve struck with it until it’s done with you – an unsettling prospect for those of us who demand antibiotics at the first sneeze. Your only real weapon is to combat dehydration by keeping up your liquid intake.

There are, however, certain signs that you might have encountered a more formidable foe than the usual 24-hour invader. Diarrhea, nausea and vomiting are to be expected, but if you experience bloody bowel movements, a high fever or severe abdominal pain, a trip to the doctor is in order. Medical attention may also be required in cases involving people with weakened immune systems, such as the elderly, the very young or a person with AIDS. (To be continued)