Have the food poisoning gods smiled on me?

September 17, 2009 9:35 AM

ShouldIEatIt Filter: We both ate the same thing. He threw up, I'm fine. Is it OK to eat the leftovers?

Last night my boyfriend and I had pulled beef sandwiches. The beef was cooked for 10 hours in a slow cooker, and was used before the "Use Or Freeze By" date on the package. It smelled fine when raw, no gray spots or anything.

I had one sandwich, my boyfriend ate two and a half (a normal amount for him). No snacks before bed. He woke up around 3 AM and puked intermittently for about two hours. He's feeling better now, if a bit weak. I'm totally fine and haven't been nauseous.

It's possible it was something he ate for lunch, but it seems weird that the effects would be so delayed, yet brief. I always thought the "slow-acting food poisoning" that takes 12+ hours to set in, is the kind that really floors you for days. He was very hungry when he got home and didn't feel sick at all.

It was a LOT of beef, about 3 pounds, and we have a ton of leftovers. Of course he can't stand to even look at it, but is it safe for me to eat, or was I just lucky?

posted by castlebravo to Food & Drink (24 answers total)

but is it safe for me to eat,

It didn't kill him, so go for it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:36 AM on September 17, 2009

Eat it.
posted by KateHasQuestions at 9:38 AM on September 17, 2009

There are dozens and dozens of different types of food poisoning and some of them can take a week or more to affect a person. It's pretty unlikely that the beef was the culprit, so I'd eat it.
posted by TungstenChef at 9:40 AM on September 17, 2009

Why would you eat it? Is there a chance that you might become affected? Then don't eat it. There are other sources of food out there.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:44 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yeah, sounds like the time from ingestion to onset of nausea was too brief for the beef to be the culprit. Eat it. In front of him. With clownishly exaggerated "Mmm-mmm, yummy!" expressions.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:45 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Of course you should throw it away.


lol 'eat it'....
posted by Zambrano at 9:45 AM on September 17, 2009

No gray spots doesnt mean anything. A lot of supermarkets use the shady practice of using carbon dioxide to turn the meat read again and change the date on the meat.

If he got sick from it then I wouldnt eat it. I would seriously think about not shopping at the store you got it.
posted by majortom1981 at 9:50 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Odds are he ate something else that made him ill. I had a bad case of food poisoning once mere hours after eating at a Thai restaurant with other people, none of whom became ill despite sharing the same dishes. I still don't know what I ate to make me ill, but I did avoid Thai food for a long time, due to good old Sauce- Bearnaise Syndrome. Luckily, I got over it.

Enjoy your nice, slow-cooked beef. If you're REALLY paranoid and/or feeling really generous and empathetic, freeze it, wait out any possible symptoms on your part, and enjoy it again together next week.
posted by maudlin at 9:51 AM on September 17, 2009

Go for it.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 9:52 AM on September 17, 2009

110% eat.
posted by The Straightener at 9:53 AM on September 17, 2009

I'm glad you clarified what you meant by 'leftovers'. Eat it if you think you'll enjoy it.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:56 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

No gray spots doesnt mean anything. A lot of supermarkets use the shady practice of using carbon dioxide to turn the meat read again and change the date on the meat.

If he got sick from it then I wouldnt eat it. I would seriously think about not shopping at the store you got it.

What? It isn't even clear that the beef was the culprit. Leave the grar-grar food inc. stuff at home.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 10:07 AM on September 17, 2009 [2 favorites]

Could be a flu bug, in which case you'll throw up next week.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:14 AM on September 17, 2009

The onset times for common types of food poisoning suggest that it could be something he ate days ago. If you want it, eat it.
posted by somanyamys at 10:16 AM on September 17, 2009

Why tempt fate? Go to McDonald's or something.
posted by nomad at 10:24 AM on September 17, 2009

Might not have been the food. Might have been a greasy fork or something else.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 10:30 AM on September 17, 2009

Good lord don't eat it.

is this all the food you have?

memail me and i will send you food.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:39 AM on September 17, 2009 [3 favorites]

Pulled Beef Sandwiches . . . slow cooked for 10 hours . . . eat it! Even if it makes you sick it will be worth it.
posted by Sassyfras at 10:49 AM on September 17, 2009

People on AskMe are bizarre sometimes. Is there a risk of going hungry if you don't eat this? If not, don't eat it.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 10:54 AM on September 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yeah, sounds like the time from ingestion to onset of nausea was too brief for the beef to be the culprit. Eat it.

It's pretty unlikely that the beef was the culprit, so I'd eat it.

What? It isn't even clear that the beef was the culprit

I suppose, rephrasing my question: do you want to prove an interesting point about likely causality and the probability of the source of your boyfriend's sickness, or would you like to minimize the risk of getting sick? I know my answer.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 10:58 AM on September 17, 2009

For some reason I can't load the OP's profile right now, but here in Ohio/the rest of the midwest, there's some pretty crappy flu-y things going on right now with lots of puking (I had it, too). I'd eat it.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:03 AM on September 17, 2009

Response by poster: Update: No, we're not desperate for food, but slow cooked beef is soooooo good and I hate to throw out two pounds of it. I'm in Minnesota and one of my coworkers was out yesterday with a 24 hour bug, so maybe there's something going around.

I'm going with the "freeze it and wait" suggestion. Our wedding is next week so I need to be paranoid and not risk it, although I do think the beef is safe. This isn't the first time we've consumed the same food and he's puked while I'm fine. I'll spray down the apartment with Lysol just to be careful, and try eating it again after the honeymoon. Thanks everyone!
posted by castlebravo at 11:16 AM on September 17, 2009

Last time I got food poisoning, my mother and I both had the same food and only I got sick from salmonella. If I were you, I wouldn't chance it. You got lucky.
posted by cmgonzalez at 4:41 PM on September 17, 2009

This sounds pretty off the wall but it could be gallstones or gallbladder related: symptoms. The sign of an attack is usually (always?) abdominal pain but can include nausea and vomiting, almost always happens at night and often after a fatty meal. Since you didn't mention pain it seems unlikely but I thought I'd throw it out there. When it happened before do you know if it followed a fatty meal? In any case it may be something to check up on with a doctor if it happens again.
posted by 6550 at 9:40 PM on September 17, 2009