poison or paranoia?

Not sure, but think I might have been poisoned. The only other time was ten years ago. I was in Mut, an Oasis in Egypt's Western Desert and I ate at one of the only two restaurants in the Oasis. (fittingly, I think it was mutton) I woke up a couple of hours later, felt like crap, vomited a few times, but was ok the next morning.

Before and since, I've eaten in a multitude of dodgy places, from roadside stalls in rural Vietnam to marketplaces in Malawi and Morocco and a hundred places in between and never been struck down. I even came out unscathed when practically every tourist in the village succumbed in Turkey. (Well, they would eat all choose to eat at the town's only 'Englische' restaurant!) However, it seems, that in Brisbane, Australia, my good fortune has come to an end. My previously iron stomach has succumbed to a bout of suspected food poisoning. I say suspected, because to be fair, I'm not sure, but I've never, ever had a gastro bug in my life.

It's remarkably difficult in a country with some of the strictest libel laws in the world, to actually prove anything. The burden of proof is on the sick person- they need to notify Queensland health immediately, provide stool samples, which will be cross checked with food from the restaurant. It's an expensive process and ultimately, does it really achieve much?

If I thought that this place I picked it up, which has a good reputation was likely a serial offender and had I been sicker than I am, I might do something about it. If I could be bothered going to the doctor or paying their extortionate fees that is.

All it takes is one mistake-one worker not washing their hands properly or leaving the chicken out to defrost too long or cross contaminating something though and if people are more motivated than me to do something about it, it can be the end of a business.

With our new 'name and shame' laws, if a business CAN be proven guilty of not taking undue care resulting in customer illness, they can be named here http://www.health.qld.gov.au/industry/food/prosecutions.asp
Thus far, it seems it's only a single one who've been taken all the way- been found guilty, fined and prosecuted.
They stay on the file for two years, the business gets its name taken off.

I have to feel sorry for this particular restaurant, Harem. I drive past it often and I think times have been very tough for them- it looks to me like they have had a lot of quiet times, after being pretty popular before. They're still hanging in there though.

Anyway, it's day four, and after a night and day of vomiting, and a couple of days of nausea, I figure that whatever it is, gastro or mild case of food poisoning, it's helped shed a couple of much needed kilos.