Salt Lake Valley Health Department
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Report a Foodborne Illness
To report foodborne illness (food poisoning), call 385-468-8888 or email this completed form as an attachment to FoodborneIllness@slco.org. You may also request that an investigator contact you so you can provide the necessary information verbally.
Why should I report foodborne illness?
Your report helps us identify foodborne illness outbreaks in Salt Lake County and prevent the spread of illness to others.
What information do you collect?
Foodborne illness often occurs 1 to 3 days after eating contaminated food. We’ll collect information about your symptoms, the foods you ate and where and when you ate them in the 3 days leading up to your illness. This will help define the pathogen involved. All information we collect is confidential.
Common foodborne pathogens and how long they take to make you sick:
|
Pathogen |
Incubation Period |
| Bacillus cereus (toxin form) | 30 minutes to 6 hours |
| Staphylococcus aureus | 30 minutes to 8 hours (usually 2-4 hours) |
| Bacillus cereus | 8-16 hours |
| Clostridium perfringens | 8-22 hours (usually 10-12 hours) |
| Salmonella | 6 hours to 3 days (usually 24-36 hours) |
| Shigella | 1-3 days |
| Norovirus | 1-3 days |
| E. coli | 1-9 days (usually 24 hours to 3 days) |
| Campylobacter | 1-10 days (usually 2-5 days) |
What happens after I report?
Epidemiology staff will investigate and, if appropriate, forward your report to environmental health staff responsible for inspections.