What to do if you get food poisoning on holday

The UK has one of the highest-regulated food industries in the world with more than 150 regulations on our food, but holiday makers may learn that that not all countries have the same stringent standards.

It’s estimated that hundreds of British tourists suffer from food poisoning while on holiday each year. For instance, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported that between January and July in 2023, there were 93 confirmed cases of salmonella poisoning linked just to holidays in Türkiye.

And according to NHS data reported in The Guardian, admissions for salmonella infections between April 2022 and March 2023 in England reached an all-time high.

While many Brits think of food poisoning as just a short-term inconvenience, it can have serious long-term effects.

In some cases, salmonella infection can cause the development of reactive arthritis, which can last as long as 12 months after first getting infected. And for young babies or those with weak immune systems, complications can be serious. It can lead to kidney damage, meningitis, or even brain and nerve damage.

If you suspect that you may have contracted food poisoning while on holiday, these are some important steps to take.

Follow NHS guidance

The NHS website is a great source of information that you should refer to if you're ill while you're on holiday. Their guidance on food poisoning outlines the symptoms you can expect and advises that you drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.

Visit a doctor or hospital as soon as possible

Tests will need to be run to give you a proper diagnosis and find out the type of food poisoning you have. Some forms of food poisoning can be more serious than others.

Ideally, you should have stool samples and blood samples taken before you receive any kind of medication as this can affect your test results and make it difficult to trace the origin of your food poisoning.

Keep safe any documentation relating to doctors appointments or hospital stays and any prescriptions you are given.

Kara Gammell, MoneySuperMarket's finance expert, says:

"You may have a stronger case to make a claim for compensation with a diagnosis from a UK doctor. While you should certainly seek medical attention as soon as possible if your symptoms are severe, it's worthwhile to get tested for food poisoning again once you return to the UK, even if you were first diagnosed abroad. This extra confirmation can support your case if you are seeking compensation from your holiday provider, or your travel insurance if you had to cancel the rest of your trip."

Inform your insurer/ tour operator

If you have travel insurance, you should contact your insurer as soon as possible for them to approve your treatment if you need to visit the hospital or a doctor while you're abroad.

It's best to get approval from your insurance provider before any treatments to confirm that your insurance will cover it, but in an emergency this is less important. What matters most is that you let them know about your diagnosis and the treatments you receive while abroad.

If you have a package holiday, you should contact your tour operator and let them know you are being treated for food poisoning, even if your symptoms start after your return home.

Document everything

While it's still fresh in your memory, you need to document as much as possible over at least the last 6 days, including:

• Any hotels you have stayed

• Any places you have eaten. It's also useful to keep receipts to prove that you visited these places

• Everything you have eaten within a two to three day period of your symptoms

• Photograph any potential food safety hazards, like unhygienic kitchens or unsafe food storage practices

• Your diagnosis from a medical professional and any treatment or medication you've been prescribed

• The details of and statements from any other people with similar symptoms. Other holiday-goers can be contacted later to provide statements to support your claim if they got food poisoning from the same place that you did.

Make a claim

To claim on your travel insurance for cancelled travel plans or emergency repatriation, follow the guidance outlined in your policy documents.

Most travel insurance providers have online claims forms you can access through their website where you need to fill out the details of your claim and give your supporting evidence, but some may still require you to make a claim by post.

For more information on making travel insurance claims, you can check out our travel insurance claims guide.

If you are seeking compensation from your holiday provider, you should follow their complaints process, which can be typically found on their website. You may not be required to give all of your supporting evidence upfront, but more than likely you will be contacted later to provide it once an investigation has been opened.

When pursuing compensation from a holiday provider, you also may be asked to complete a CRU1 form from the Department for Work and Pensions. UK businesses that receive a personal injury complaint are required to notify the DWP.

This is so they can assess any benefits or NHS treatments you have received in relation to your case, which the business will need to backpay to the DWP if your claim is successful.

Important things to know

The symptoms of food poisoning might not present themselves right away. It can sometimes take days or even weeks for food poisoning symptoms to start after you've eaten contaminated food, which means you can't always be sure where you got it from.

Sometimes people don't experience food poisoning symptoms until after they've returned home from their holiday, but that doesn't mean you should take it any less seriously or avoid going to a doctor.

Food poisoning is a notifiable disease in the UK. To reduce the spread and pinpoint the cause, cases of food poisoning should be reported to the UK Health Security Agency, which is done by a registered medical practitioner.

The UKHSA last year reported a number of cases of gastrointestinal illness in travellers returning from Türkiye, which resulted in warnings being added to FCDO's travel guidance. So, reporting can help other travellers avoid these risks.

Even if you didn't catch food poisoning in the UK, going to a doctor and notifying the UKHSA of your diagnosis can help them identify food poisoning risks and issue warnings.

For more information about travel and food poisoning, you can check out our research into 'The best and worst airline food' and our article 'How can insurance help with food poisoning'.