Food poisoning vs. the flu: How to distinguish between the two

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While respiratory infections are now receiving a lot of attention (and with good cause), you could also be suffering from a stomach bug.


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, millions of instances of gastroenteritis, sometimes known as stomach flu, are reported each year. We frequently hear alerts about outbreaks of listeria, E. coli, and salmonella, all of which can result in food poisoning.

How can you differentiate them?

The first significant distinction is that whereas food poisoning is brought on by bacteria in incorrectly prepared or stored food, stomach flu is brought on by a virus (the norovirus, not the influenza virus). However, when you start to feel ill, that won't assist you distinguish between them.

The symptoms of both stomach flu and food poisoning are perplexingly similar, including diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, chills, fever, and stomach discomfort, according to the CDC.

Symptom categories might not vary considerably, but symptom onset does. When compared to stomach flu, which often takes one to two days to develop, food poisoning typically manifests itself within a few hours.


Why are there currently so many illnesses?

According to Donald Ford, chairman of Family Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, "most individuals don't have any trouble thinking back to what they've just eaten and realising maybe that egg salad was sitting out for too long."

If multiple people are feeling sick two to six hours after eating together, that’s a sign it’s food poisoning, said Ford. With stomach flu, which can spread person-to-person, you may start to feel ill 12 to 48 hours after seeing someone who was infected.

With stomach flu, most people start to feel better in one to three days, says the CDC.

For food poisoning, the CDC recommends seeing a doctor if you have severe symptoms, including bloody diarrhea, fever above 102 degrees, frequent vomiting, dehydration or symptoms lasting more than three days.

In both cases, the sickness often runs its course on its own with rest and hydration.

Fluids are especially important, said Ford. “When your body is trying to get rid of what’s in there, it’s going to throw out the good with the bad. It’s pushing out a lot of fluid along with the toxins that are making you ill. You have to be super aggressive about replacing them.”

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