Online reports worry eateries

Crowdsourcing and social media have become new tools to fight foodborne illness, but restaurateurs and consultants worry it could be dangerous to stake the reputation of a restaurant on online reports.

Florida’s state investigators are tracking reports of food poisoning both on Twitter and from an up-and-coming website called Iwaspoisoned.com, where anonymous users report their own cases of illness tied to restaurants. Some reports on that website have contact information for the person reporting the illness, but others don’t.

Online reviews have been a force in the restaurant industry for more than a decade, and some say this new attention to food borne illness could hold restaurants more accountable when unsafe practices lead to illness. But restaurant owners and consultants say its too easy to make false, uneducated or even malicious food poisoning accusations.

Foodborne illness hits about 48 million people a year in the U.S. and results in 3,000 deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But it’s also grossly underreported. Only 123 people in Central Florida reported foodborne illness outbreaks in 2015, the latest year for which data is available, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Iwaspoisoned.com founder Patrick Quade said hewants to make it easier for the public to track cases of foodborne illness.

“I built it as a public service,” said Quade, who is based in New York City. “Iwanted to give people a way to find out if others were getting sick at restaurants.”

In July thewebsite helped uncover a confirmed norovirus case at a Chipotle restaurant in Virginia, a story that gained national interest and the highest-profile case for the 8-year-old site.

Restaurant owners and managers say they have been fighting a public relations battle for years with review and social media websites. They have had to learn how to respond to posts on Facebook and negative reviews on Yelp.

Florida Department of Health spokeswoman Mara Gambineri said the agency follows up with social media reports of foodborne illness when possible. However, most complaints are still initiated through phone calls, she said.