食(しょく)あたり

食(しょく)あたり refers to illness from eating contaminated or spoiled food. It is an everyday term used in casual and general contexts, as opposed to the more formal medical term 食中毒(しょくちゅうどく).

Common patterns

• 食(しょく)あたりになる: to get food poisoning
• 食(しょく)あたりを起(お)こす: to come down with food poisoning
• 食(しょく)あたりにあたる: not used — the verb あたる is already in the word

Symptoms

Common symptoms include 吐(は)き気(け) (nausea), 腹痛(ふくつう) (stomach pain), and 下痢(げり) (diarrhea).

Similar words

• 食中毒(しょくちゅうどく): food poisoning (formal/medical; used in news reports and official contexts)
• 食(しょく)あたり: food poisoning (everyday; used in casual conversation)

Prevention

夏場(なつば) (summertime) is when 食(しょく)あたり is most common due to heat and humidity.