When a review claims food poisoning
The single most damaging review a restaurant can receive, and the response window is hours.
Treat it as an incident, not a review. Document your records for that service immediately, check for any other complaints, notify your insurer, and respond publicly in a way that is concerned and non-defensive without admitting causation. Removal is unlikely unless the person was not a customer, so the response and the record are what matter.
Why this review is different
Ordinary bad reviews affect preference. A food poisoning claim affects safety, and readers treat it categorically differently. It also travels: local groups share it, and it can trigger health authority attention.
It is also frequently wrong. Illness is commonly attributed to the most recent or most memorable meal, and incubation periods for most foodborne pathogens are far longer than people assume.
Most people blame the last thing they ate. Most pathogens do not work on that timetable.
The first two hours
- Pull records for that service: temperature logs, delivery records, prep sheets, staff sickness records.
- Check whether anyone else reported anything from the same service. A single report with no corroboration is a different situation from a cluster.
- Notify your insurer. Delayed notification can affect cover.
- Do not delete anything, and do not alter records. That converts a manageable problem into a serious one.
- Draft a response, but have someone else read it before it posts.
What the response must and must not do
It must take it seriously, invite direct contact, and reference your standards generally. It must not admit causation, blame the guest, mention other diners, or suggest they are mistaken about being unwell.
"We take any report of illness extremely seriously and would like to understand what happened. Please contact us directly at [contact] so we can look into this properly." That is enough, and it reads well to everyone else.
If it spreads beyond the review platform, it stops being a review problem. See the first 48 hours of a reputation crisis.
Common questions
Should we offer a refund?
Handle it privately if at all, and take advice, because in some contexts it can be characterised as an admission. Never offer it in exchange for removing the review.
Can we get the review removed?
Only on standard grounds such as the person not being a customer. The claim being unproven is not itself grounds.
Do we have to report it?
Reporting duties vary by jurisdiction and by whether a pattern exists. Check your local requirements before deciding.
Find out if it can come down.
The scan is free and confidential. You get a viability answer on each item, a fixed price, and a timeline. Anything accepted and still published at 14 days is refunded in full.
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Working through this for a business? See Reputation management for restaurants.