If you believe you have been sickened by a restaurant meal, health authorities advise alerting the establishment and calling the health department of the county where the restaurant is located; see accompaying phone numbers.

Most common illnesses are Salmonella, staphylococcus, campylobacter, and E. coli 0157:H7.

To file a report, Jane Fletcher of the San Francisco Chronicical suggests having the following information on hand to quicken the process:

• Restaurant name and location
• Date and time of your visit
• A list of things you ate at the restaurant
• When you began to feel ill and which symptoms came first
• A 24- to 48-hour history of all the food you've eaten, and where
• Names of people in your party, the foods they ate, and whether they were sick or not