Contact Info
Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division
651-201-5414
Reporting Suspected Foodborne and Waterborne Illness
Foodborne and Waterborne Illness Complaints
On this page:
Report a suspected foodborne or waterborne illness
Why should I call the hotline?
What do I need to know before I call?
What are the hotline hours?
What happens after I call?
Report a suspected foodborne or waterborne illness
- Call 1-877-FOOD-ILL (1-877-366-3455).
- Submit your report using the Foodborne and Waterborne Illness Report, our confidential online survey.
- Or Email health.foodill@state.mn.us.
Why should I call the hotline?
- Your call to the hotline helps us identify foodborne and waterborne illness outbreaks in Minnesota and prevent the spread of illness to others.
What do I need to know before I call?
- Foodborne illness often occurs 1 to 4 days after eating contaminated foods.
- Waterborne illness usually occurs 2 to 14 days after swimming in or drinking contaminated water.
- Hotline staff will ask you about your symptoms and the foods you ate and where you ate them in the 4 days before your illness began. They will also ask if you drank any water collected from a lake, river, or spring or went swimming in the 2 weeks before your illness.
- All information we collect about your illness is private. We will not release your name to anyone outside the public health system without your permission.
What are the Hotline Hours?
- The Foodborne and Waterborne Illness Hotline is staffed from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (not including Holidays).
- If someone is not available to take your call, please leave a confidential voice message with your name and daytime telephone number. We will return all messages left after normal business hours the next working day.
- You may also email your illness report to health.foodill@state.mn.us. Please include your name and daytime telephone number in your message.
What happens after I call?
- We will forward your report to the environmental health staff responsible for inspecting the restaurants, delis, grocery stores, pools, lakes, or water systems you mention.
- All information we collect about your illness is private. We will not release your name to anyone outside the public health system without your permission.
- We may ask you for a stool sample so that we can determine what is making you ill.
To report a suspected foodborne or waterborne illness:
- Call 1-877-FOOD-ILL (1-877-366-3455) from within Minnesota.
- Submit your report using the Foodborne and Waterborne Illness Report, our confidential online survey.
- Or Email health.foodill@state.mn.us.
Last Updated: 01/31/2023