We recently found out that my gastroenterologist is conducting a study that links RLS with a bacteria in the colon. He says that if you've ever had food poisoning you probably have that bacteria in your colon. If your RLS started after the food poisoning incident, you would likely have a lot of success in his study.
The study was started when he was treating a family member for irritable bowel syndrome. She'd had RLS for 14 years and after he put her on the antibiotics to eliminate the IBS, she never had RLS problems again.
Once he began the study, he found a high success rate in RLS sufferers that had the bacteria present in their colon. He tests for the bacteria with a breath test. If you don't have the bacteria, you aren't able to participate in the study. Info is available at:
http://gidoctor.net/research_articles/restless_legs_syndrome.html
The downside is that it's not a free study. Sometimes your insurance will cover it, sometimes they won't. The upside is that you can participate even if you aren't in the St. Louis area.
We're participating in it. Good luck to anyone that decides to give it a try.