Recently, there have been a number of cases of food poisoning in the country that required hospitalization and death due to botulinum poisoning. Among them, 4 groups of familiar daily foods are susceptible to botulinum poisoning.
Concerns from daily food
Reviewing some cases of domestic food poisoning that required hospitalization and death after eating canned food, fermented fish sauce, pork roll... suspected of botulinum poisoning. Specifically, in May 2023, Ho Chi Minh City recorded a number of cases of botulinum poisoning after eating pork roll and fish sauce. In March 2023, a number of people in Quang Nam were suspected of botulinum poisoning after eating fermented carp fish sauce. Previously, in 2020, upper-level hospitals treated critical cases suspected of being caused by food poisoning from vegetarian pate. The main agent in vegetarian pate that causes poisoning is botulinum.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that four food groups can easily cause botulinum poisoning in humans: pre-packaged canned foods, processed meat products, fermented vegetables and uncooked foods. What is worrying is that botulinum toxin is easily hidden in many familiar everyday foods.
According to experts, the cause of this type of poisoning comes from the production of food products in sealed packaging (bottles, jars, cans, boxes, bags) that do not ensure safety, leading to the presence of some types of bacteria that grow and produce botulinum toxin. This toxin has 7 types A, B, C, D, E, F, G and the world only has 3 types of botulium toxin antidotes. However, botulinum toxin antidotes are classified as rare drugs globally, not easy to buy and quite expensive at more than 6,000 USD/bottle.
It is known that with the 4 food groups as recommended above, almost every household can find them in the kitchen. Recently, the Emergency Department of Binh Thuan General Hospital, Southern Regional General Hospital... has received and treated a number of patients suspected of food poisoning due to eating food that was not thoroughly and properly processed; due to eating food containing natural toxins.
How to prevent poisoning
Recently, the Ministry of Health has recommended preventing botulinum poisoning. That is, in production and processing, it is necessary to use ingredients that ensure food safety, comply with the requirements of hygiene regulations in the production process. In the production of canned foods, it is necessary to strictly follow the sterilization regime. People only use food products and food ingredients with clear origin and source; do not use canned products that have expired, are swollen, flattened, deformed, rusted, are no longer intact or have unusual flavors or colors.
Do not pack food tightly and leave it for a long time in non-frozen conditions. For fermented foods, pack or cover them tightly in the traditional way (such as pickles, bamboo shoots, pickled eggplants, etc.) to ensure they are sour and salty; when the food is no longer sour, it should not be eaten. Eat cooked food, drink boiled water, eat newly processed and cooked foods. When there are signs of poisoning, the patient should go to a medical facility immediately. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health also listed symptoms related to poisoning including nausea, bloating, abdominal pain; neurological symptoms such as symmetrical paralysis originating from the head, face, neck and spreading down to the legs. The level of paralysis ranges from mild to severe.
Binh Thuan Department of Health said: To ensure food safety in the province, food safety inspection and supervision is carried out synchronously at 3 levels according to decentralization, management assignment and in accordance with Decree 15 of the Government. In particular, the inspection and supervision of input materials for processing food products must be carried out at the same level according to 3 sectors including health, agriculture, industry and trade in 3 product groups according to regulations. On the other hand, consumers need to pay attention to choosing food with clear origin; must comply with hygiene from hands to processing tools, raw materials before processing; especially in current weather conditions.
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