Nine members of same family die from food poisoning

NINE people from the same family died from food poisoning after eating noodles that were left in a freezer.

The noodles, which were kept in the freezer for over a year, contained fermented corn flour, which poisoned the family with bongrekik acid.

Seven adults, from the city of Jixi in China’s northeastern province of Heilongjiang, died on October 10 after eating the dish called Suantangzi, a local Chinese delicacy, five days earlier.

The final surviving family member who ate the soup, a woman named locally as Li, died on Monday, October 19, as reported by the Daily Star.

Luckily, three children who had been served the corn noodle meal at the family occasion had refused to eat it because they didn’t like the taste.

Gao Fei, director of food safety at the Heilongjiang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told China News Service that bongkrek acid poisoning is often fatal.

Bongkrek acid is a deadly toxin produced in fermented coconut. The traditional Indonesian dish Tempe bongkrèk has been banned because it has been linked to so many deaths.

The symptoms of bongkrek poisoning typically begin within a few hours of eating contaminated food and include stomach pain, sweating, general weakness, and eventual coma. Death can occur within 24 hours.

“It can cause serious damage to many human organs including the liver, kidneys, heart, and brain,” Mr Gao said.