It can cause poisoning and diarrhea at the mildest, and cancer and death at the worst! Don't eat like this anymore

This article was reviewed by: Li Xue, Peking Union Medical College, Doctor of Medicine

Summer is the hottest, most humid and muggy season of the year and is also the peak season for foodborne diseases.

Looking at these lessons, we must pay attention to food safety and avoid getting sick from what we eat.

Beware of "toxic traps" in your diet

Chen Yunchao, director of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Guangzhou Chemical Poisoning Rescue Center and the 12th People's Hospital of Guangzhou, said in an interview with Guangzhou Daily that based on clinical treatment experience, food poisoning in daily life can be divided into five categories, namely:

1. Bacterial food poisoning

Sour soup and black fungus incident

Bacterial food poisoning is common in white fungus, long-soaked black fungus, stinky braised pork, sour soup, bean curd, hanging rice cake, rice noodles, etc.

1. Pseudomonas cocovenenans

In 2021, Luo Liyuan of Lanzhou University of Information Science and Technology published an article in the "Food Safety Guide" showing that Pseudomonas cocovenenans can produce heat-resistant fumonisin and fumonisin, which can remain toxic even when boiled at 120°C, seriously damaging the human liver, kidneys, heart, brain and other organs. There is no specific treatment for poisoning, and the mortality rate is extremely high.

For example, the sour soup incident in Jixi, Heilongjiang claimed the lives of nine people. On October 5, 2020, a family in Jixi, Heilongjiang, had a dinner party and ate sour soup, which led to a food poisoning incident. It is reported that because the refrigerator could not hold it, the frozen sour soup was taken out of the refrigerator and placed in a cool and humid place for a few days. Therefore, the food poisoning caused by high concentrations of fumonisin is bacterial food poisoning.

There are also common cases of poisoning caused by soaking black fungus. According to a report by Wuhan Evening News in 2019, a mother and daughter in Wuhan began to have abdominal pain and vomiting after eating black fungus mixed with vegetables. The black fungus had been soaked for two days and two nights. The doctor who received the patient said that the long soaking process may breed Pseudomonas cocovenenans, which also produces fumonisin, leading to poisoning.

2. Listeria

In August 2021, according to Lizhi News, Ms. Lu from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, developed meningitis after eating chicken soup that had been stored in the refrigerator for two days. The doctor who received her said that the cause of the disease was Listeria in the refrigerator.

Luo Liyuan of Lanzhou University of Information Science and Technology explained in an article published in Food Safety Guide in 2021 that Listeria is most common in dairy products and meat products that have been stored in the refrigerator for too long, and often occurs in summer and autumn.

For pregnant women, infants, the elderly and people with weakened immunity, once the disease occurs, the mortality rate can be as high as 20% to 50%.

2. Fungal food poisoning

Class 1 carcinogen aflatoxin

The most common fungal food poisoning is aflatoxin poisoning, moldy sugarcane, moldy sweet potato poisoning, etc.

Zhao Jianjun, deputy chief physician of abdominal surgery at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Cancer Hospital, said that in 1993, aflatoxin was classified as a Class 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization's cancer research agency. It is a highly toxic substance, and 1 mg is a carcinogenic dose. The harm of aflatoxin lies in its destructive effect on human and animal liver tissues, and in severe cases it can cause liver cancer or even death.

It is more common in foods with high starch content, such as peanuts and corn, because starch can breed aflatoxin in a high temperature and humid environment.

Once you eat bitter or rancid nuts, be sure to spit them out and rinse your mouth immediately. Replace wooden chopsticks every six months or a year.

3. Animal food poisoning

Puffer fish, fish gallbladder, weaving snail, etc.

Puffer fish, fish gall, and cone snails are also common foods that cause food poisoning.

1. Pufferfish

Fuzhou Evening News reported that a fisherman in Quanzhou caught several wild pufferfish when his fishing boat returned to the port. Half an hour after eating, the two experienced numbness in their limbs, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and soon had difficulty breathing and became unconscious. There is no specific antidote for pufferfish poisoning in clinical practice, but fortunately, after treatments such as "respiratory support" and "blood purification", both of them were out of danger.

Registered dietitian Gu Chuanling explained that the reason why eating puffer fish can be fatal is because puffer fish contains pufferfish toxins, including tetrodotoxin, tetrodotoxin acid, pufferfish ovary toxin, and pufferfish liver toxin. Among them, pufferfish ovary toxin is the most toxic. Its toxicity is 1,000 times stronger than sodium cyanide, and about 0.5 mg can be fatal.

In addition, the toxicity of puffer fish toxin cannot be destroyed even by boiling, salting, and sun exposure. If it is not handled properly, eating dried puffer fish may cause poisoning.

2. Fish Gallbladder

Huang Ying, a nutritionist at Guangdong Industrial Injury Rehabilitation Hospital, said that the main components of fish bile are bile acid, hydrocyanic acid, sodium cyprinidole, taurocholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, histamine, etc. Hydrocyanic acid can inhibit the activity of more than 40 enzymes in the body, and sodium cyprinidole is the main component of carp bile.

Fish bile toxins can directly act on the gastrointestinal tract to cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. After being absorbed, they act on important target organs such as the liver and kidneys, causing swelling and necrosis of liver cells, renal failure, and ultimately multiple organ failure or even death.

3. Snail

On April 8, the Quanzhou Ocean and Fisheries Bureau issued a reminder:

April to September is the peak season for the snails, which is also the time when they are most toxic, and can easily cause food poisoning. The main cause of poisoning is the tetrodotoxin contained in them, which can cause dizziness, vomiting, numbness of the lips and fingers, and other poisoning symptoms after consumption.

The poisonous light-weaving snail. Photo courtesy of Quanzhou Ocean and Fisheries Bureau

4. Plant-based food poisoning

French beans, wild mushrooms, day lily

1. Uncooked green beans

An article published in "Medical and Health Technology" by Liu Hui and others from the Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Sichuan Province pointed out that one of the main causes of plant-based food poisoning is green beans.

Green beans are one of the main vegetables in autumn and winter in many regions of my country. If they are not cooked thoroughly, the saponins, hemagglutinins and other substances they contain will not be destroyed, which will cause strong irritation to the digestive tract or damage red blood cells, which can cause poisoning.

2. Poisonous mushrooms

In June 2021, an article published in the China CDC Weekly (English) showed that between 2010 and 2020, a total of 10,036 foodborne mushroom poisoning incidents were reported nationwide, resulting in 38,676 illnesses, 21,967 hospitalizations, and 788 deaths. Among them, Yunnan reported the most poisoning incidents, illnesses, and deaths.

Chen Yunchao, director of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the 12th People's Hospital of Guangzhou, reminds that to prevent mushroom poisoning, people should not pick and eat wild mushrooms on their own; edible fungi must be purchased from regular markets; once symptoms of poisoning occur, patients should induce vomiting as soon as possible and go to the hospital for treatment; if patients can carry leftover mushrooms, they can assist doctors in diagnosis and treatment.

3. Fresh daylily

Fresh daylily contains a toxin called colchicine. Eating more than 50 grams at a time can cause poisoning symptoms. It is best to eat processed and dried daylily, but you cannot eat it in large quantities to "lower uric acid."

5. Chemical poisoning

Nitrite poisoning

Chemical poisoning generally involves leftovers, unpickled pickles, water contaminated by chemicals, etc. Nitrite poisoning is a relatively common chemical poisoning.

1. Leftovers

According to Xiaoxiang Morning News, Changsha No. 1 Hospital received a patient who was poisoned by food after eating leftover food. The elderly man was diagnosed with nitrite poisoning.

It is understood that the old woman often eats leftovers. On the morning of the incident, she ate overnight food: a portion of spinach and tofu. Although the food was put in the refrigerator, it still had a slight odor, but she ate it all for fear of wasting it. The above incident happened a few hours later.

Zhu Shenhui, deputy chief physician of the emergency department of Changsha First Hospital in Hunan Province, reminded that with the arrival of summer, food is more likely to spoil and rot, and we should pay attention to eating fresh food. It is best to cook and eat meals immediately, and never eat spoiled and rotten food.

2. Pickled vegetables

According to Shaoxing Public Channel, a 5-year-old girl in Zhejiang was hospitalized for nitrite poisoning after eating homemade kimchi. When the girl was sent to the hospital, her lips and nails were purple. The blood oxygen saturation was only 83%, and she had very obvious symptoms of hypoxia.

Jiang Fang, a nutritionist at the Clinical Nutrition Department of Subei People's Hospital, reminds us that the fluctuation of nitrite content in pickled vegetables is regular: the nitrite content is highest in the first one or two weeks, and will be very low after 20 to 30 days, so you can eat it in moderation without worry.

To avoid food poisoning, remember these 5 sentences!

1. Do not try food that you are not familiar with, do not eat often, or is not purchased from regular places.

2. Throw away moldy food directly, do not cut it up before eating.

3. The refrigerator is not a universal safe and will break down after being left for a long time.

4. Use special equipment and utensils, such as knives and cutting boards, to handle raw food.

5. Cook meat, poultry, eggs, seafood and other foods thoroughly.

Source: Health Times

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