Beijing News Express On March 16, the National Health and Health Commission issued a reminder on the prevention of food poisoning by accidental ingestion. The following is the full text:
With the advent of spring, with the active growth of wild animals and plants in various places and the increase of mass outings, household food poisoning incidents caused by self-harvesting and homemade poisonous food and medicinal wine occurred in some areas, and serious cases died. In order to protect the safety and health of the people, the following tips are hereby issued.
1. Prevention of self-medicated food and medicinal liquor poisoning
Since this year, 18 cases of Aconitum poisoning caused by medicinal food and medicinal liquor have occurred in Yunnan, Hunan and other places in my country, with 81 cases and 5 deaths. people. Aconitum (can be divided into Chuanwu, Caowu, etc.) is a poisonous Chinese medicinal material containing highly toxic aconitine, which must be processed before it can be used as medicine. There is a tradition of using Aconitum to prepare medicinal dietary products and brewing medicinal wine to treat rheumatism and pain-related diseases. Since it is difficult to destroy the toxicity of aconitine by ordinary stewing and processing methods, especially aconitine is easily soluble in alcohol, and once the medicated food and wine are handled improperly, it is very easy to cause poisoning. Ingestion of Aconitum poisoning firstly causes numbness in the mouth, lips and tongue, tingling and burning sensation in the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat, and various symptoms appear one after another about 15-30 minutes after the toxic substance is absorbed, including nausea, vomiting, salivation, and abdominal pain. , diarrhea, numbness, tingling and ant-walking sensation, gradually appear paralysis, facial and limb spasm, speech difficulty, vision and hearing loss, breathing difficulty, coma, etc. In severe cases, death may occur due to arrhythmia and respiratory depression.
Regions with relevant dietary habits such as Yunnan, Hunan, Guizhou, and Sichuan should be highly vigilant, and professional guidance should be obtained when preparing medicated meals and medicinal wines. Do not drink medicinal wine of unknown origin. If symptoms of poisoning such as nausea, dizziness, chest tightness, numbness, and general malaise occur after eating medicated food or alcoholic beverages, you should immediately take measures such as inducing vomiting, and seek medical attention as soon as possible.
II. Prevention of toxin poisoning by wild pufferfish and shellfish
In recent years, there have been frequent occurrences of toxin poisoning by pufferfish and shellfish in parts of eastern my country. The food that causes puffer toxin poisoning in my country is mainly puffer fish, which is called “puffer fish” (or “puffer fish”) by the people. Pufferfish toxin is highly toxic, and the poisoning manifests as sensory paralysis, movement disorder, dizziness, headache, nausea and vomiting, decreased blood pressure, difficulty in breathing, etc. In severe cases, it can lead to death. The puffer fish toxin is relatively stable in physical and chemical properties, and cannot be completely removed by common cooking methods. In order to protect public health, my country prohibits the processing and operation of wild pufferfish. The public is specially reminded not to catch edible pufferfish by themselves.
Shellfish toxins are produced by the accumulation of toxins in the shellfish due to the ingestion of the shellfish or the toxic algae in the symbiosis. Its occurrence has obvious regional and seasonality, and red tide is most common when it occurs. The high-risk shellfish discovered in recent years are mainly mussels (also known as sea rainbows and mussels), followed by oysters, scallops, and clams. Common shellfish toxins include diarrhea, paralysis, neurosis and memory loss, etc., mainly diarrhea and paralytic shellfish toxins, which can lead to death in severe poisoning. Shellfish toxins are colorless and odorless, do not produce visible changes in the shellfish itself, and freezing and heating cannot completely inactivate the toxins. The public is especially reminded to go to formal food production and operation places as much as possible when consuming shellfish, and avoid salvaging edible seafood by themselves during the red tide warning period.
Once the public ingests the above foods by mistake, if they have suspicious symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, fever, headache, paralysis, etc., they should take measures to induce vomiting and seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
Editor Liu Jiani