Authorities investigating a suspected food poisoning incident in Taitung County which killed three people and put six in intensive care yesterday said they had detected a hazardous chemical compound in food samples taken from the scene.
Terbufos, a chemical compound found in some pesticides that can potentially kill humans, was detected in millet dumplings containing snails that were apparently eaten by all of the victims.
At a news conference, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had used rapid screening methods to test three samples linked to the consumed dumplings — snail, leaf-wrapping and “food waste” — early yesterday morning.
Photo: CNA
The test results for the “food waste” sample indicated abnormalities, she said, adding that after further testing using gas and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, the chemical compound terbufos was found.
However, the pesticide was not detected in the other samples, she said.
Terbufos is a highly toxic organophosphate insecticide which can cause symptoms such as eye miosis (constricted pupils), excessive salivation, vomiting, garlic-like bad breath and coma, Lin said.
Acute symptoms of terbufos poisoning can appear within five to 30 minutes, but might also occur up to 12 hours after consumption, she said.
FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said that a 60kg adult could die after consuming about 96mg of terbufos.
The results of the preliminary investigation suggest that terbufos might have been responsible for the neurotoxin poisoning that killed three people on Tuesday and Wednesday, he said.
As of yesterday morning, six others, whose ages range from seven to 66 years, were in the intensive care unit at Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital.
The hospital said that the conditions of all six patients had improved since the previous day.
The suspected food poisoning occurred in Binmao Village (賓茂), a subdivision of Jinfong Township (金峰) mostly populated by Paiwan people.
They had apparently consumed millet dumplings wrapped in leaves containing snails, pork and bamboo shoots.
The incident began on Tuesday when an 83-year-old woman identified by her surname Tseng (曾) died after eating some of the millet dumplings she had made.
On Tuesday evening, about 30 relatives and friends gathered at Tseng’s home to mourn her death, during which time the leftover dumplings and other items from Tseng’s kitchen were served.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, some of those who had gathered at Tseng’s home began exhibiting symptoms such as vomiting and convulsions.
Two died, six were placed in intensive care and three others also received treatment on Wednesday.
Various authorities, including the Taitung County Police Bureau, the FDA, the Taitung County Public Health Bureau and the Taitung District Prosecutors’ Office, are continuing to investigate the incident.
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