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OKAY BACK FROM THE FLOUR MILL 🌾

The Outbreak Occurred In Napak And Amudat Districts Of Uganda

Investigators Found 293 Suspected Cases

Five Of The Suspected Cases Died

The Paper Lists Symptoms For 91 Of The Case Patients

Of Those Patients 62 Percent Had Confusion

Batch X Was A Fortified Corn Soy Blend Distributed As Relief Food

The Outbreak Started 2 To 12 Hours After Batch X Was Distributed

A Cohort Study Interviewed 211 Residents In 17 Villages

Of 134 Persons Who Ate The Blend 66 Percent Developed Illness

Among 75 Who Did Not Eat It 2.2 Percent Became Ill

Samples Of Batch X Contained 14 Tropane Alkaloids

Atropine Was Found At 25 To 50 Parts Per Million

The Deaths Are Likely Associated With High Alkaloid Concentrations

Jimsonweed Is Datura Stramonium A Plant In The Nightshade Family

Labs Identified Nightshade Family Seed Proteins And Jimsonweed DNA

The DNA Quantities Roughly Correlated With Alkaloid Levels

That Was True In Some Samples But Not In All Of Them

Investigators Then Tried To Trace The Source Of Batch X

Records Show That Batch X Came From Turkey

Jimsonweed Seeds Resemble Some Soy Seeds In Color And Size

That Makes The Two Possibly Difficult To Separate In Processing

The Authors Say Contamination Was Possible At Harvest And Production

Batch X Was Immediately Withdrawn

Two Smaller Outbreaks Followed In Late March And Mid April

Both Came After Residents Ate The Blend They Had Not Returned

A Mass Poisoning Occurred In Slovenia In 2003

It Involved 73 Consumers

Their Symptoms Included Dry Mouth And Hot Red Skin

Blurred Vision And A Fast Heart Rate Were Among The Symptoms

Disorientation And Visual Hallucinations Were Also Among Them

In All Cases Consumers Had Eaten Buckwheat Flour Food Products

They Had Eaten Them Within The Last Few Hours

Authorities Identified Contamination Of A Range Of Buckwheat Products

The Contaminant Was Thorn Apple Seeds From Datura Stramonium

Those Seeds Contain The Toxic Alkaloids Atropine And Scopolamine

The Authors Then Assessed The Risk Of Contaminated Buckwheat Flour

Their Goal Was The Safe Consumption Of Buckwheat Food Products

Limits Were Estimated For A Worst Case Scenario

That Scenario Was A 10 Kilogram Child Eating 100 Grams Of Flour

The Authors Suggested Slovenian Limits For Buckwheat Food Products

An Atropine Limit Of 4.0 Micrograms Per Kilogram Was Proposed

For Scopolamine The Figure Was 2.0 Micrograms Per Kilogram

Alkaloid Content Varied Widely Depending On The Origin Of The Datura

The Authors Therefore Propose Risk Assessment Case By Case

A 2012 French Bulletin Covered Cases Of Food Poisoning

The Provence Alpes Côte D'Azur Agency Reported Twenty Five Cases

Seven Were Reported To The Rhône Alpes Agency

Both Counts Cover The Period Since Mid September

All Of The Cases Were Linked To Products Made With Buckwheat Flour

The Flour Was Likely Contaminated By Datura Type Plants Or Seeds

It Was Organic Buckwheat Flour According To The Bulletin

Symptoms Included Dry Mouth And Weakness In The Lower Limbs

Dilated Pupils And Difficulty Swallowing Were Also Listed

These Symptoms Are Consistent With Atropine Poisoning

Management Measures Included Withdrawal Of The Flour

Information At Points Of Sale Was Another Measure

In May 2024 Food Safety News Covered A New Buckwheat Flour Recall

Officials Said There Was A Risk Of Contamination With Datura

French Media Quoted The Brittany Regional Health Agency

It Said 49 People Were Sick Including Five Children

Five People Needed Hospital Treatment According To That Report

Affected Products Were Sold Mainly In The West Of France

Those Sales Ran From October 7 2023 Forward

Recall And Withdrawal Measures Were Taken

Datura Seeds Can Be Removed From Some Cereals By Sorting

They Cannot Easily Be Removed From Buckwheat