How ‘toxic spinach’ is causing people to fall sick, hallucinate in Australia

At least nine people in Sydney have fallen ill after eating toxic spinach. New South Wales Health said people from four different households needed medical attention following “possible food-related toxic reactions” caused by tainted Riviera Farms spinach bought at wholesale giant Costco. Let’s take a closer look: What happened? The BBC quoted Riviera Farms as saying it believes the spinach was contaminated by a weed, and that no other products have been affected. A Riviera Farms spokesperson said they had taken action immediately, asking shops to remove them from shelves. “There is no suggestion, and to our knowledge no possibility, that any other products have been impacted by this weed,” they said. Health officials say initial investigations suggest the reactions were caused by the presence of “an accidental contaminant in the food product”. The health authority warned of “severe” possible symptoms associated with consuming the spinach, including delirium or confusion, hallucinations, rapid heartbeat and blurred vision. Officials say the baby spinach bought at Costco with an expiration date of 16 December, “is not safe to consume and people who have it should throw it out”. NSW Poisons Information Centre medical director Dr Darren Roberts was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that some patients were still ill more than a day after the onset of symptoms. “The patients that have been quite unwell have been to the point of marked hallucinations where they are seeing things that aren’t there,” he said. “They can’t give a good recount of what happened.”

“No one has died, so we’re very happy with that and we hope it remains that way, but these people are quite sick.”

The Guardian reported that Food Standards Australia and New Zealand is working with relevant food businesses and state food authorities to coordinate a national recall. The national recall includes bags of spinach sold through Costco in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT with use-by dates from 16 December up to and including 28 December. The newspaper quoted Riviera Farms as saying it had issued a recall of all its baby spinach products with best-before dates up to and including 28 December as a precautionary measure. “Riviera Farms advised authorities immediately after being alerted by one of our retailers and we will continue to work closely with health and food regulators as investigations continue,” the company said in a statement. “Riviera Farms has been in the business of providing fresh food since the 1880s and have been saddened by this incident, which is our first in our long history of providing fresh food products.” The company further urged any consumers concerned about their health to seek medical advice. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.