Nine people in the same family died after eating pasta that was left in the refrigerator.
The pasta, which had been kept in the freezer for more than a year, contained fermented cornmeal, which had poisoned the family with bongeric acid.
Seven adults from Jixi city in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province died on October 10 after eating the dish called Suantangzi, a local Chinese food, five days earlier.
The last surviving family member died eating the soup on Monday, a woman called locally by the name Li, The Daily Star Reports.
Luckily, three kids who had eaten corn noodles on a family occasion refused them because they didn’t like the taste.
Zhao Fei, director of food safety at the Heilongjiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told China News Service that bongkric acid poisoning is often fatal.
Symptoms of pungkrek poisoning usually begin within a few hours of eating the contaminated food, and include stomach pain, sweating, weakness of races, and terminal coma. Death can occur within 24 hours.
“It can cause massive damage to many human organs including the liver, kidneys, heart and brain,” said Zhao.
Currently, there is no specific antidote. Once poisoned, the death rate can reach 40% to 100%. “
Mr. Zhao said that pungric acid is resistant to boiling at high temperatures.
Pongkric acid is a deadly toxin produced in fermented coconut. The traditional Indonesian dish tempe bongkrèk has been banned because it has been linked to several deaths.
Between 1951 and 1975, an average of 288 poisonings and 34 deaths attributed to pungacetic acid were reported in Indonesia each year.
Ginkul beans, another Indonesian delicacy, have also been blamed for several of the deaths.
Contamination of locally produced beer with bongic acid has also been blamed for 75 deaths and more than 200 hospitalizations after a funeral in Mozambique.
