Public health risk due to contamination of Solanum nigrum in frozen green beans–collaboration effort between a poison centre, a hospital and health authorities

Abstract

Introduction: We describe a rare food contamination of organically grown frozen green beans with Solanum nigrum, also called black night shade, which were widely available in supermarkets in the Netherlands. Case series: To our knowledge, only three adults and one child were referred to the emergency department for observation after eating the contaminated green beans. Only minor symptoms were seen during observation. The remainder of the frozen green beans were obtained from the patients and sent for analysis within one day. Within two and a half days after the first case, a public safety warning and recall were launched. Discussion: Due to an increase in popularity of organic food, more incidents involving toxic weed contaminants like the one we describe in this report could happen when quality control in organic agriculture is insufficient. In this event, the critical control point obtained from the hazard analysis was insufficiently managed by the producer. Conclusion: This report demonstrates the efficient collaboration between the Dutch Poisons Information Centre, treating physicians at the hospital and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority in case of a possible public safety issue. Because of quick acting and collaboration between the involved parties, the product was quickly withdrawn from the market.