Bongkrekic acid is believed to be the reason for the deaths of two and the hospitalization of several people in Taipei.
According to the Central News Agency, two people died and five remain in the intensive care unit due to food poisoning in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The news reports confirm that eight out of twenty-one people were affected at the restaurant in Taipei who were tested for Bongkrekic poison. The Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare, Victor Wang, said that the Bongkrekic acid poisoning was happening for the first time in Taiwan.
The Poisonous Bongkrekic Acid
A highly toxic respiratory toxin, Bongkrekic, can kill people even in small amounts. It will be found in fermented, contaminated coconut or corn. Its heat stability and colorless, odorless, and tasteless features make it more dangerous, as it will be difficult to identify. It affects several internal organs, like the liver, kidneys, and brain.
The major symptoms of the Bongkrekic infection include vomiting, diarrhea, excessive sweating, and abdominal pain. There is no safe dosage for Bongkrekic acid because of its potency; even tiny doses can be lethal. Supporting care is the only treatment, as there is no antidote to this poisonous acid.
The Incident At The Taipei Restaurant
According to the Taipei Department of Health, four diners at a restaurant in the Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 in Taipei last week are in critical condition, and two of them have passed away. During a press conference, Taipei municipal officials announced that all the outlets of the Malaysian vegetable restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam were ordered to be closed as 11 individuals were food poisoned by their restaurant.
After dining at the restaurant on Friday last week, the 39-year-old man, who was the first one, passed away at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital two days later due to kidney failure. The second person to pass away from the mysterious disease was a 66-year-old guy who had eaten at the restaurant on Tuesday of last week. He passed away at Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital a couple of days ago. According to department commissioner Chen Yen-yuan of Tri-Service General Hospital, a 53-year-old lady who dined at the restaurant on Friday of last week is undergoing critical care for acidosis, septic shock, and liver failure.
Within 12 hours after eating, Chen claimed every restaurant patron who became unwell had eaten dishes, including flat noodles. According to him, acute loss in liver function, fulminant hepatitis, liver failure, and septic shock were among the rapid advances in their health. On the fringes of an unrelated event, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an stated that health officials in New Taipei City had notified them on Sunday of a possible food poisoning case after one of the sick diners had received treatment at one of their hospitals.
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According to Chiang, the Taipei Department of Health conducted an urgent inspection of the location to gather samples and issued an order to raise sanitation standards. He stated that the Taipei City Government issued an order on Tuesday for the restaurant’s Xinyi District outlet to close. Since then, the order has been extended to all of the chain’s outlets within the city. However, according to the reports, the food samples contained no traces of Bongkrekic. Chiang stated that it hadn’t been ruled out that the poisoning was the product of a vicious act when questioned about the potential that the restaurant’s food was purposefully tampered with.
As the hospitals voluntarily provided the standard samples of Bongkrekic acid, the forensic experts at the National Taiwan University tested the presence of the acid in the seized food. But last day, the Centers for Disease Control stated that even though the acid content was discovered in the autopsies, they couldn’t find traces of the acid in the food samples. However, tests are yet to be conducted on 32 samples.