Deadly Food Poisoning at Chinese Hotel

Sodium nitrite was behind a food poisoning incident in China's southwest Sichuan province last week, according to local health authorities. One woman died and dozens were hospitalized after they ate breakfast at a hotel.

Health authorities in China's Sichuan province said on Monday that they found large amounts of sodium nitrite in food that killed one person and sickened dozens of others. They had eaten breakfast at the Pearl Garden Hotel in Luding County.

Sodium nitrite is used to preserve color in meat and to pickle vegetables. It also has industrial uses. It can be toxic in large amounts.

The Sichuan Provincial Disease Control and Prevention Center said in a press release on Monday that noodles and porridge from the hotel had a nitrite content of more than 500 times the safe level.

[Chemistry Professor Gaston Wu, National Taiwan Normal University]:
"When a large amount of nitrite in the human body combines with protein-based food, the nitrite will react with the food and form a toxic substance called N-nitrosamine. This is carcinogenic."

State media says 42 people—most of them tourists—were hospitalized after breakfast when they suffered nausea and vomiting. One woman from Guangzhou province later died in the hospital.

Authorities don't know how the nitrite got into the food, but suspect the cooks may have mistaken it for salt.

The Pearl Garden Hotel has been closed, pending a full investigation.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Deadly
• Guangzhou
• Luding
• investigation
• Disease
• carcinogenic
• nausea
• vomit
• Health
• Food
• Poisoning
• China
• Hotel
• Authority
• Sodium nitrite
• Sichuan
• hospitalize

[mewrox99]

in the west sodium nitrite used for food preservation has a pink dye in it so it is never confused for salt

[x3Pot93]

thats the very reason why China is so Screwed up

[idonotneedanidforyou]

Yum...and the meal only cost $3.99. What a deal!