Nine members of the same Chinese family die after eating corn noodles

A family of nine from China died after eating homemade noodles that were in the freezer for a year.

The noodle dish called Suantangzi, a popular local delicacy, contains fermented corn flour.

In this case, it was spoiled from being frozen, poisoning the family with bongkrek acid, a toxin that formed in food, according to local authorities.

The family, from Jixi city in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, ate the deadly dish for breakfast on October 5 and began to feel ill soon after.

By October 10, seven members of the family were dead.

On October 12, an eighth person died. And the last surviving adult to also eat the soup bowl, a mother surnamed Li, died on Monday.

Three children in the family had refused to eat the thick noodles made with cornmeal, complaining about the taste.

A high concentration of bongkrek acid, a respiratory toxin produced by the bacterium Pseudomonas cocovenenans, was detected on the plate.

It was also discovered in the gastric fluid of adults, the Heilongjiang Province Health Commission said.

Gao Fei, director of food safety at the Heilongjiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the toxin can often be fatal.

“It can cause serious damage to many human organs, including the liver, kidneys, heart and brain,” Gao told the China News Service.

“Currently, there is no specific antidote.”

Symptoms of bongkrek poisoning usually begin within hours of eating contaminated food and include stomach pain, sweating, general weakness, and eventual coma. Death can occur in 24 hours.

Bongkrek acid has been implicated in outbreaks of foodborne illness involving coconut and corn-based products in Indonesia and China.

The acid cannot be removed even if it is well cooked and there is no medication available to treat such poisoning cases, the Global Times reported. To avoid poisoning, he added, people should not use soggy or moldy corn to make food, and they should not prepare or eat foods made from fermented grains.