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

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 Because of quick acting and collaboration between the involved parties, the product was quickly withdrawn from the market.

An Indonesian slimming drug with undeclared ingredients causing harm.

This paper reports the presence of undeclared drugs in the herbal slimming supplement Sulami®. The four cases of the adverse drug reactions related to Sulami® were reported to the Dutch Pharmacovigilance Centre (Lareb) or the Dutch Poisons Information Centre (DPIC). The analysis of all four collected samples revealed adulteration with sibutramine and canrenone. Both drugs can cause serious adverse drug reactions. From a legal point of view, it is clear that Sulami® does not meet the legal requirement for safety. As defined in the European General Food Law Regulation, food business operators are responsible for food safety. This also applies to online store owners who sell herbal preparations. Thus, it is clear that it is forbidden to sell Sulami® on the European and Dutch market. Collaboration between involved national authorities makes it possible to identify risky products. This allows the nationally responsible regulators to take targeted action. They can call on users to report sell points what makes it possible to arrest the sellers and confiscate the dangerous products. Beyond the national, also, the European enforcement organizations should take legal measures where possible, to protect public health. The Heads of Food Safety Agencies Working Group on Food Supplements "an Initiative on European level" is a good example of efforts to improve consumer safety.