2 Horrific Cases of Mass Food Poisoning
By: Anthony Adragna
Published: May 2, 2011

On the heels of a recent report from the University of Florida that discovered food poisonings cost the United States more than $14 annually, two mass food poisonings around the world have made international headlines.
1. China (500+ people sickened): Given the recent wave of tainted foods China, food poisonings are increasingly frequent in the world's largest country. Nevertheless, these most recent poisonings made headlines because of their enormous scale. More than 500 people were sickened over the weekend at two separate incidents. 286 people went to the hospital after attending a wedding in Changsha, China where pork was served. Close to 100 of those people were subsquently found to have food poisoning and 15 of them remain in critical condition (mainly pregnant women and children). Officials fear the wedding served clenbuterol-tainted pork. Scientific tests had not confirmed the suspicions as of Monday morning. Clenbuterol is used to create more lean meat in animals.
In a separate incident, more than 250 primary school students fell ill in Yulin city in Shaanxi province after drinking milk. Most suffered nausea and vomiting but have been released from the hospital. Officials do not yet know how the milk became tainted, but have launched an investigation. These incidents underscore the precariousness of food safety in China.

2. Australia (50+ sickened): A home cook volunteered to provide food for a catered event, charging the guests just enough money to cover supplies, but actually served salmonella-tainted salad to guests. More than 50 were sickened and the woman was hit with a A$20,000 fine for improper preparation techniques. Scientists linked the whole-egg mayonaise in the salad to the salmonella outbreak. In the court case, the judge acknowledged that the woman had contributed to the community through volunteer work and never intended to case any harm, but also cited the need to deter future reckless food preparation.

Photo by Mr Wabu/ photophnatic