Tokyo Food Safety Information Center » Good things to know » Getting hives after eating fish – food poisoning from histamine » Actual food poisoning examples
Actual food poisoning examples
Example 1
Out of 73 workers who ate lunch at an employee cafeteria, 36 experienced symptoms such as rash, headache, and reddening of the face, with 16 having to go to the hospital. All of the victims ate the “marlin teriyaki special,” and testing revealed that the marlin contained high levels of histamine.
The employee cafeteria kept the marlin they had received in a refrigerator. In addition, while being processed at the factory and transported to the cafeteria, the marlin had never been stored for an extended period of time above 10° C. It is believed that the histamine generated and accumulated while the marlin was being marinated and refrigerated in the cafeteria.
When tests were conducted at another cafeteria which purchased the same marlin which caused the food poisoning here, it was found that the histamine levels at this other cafeteria were low and no food poisoning occurred there. The marlin at this other cafeteria was kept frozen instead of refrigerated.
Example 2
A Tokyo resident purchased swordfish marinated in miso to grill at home. The resident later reported experiencing tingling in the mouth while eating the swordfish and headache, itchy eyes and skin, and palpitations several minutes after eating.
The swordfish the resident ate had been thawed from a frozen state, sliced, and marinated in miso 4 days prior to purchase at a supermarket. As it had not been sold on the day it was prepared, it was stored in a refrigerated showcase and sold the following day. The temperature control of this showcase was insufficient, however, and the temperature of the swordfish exceeded 10° C. In addition, the miso sauce used on the swordfish was left over from that used to marinate other seafood products.
Test results found histamine-producing bacteria in both the sliced swordfish and the miso sauce. It is believed that while sitting out for sale, the bacteria had multiplied and histamine had accumulated in the food, causing the family’s food poisoning.
Example 3
A public health center received reports of people who ate lunch at several welfare facilities experiencing symptoms such as hives and inflamed mouths starting immediately after consumption.
The public health center’s investigation revealed that 105 facility users and 4 workers at 7 facilities in its jurisdiction had experienced these same symptoms. In addition, it was found that the same sardine dumpling soup using sardine paste delivered from the same supplier had been served at all seven facilities.
Histamine was detected in sardine dumpling soup and sardine paste stored at the 7 facilities. The initial time of the reaction and the symptoms of the victims also matched the incubation period and symptoms of histamine-induced food poisoning. Based on these facts, the public health center determined that this was a case of food poisoning caused by the sardine dumpling soup prepared and served at the welfare facilities.
Histamine was also detected in sardine paste from the same lot delivered to and stored at other facilities in other prefectures and other products from the same lot sold to and stored at other locations besides the affected facilities. Accordingly, it is conjectured that histamine had already been generated and accumulated in the sardine paste at the time it was delivered to the seven welfare facilities.