Nine members of same family die after eating homemade noodles left in freezer

Seven adults died after eating Suantangzi, a popular Chinese delicacy, but the noodles had become contaminated with bongkrek acid. Two others from the same family died later

Michael Moran&Jamie Hawkins

23:08, 20 OCT 2020

contaminate /kənˈtæmɪˌneɪt/

1. 污染• Have any fish been contaminated in the Arctic Ocean? 北冰洋里有鱼受到污染了吗?

2. 污染 • The contamination of the ocean around Puget Sound may be just the beginning. 普吉特海湾周围海域的污染可能才开始。

bongkrek acid：米酵菌酸

Nine people from the same family died after eating noodles that were left in a freezer.

The noodles, which were kept in the freezer for over a year, contained fermented corn flour, which poisoned the family with bongrekik acid.

ferment  /fəˈment/ （使）发酵 •Fruit juices ferment if they are kept for too long. 果汁存放过久就会发酵。（政治或社会上的）动乱，骚动，纷扰•The country is in ferment. 这个国家动荡不安。

Seven adults, from the city of Jixi in China’s northeastern province of Heilongjiang, died on October 10 after eating the dish called Suantangzi, a local Chinese delicacy, five days earlier.

The final surviving family member who ate the soup, a woman named locally as Li, died on Monday, Daily Star reports.

Luckily, three children who had been served the corn noodle meal at the family occasion had refused to eat it because they didn’t like the taste.

Gao Fei, director of food safety at the Heilongjiang Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told China News Service that bongkrek acid poisoning is often fatal.

The symptoms of bongkrek poisoning typically begin within a few hours of eating contaminated food, and include stomach pain, sweating, general weakness, and eventual coma. Death can occur within 24 hours.

coma  n. /ˈkəʊmə/ 昏迷 • to go into/be in a coma 陷入╱处于昏迷状态

“It can cause serious damage to many human organs including the liver, kidneys, heart, and brain,” Mr Gao said.

“Currently, there is no specific antidote. Once poisoned, the fatality rate can be as high as 40% to 100%.”

antidote n.   /ˈæntidəʊt/  

1.解毒药；解毒剂 •There is no known antidote to the poison. 这种毒的解药尚未发现。

2.消除不愉快的事物；矫正方法 •A Mediterranean cruise was the perfect antidote to a long cold winter. 到地中海航游是度过漫长寒冬的绝妙办法。

Mr Gao said bongkrek acid is resistant to being boiled at high temperatures. Bongkrek acid is a deadly toxin produced in fermented coconut. The traditional Indonesian dish tempe bongkrèk has been banned because it has been linked to so many deaths.

Between 1951 and 1975, an average of 288 poisonings and 34 deaths ascribed to bongkrek acid were reported in Indonesia every year.

ascribe v.   /əˈskraɪb/  

1.AˈSCRIBE STH TO SB 认为…是（某人）所写

•This play is usually ascribed to Shakespeare. 通常认为这部剧是莎士比亚所写。

2.AˈSCRIBE STH TO SB/STH

(1) 把…归因于；认为…是由于 •He ascribed his failure to bad luck. 他认为自己的失败是运气不好。

(2) 认为…具有•We ascribe great importance to these policies. 我们认为这些政策十分重要。

Djenkol beans, another Indonesian delicacy, have also been blamed for numerous deaths.

Bongkrek acid contamination in locally-produced beer was also blamed for 75 deaths and over 200 hospitalisations after a funeral in Mozambique.

Mozambique /ˌməʊzæmˈbiːk/莫桑比克（非洲东南部国家，首都马普托）

原文链接：https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/nine-members-same-family-die-22878951