Tamara D’Acunto, 45, had eaten a sandwich from a food truck in Calabria
Tamara D’Acunto has died after contracting botulism from a sandwich(Image: Tamara D’Acunto/Facebook)
A 45-year-old woman has become the second person to die in Italy after eating a toxic vegetable and sausage sandwich. 17 others have also been hospitalised after being poisoned at the food truck in the Calabria region of Italy.
All of those had eaten sandwiches from a food truck near Diamante in southwest Italy. Tamara D’Acunto had a sausage and turnip greens panini from the truck but died shortly after eating it. Turnip greens are a vegetable which is very similar to broccoli.
Tamara is the second person to die this week from eating the same sandwich. On Thursday, Luigi Di Sarno, 52, also died.
Luigi’s family, including two 17-year-olds and two women in their 40s, were also rushed to Annunziata Hospital in Cosenza.
All of the 17 people who have been hospitalised after eating at the food vendor have begun suffering with symptoms within 24 to 48 hours of eating the sandwiches.
Each of them having presented with botulism which is an illness linked to the vegetable. For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here.
Botulism is caused by toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria which attacks the nervous system and can prove deadly in around 10 per cent of cases.
The most common way to contract the bacteria is through eating contaminated food.
The Sun have reported that it’s understood nine people are being investigated in connection with the poisonings, including the food truck owner and employees of the company who allegedly made the sandwich.
The van has also subsequently been seized and Italian authorities have launched an emergency investigation.
According to local media, the Paola Public Prosecutor’s Office have ordered the seizure of jars of broccoli in oil and have bought containers of ‘antitoxin serum’.
Calabria Region’s Department of Health and Welfare said: “The emergency procedure established in these cases has been activated, which requires immediate notification to the Poison Control Centre in Pavia, the only national centre designated for the management of botulism.
“No region or hospital in the country is authorised to store the antivenom in their own facilities.
“This serum, however, is exclusively available to the Ministry of Health, which holds it in designated secure locations and distributes it only through the Lombardy Poison Control Centre.”