33 admitted to Hospital due to Food Poisoning

At least 33 people of Khumtung village in central Mizoram’s Serchhip district have been admitted in different hospitals due to food poisoning after consumption of locally made ‘bekang um’ or fermented soybean, reports from Khumtung said. No loss of human lives has so far been reported till Sunday afternoon. The reports said that at least 7 people have been admitted in Civil Hospital at Aizawl, 8 people including 3 minors in the Referral Hospital at Falkawn village near Aizawl while 12 people were being under observation at the Emergency Department (Casualty) at the hospital. Six people are also admitted in the Trinity Hospital and Research Centre, a private hospital located at the southern outskirts of Aizawl.

The number of people treated at their respective homes is not yet ascertained, the reports said. It was reported that a number of people bought the fermented soybean from the members of local church of the United Pentecostal Church on Saturday as a part of fund-raising efforts. A number of people who have eaten the fermented soybean were complaining of acute stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea on Sunday resulting in a number of them being admitted to several healthcare facilities.

State health department’s senior official of Food and Drug Administration said that a team of experts will be sent to Khumtung village to collect the samples of the fermented soybean, not yet consumed, for laboratory tests on Monday. This is not the first instance that a number of people have taken ill or even died due to consumption of fermented soybean in the state. FDA officials said that food poisoning can happen if the soybean were being preserved with insecticides or pesticides for seeds before being fermented or if the utensils used for fermentation were not properly sterilized before fermentation. EOM