Citation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 1953; 2(41): 1.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1953, (in public domain), Publisher U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Dr. R. F. Korns, New York State Department of Health, reports an outbreak of chemical food poisoning among campers who participated in a picnic away from their base. The entire group of 83 persons became ill with severe cramps and vomiting about a half hour or less after eating the meal. The clinical picture and incubation period suggested chemical food poisoning. Exploration of items of the food served and the mode of preparation suggested that a marinated lamb dish and an orange drink, both prepared, at different times, in the same container, were the sources of illness. Both of these were acid foods and the container was misused, namely, the nontoxic food pans had been removed, and the shell of the container was used for this purpose. Laboratory examination showed the orange drink to contain 650 parts per million cadmium and the marinated lamb dish to contain 320 parts per million. Scrapings from the inside of the container Identified the plating as cadmium. Mice fed small portions of the orange drink died within an hour and a half.