Citation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 1964; 13(31): 267.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1964, (in public domain), Publisher U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

From 30-45 minutes after drinking pink lemonade, 23 school children,aged 5 to 9, experienced abdominal cramps and vomiting in an outbreak due to cadmium contamination. All recovered within 48 hours. The severity of symptoms correlated with the amount of lemonade consumed. Nine other children, who only tasted or consumed small amounts of the lemonade, did not become ill. Each child brought a lunch from home; the lemonade was the only food common to all 32.

The lemonade was prepared by adding the proper amount of city water and ice cubes to 3 cans of a commercially prepared concentrate. The mixture was placed in a 3-gallon cadmium plated war surplus container for the 3-1/2 hour interval between preparation and serving. Laboratory analysis of a sample of the remaining lemonade revealed 21 parts per million of cadmium, a dosage considered sufficient to cause the symptoms in the children.

(Reported by W. B. Walshe, Chief, Division of Sanitation, and J. B. Askew, M.D., Director of Public Health, San Diego County Department of Public Health, and Dr. Philip K. Condit, Chief, Bureau of Communicable Diseases, California State Department of Health.)

Editor's Note: An unrelated outbreak of cadmium poisoning was reported in MMWR, Vol. 13, p. 258.