Publisher Health

Diners who fell quickly ill after eating at a restaurant outside Toronto likely ate food contaminated with toxic aconite, Canada health officials say.

Twelve people were sent to hospital on Monday, with four needing intensive care.

Health officials said they believe the toxin came from two powder products that have since been pulled from shelves.

Aconite, a toxic herb, can severely affect the nervous system if ingested.

York Region Public Health said the diners fell ill after eating a dish at Delight Restaurant & BBQ, located north of Toronto.

Diners presented to hospitals nearby with symptoms resembling that of aconite poisoning. Most have since recovered, while others remain ill in hospital but are improving.

Officials said they believe the accidental poisoning was caused by a contaminated spice product.

They have since sent food and other samples to a lab for confirmation. The restaurant has cooperated with the investigation.

Two products – a galangal powder common in Asian cuisine and a radix aconiti kusnezoffii powder traditionally used in Chinese medicine – have been pulled off retail shelves.

Aconite, also known as monkshood, wolf’s-bane or devil’s helmet, is a common plant that can be found at gardens and mountainous parts of North America, Europe and Asia.

Its roots are extremely poisonous and lethal. If ingested, symptoms show up quickly and most fatalities occur within a few hours.

Health officials said symptoms consistent with aconite poisoning are:

The plant has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for millennia, though it is processed before ingestion to remove the toxins.

Dr David Juurlink, an internal medicine physician and toxicology researcher in Toronto, said the concern is that, when not processed thoroughly, toxic bits of the aconite will remain.

“The usual story is someone takes [aconite] for medicinal reasons, and they just take too much of it or it’s not been treated properly, and they die,” Dr Juurlink said.

He said one teaspoon of pure aconite poison is enough to kill several people.

Several cases of accidental and intentional poisonings have made headlines in the past.

Earlier this year, two people fell ill in British Columbia after eating a sand ginger powder product contaminated with aconite.

In 2017, a San Francisco woman died after consuming herbal tea that had traces of aconite in it.

And in 2010, a British woman was found guilty of murder after lacing her ex-partner’s food with aconite.

The challenge for doctors, Dr Juurlink said, is there is no antidote for aconite poisoning.

“Treatment is primarily supportive”, he said, like hooking patients onto breathing machines or trying to support their heartbeat in a specialised ICU through a bypass machine.

He said people who suspect they have accidentally ingested aconite “can’t get to the hospital fast enough”.