Company bosses arrested

150 Russians poisoned by tainted beans

Insufficiently preserved food in cans can even be fatal if eaten.(Bild: tramp51)

The health authorities in Russia are struggling with an outbreak of botulism food poisoning. In the capital Moscow, more than 120 cases had been counted by Tuesday, 55 of which were classified as severe cases. A further 14 cases were counted in Nizhny Novgorod and another 14 in Kazan in the Republic of Tatarstan, according to the state news agency Tass. The infections were all traced back to spoiled canned beans.

All of the victims had ordered the beans in the form of salads from a food delivery service in Moscow, according to the State Investigative Committee. The head of this delivery service was arrested, as was the head of the company that had produced the canned beans. A total of three people were arrested. Investigators also found that the delivery service employed illegal migrant workers from Uzbekistan.

Toxic substance can be fatal
Botulism is caused by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which develops in insufficiently preserved food in the absence of air. In addition to vomiting or diarrhea, the toxin paralyzes the nervous system and is therefore potentially fatal. However, botulism is a rare disease.

Between 2000 and 2017, the German Robert Koch Institute recorded between 0 and 24 cases per year, mostly of foodborne botulism. Major outbreaks only occur when all victims have eaten the same spoiled food.