Man nearly died after eating poison meatballs

An Auckland man was almost killed by a plate of poisoned meatballs which he bought from his local butchery. The meatballs had been accidentally poisoned by a kitchen hand who thought he was adding flavouring.

The 47-year-old South Auckland man had been playing cards with friends and ate microwaved meatballs for an evening meal. About an hour later he vomited and lost consciousness. Family members returned home to find him unconscious and he was taken by ambulance to Middlemore Hospital.

He had turned blue and was severely short of oxygen. Doctors diagnosed a potentially fatal condition in which the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity was reduced by nitrites affecting the haemoglobin in the red blood cells. He was treated with an infusion of a chemical antidote, made a full recovery and was discharged after three days.

Meanwhile, his daughter found the leftover meatballs in the fridge and they were sent for scientific analysis, according to a report in the latest New Zealand Medical Journal.

The analysis revealed a level of the preservative sodium nitrite which was 344 times the permitted level for cured meats under the Australia-New Zealand Food Standards Code. The meatballs had 43,000mg/kg; the maximum permitted is 125mg/kg.

A product recall was initiated and an Auckland Regional Public Health Service investigation traced the meatballs to a local butchery.

The "deadly meatballs", as the journal described them, were among 56 made by the butchery two days before the man ate them.

The main ingredients were meant to be minced meat and powdered flavouring, but a mistake resulted in the preservative overload.

"A bag of nitrite powder labelled 'poison' was kept alongside the bag of flavouring powder," the man's doctors and a public health officer, Dr Greg Simmons, said in the journal.

"A worker who knew very little English made the meatballs for the first time on that occasion, with verbal instruction from a co-worker. He added 500g of nitrite to the minced meat instead of flavouring, not knowing the meaning of the word 'poison' written on the bag."

The patient had bought about eight meatballs and about 16 were bought by a woman who reported no ill effects from consumption. None were returned after the recall notice and 32 were not accounted for.

"This case highlights the need for care in the use of chemical food preservatives, and it emphasises the importance of staff training where potentially toxic food additives are used," the journal report says.

The Food Safety Authority is prosecuting the butchery and one of its directors over the case. The authority's director of compliance and investigation, Geoff Allen, said yesterday they had both pleaded guilty to two charges under the Food Act relating to putting human health at risk. The charges carry a maximum penalty of up to a year's jail or a fine of up to $100,000.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in the High Court at Auckland next week.