Children in Hamburger Kita poisoned with glutamate?

Kita children suffer from poisoning symptoms after lunch and had to be taken to a clinic as a precautionary measure. Doctors suspect the flavor enhancer glutamate as a possible trigger.

26/01/2011

update: Meanwhile, the health authorities from Hamburg announced that a glutamate syndrome was not the cause.

In a Hamburg day care center, several children showed poisoning symptoms after lunch and were taken to hospital as a precaution. The police investigate the initial suspicion of negligent assault.

After eating cheese spaetzle and tomato sauce for lunch, several children in St. Petri Church kindergarten experienced swelling and redness. In eight children between the ages of ten and 27 months, symptoms were similar and one child suffered from a respiratory irritation, the nursery nurses report. After the appearance of the first signs, the carers immediately alerted the emergency call and contacted the parents of the children.

Eight children with symptoms of intoxication hospitalized
Shortly before twelve o'clock the call of the caregivers was received at the emergency call center. Eight ambulances, an ambulance and a fire truck with a total of 24 emergency services then set off for the church kindergarten St. Petri. „The ambulance was there as a precaution“, because „he should look at the children right away“, emphasized fire department spokesman Martin Schneider. However, according to the rescue workers „no danger to life at any time“ for the adolescents. What caused the symptoms of intoxication has been a mystery to both the caregivers and the rescue workers. The suspected tomato sauce was immediately sent to a hygiene institute, which should now clarify whether the sauce was possibly contaminated. However, the police are investigating the initial suspicion of negligent assault. „There is a suspicion of negligent assault“, stressed Chief Commissioner Karina Sadowsky. So far, this is mainly directed against the caterer, who is currently responsible for the daily food deliveries in the day care center.

Worried about the symptoms of intoxication
In view of the symptoms of poisoning in the children, the spokeswoman for the responsible church district of Hamburg-Ost showed up; Susanne Gerbsch extremely concerned: „We are very affected by this incident and hope that the cause of these irritations will be found as soon as possible“ stressed Gerbsch. The spokeswoman of the parish completed: „We are happy that all children are safe again with their parents and do not need further treatment.“ Gerbsch explained that at St. Petri daycare, lunch is usually self-prepared, but for the time being this is not possible due to staff shortages due to illness. For example, the responsible people resorted to the services of a catering company this week, with which the parish association claims to have worked more frequently. So far the are „high quality and also designed for children food“ was always to the satisfaction of those responsible, explained Gerbsch. After yesterday's incident, the parish immediately informed all institutions in the parish association, which also relate to the company Essen. However, none of them had experienced similar occurrences. Nevertheless, as a precautionary measure, until the results of the hygiene institute were available, another caterer was commissioned, said the spokeswoman for the parish.

Caterer can not explain the symptoms of intoxication
The caterer was shocked by the symptoms of poisoning in infants after eating his food. 1,800 servings had been delivered by the company on Tuesday, with 65 went to the daycare St. Petri. However, even after research no similar symptoms could be found in the other delivery locations, reports the caterer. Nowhere else had it come to comparable reactions. The caterer emphasized that all his dishes are cooked exclusively with organic products and no one in the company can explain the incident. The catering company also wants to have the suspected food examined by itself.

Emergency doctor suspects glutamate as a cause
The first suspicions of the emergency physician that the cause of the symptoms of poisoning could be an overdose of the flavor enhancer glutamate in the tomato sauce. The symptoms of the children would have essentially the so-called „Chinese restaurant syndrome“ (Name for glutamate intolerance) met. For decades, researchers have been investigating the phenomenon that restaurant visitors often describe after dining in a Chinese restaurant. Ten to 20 minutes after eating, it comes to dry mouth, reddened skin with heat sensation, facial muscle rigidity, itching in the throat, headache in the area of ​​the temples, neck stiffness, body aches and nausea. Glutamate is first and foremost suspected of being responsible for the symptoms.

Symptoms of intoxication correspond to a glutamate intolerance
According to the experts, the active substance glutamate, which is often used as a flavor enhancer, has a direct influence on the metabolic processes of nerve cells as a neurotransmitter and could be harmful to nerve cells if excessive cellular concentrations are present. In extreme cases, this is accompanied by a death of the nerve cells, which means that at high concentrations, glutamate appears to be neurotoxic. However, glutamate is not only used as an artificial flavor enhancer in industrially manufactured foods, but is naturally also present in many unprocessed foods (for example tomatoes) or slightly modified foods (for example cheese) with relatively high concentrations. Whether the symptoms of poisoning were actually triggered by glutamate will be decided within the scope of the investigations of the Hygiene Institute in the coming days. (Fp)

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Picture: Jürgen Frey