Toad-soup remedy proves lethal
( 2003-09-03 15:59) (China Daily)
Four children have died of food poisoning after drinking a home-made toad
soup prepared as a health tonic, reports Yangcheng Evening News.
Lin, a farmer woman in Beidou Town, Taishan, caught four toads while working
in the fields on Monday.
Having heard toad soup was a kind of traditional Chinese medicine that
dispels "inner heat" and improves digestion, Lin used her catch to prepare some
and fed it to her three children and a niece.
But the children started vomiting and lost feeling in their limbs one hour
after drinking the soup. They all died in hospital.
Experts confirmed that toads are used in traditional Chinese medicine. But
certain poisonous organs must be removed, said Zhu Shaofan, a food specialist
with the Guangzhou Patriotic Sanitation Office.
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