Death by Vinegar Overdose
By Ms. Ann, 11th Feb 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutNewsCrime
A local coroner ruled the death of a five year old boy was due to the "ingestion of vinegar." Coroner Ginn said in the article- the boy was apparently, "given a lot." The article did not say anything about the vinegar being contaminated, although China has had some food contamination problems. Were home remedies relied upon too much?
We had never heard of anyone dying from drinking vinegar. It stirred the imagination as to what could have caused such a death.
Death By Vinegar Overdose
There was an unusual story that ran in our local newspaper on Saturday. The caption read as follows: “Coroner: Boy had overdose of vinegar,” written by Josh Kegley. The story said the Fayette County Corner's office had ruled the death of a five year old boy as a homicide. The child died from drinking a “lethal amount” of vinegar. Question. How much vinegar do you need to drink for it to be lethal?
I finished reading the story. I went to my computer to find out, how much vinegar does one have to drink before you ingest a lethal dose. The child died on Dec. 3, 2011. The story indicated that the obituary was in the paper on Dec. 6, 2011; it stated the child was born in Hangzhou, China. The child was thought to be adopted. If the child was given vinegar as some sort of "home remedy," the article did not say what problem the child might have been experiecing that the treatment of vinegar could aid his cure. Most of us are acquainted with the use of vinegar as a home remedy for minor ailments. Personally, I use vinegar daily.
Henry Spiller, board certified toxicologist and director of the Kentucky Regional Poison Control Center said in the article. “It would be very difficult,” to poison someone with vinegar. Mr. Spiller is not involved in this Lexington case, according to the article.
The article said the child became unresponsive at his home and was taken by ambulance to the hospital's pediatric emergency unit where he was pronounced dead. This article caused us to wonder if there were other incidents of “death by vinegar.” Did the vinegar come from China? Could the vinegar have been contaminated?
I found the following information. “Contaminated Vinegar Suspected in Death of 11 Chinese,” by Eyder Peralta. This article said that authorities believe that vinegar tainted with antifreeze had been responsible for the death of eleven Muslims who had ingested it during a Ramadan meal. The vinegar had been stored in plastic barrels that had once housed antifreeze. There were other articles that voiced concerns about contaminated vinegar and China's food safety.
The child in the article was born in Hangzhou China, so I checked out that city.
Hangzhou China is mentioned in an article about the mainland and Taiwan regarding food safety. This is taken directly from an article regarding food safety. Mainland, Taiwan urged to jointly oversee food safety:“The food safety commission under the State Council, or cabinet, has ordered increased inspections and instant recalls of beverages, food products and additives contaminated with DEHP.”
You want to know what DEHP is? Well, here is what mainland China requires of Taiwan.
“The mainland will suspend imports of beverages, food products and food additives from Taiwan that are produced by companies suspected of using bis (2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), an organic compound that is used by manufacturers to soften plastic.”
Here is the technical, scientific uptake if di-(2-ethylhexyl)phtalate (DEHP)-”from plastic mulch film used in field cultivation by 10 vegetable plants was investigated by experiments carried out in pots. The results showed that DEHP was transferred from the mulch film to all vegetable plants. Wax gourd (Benincasa hispida)showed the greatest capacity for uptake of DEHP, while cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata)could also accumulate high levels.
As I stated earlier, most of us use some home remedies we have had in our families for a long time. Here are some remedies that come from vinegar, used by the Chinese in home treatments. “Vinegar is called (Ku jiu) bitter wine, chun cu, pure vinegar and mi cu, rice vinegar.. It is primarily made in China from fermented sorghum and rice and believed to have many healing properties.
According to Chinese medical theory vinegar's flavor is sour and bitter and its nature or temperature is warm. The Chinese believe that vinegar enters the liver and stomach channels and functions to scatter stasis, stop bleeding, resolve toxins and kill intestinal worms. They use vinegar to cover a wide spectrum of disorders from internal medicine, gynecological, dermatological, and traumatic conditions.
You can even use vinegar on the corns on your feet, for warts, for the common cold, even obesity. It is difficult to internalize that one can die from ingesting vinegar; it is especially hard to think of it as it concerns- a child.
Lexington-Herald Leader Newspaper 02/11/2011
Http://bluepoppy.com
Http://www.npr.org
Comments
12th Feb 2012 (#)
What a hazardous kind of vinegar it was---" tainted with antifreeze"!
Really surprising to know that vinegar can kill people.
Good analysis of the facts, wonderfully presented.
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13th Feb 2012 (#)
Excess ingestion of any item can kill and also existing medical condition can be exacerbated through overdose or wrong medication - siva
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14th Feb 2012 (#)
One of my wife's relatives used vinegar to make her slim, trouble was she destroyed the inner workings of her body. Yuck!
BTW: Great article, but it would be better if you also had a BIO picture (and it does not have to be of you) so that you can reveal a little about your personality.
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16th Feb 2012 (#)
Thank you very much but-No Thanks.
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19th Feb 2012 (#)
Interesting. Than you for sharing.
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19th Feb 2012 (#)
Oops! Thank you.
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1st Mar 2012 (#)
I have never heard of such, great info! I can only imagine how much that child suffered before he passed, just breaks the heart. Thank you for sharing.:)
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7th Apr 2012 (#)
A very informative and educational article.
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