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#274162 - 02/07/15 01:45 PM Public Health Alert (PHE)
Am_Fear_Liath_Mor Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 3078
Public Health England PHE has issued a Health alert to Supermarkets throughout England.

http://news.sky.com/story/1423059/keep-daffodils-away-from-food-stores-told



Edited by Am_Fear_Liath_Mor (02/07/15 01:46 PM)

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#274168 - 02/08/15 01:00 AM Re: Public Health Alert (PHE) [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
Ren Offline
Addict

Registered: 11/05/07
Posts: 522
Loc: Wales, UK
Do find it slightly odd they consulted a Canadian organisation for comment. Hopefully just a time issue, and relevant UK office had finished for the day.


Edited by Ren (02/08/15 01:03 AM)

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#274169 - 02/08/15 02:06 AM Re: Public Health Alert (PHE) [Re: Ren]
haertig Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 03/13/05
Posts: 2322
Loc: Colorado
Is it just me, or do others think people are getting stupider? (1) It's stupid to eat a daffodil, and (2) it's stupid to display them amongst the vegetables. It's like the dumb leading the dumber here.

Next up: "Do not display toilet paper alongside the tomatoes, because people are confusing the two and making mistakes."

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#274170 - 02/08/15 05:32 AM Re: Public Health Alert (PHE) [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3219
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Odd, perhaps, but edible flowers are a "thing" these days. There are even florists who advertise "edible arrangements" and deliver them to your office. Perhaps it's seeped into the public subconscious without context (a little learning is a dangerous thing).

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#274172 - 02/08/15 09:20 AM Re: Public Health Alert (PHE) [Re: haertig]
M_a_x Online   happy
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
Maybe the problem is partly a result of increased variety in vegetables. The food stores try to cater people from foreign countries as well. That way we can find fruit and vegetable we do not know. Around here you can eat what you find in the food department unless you have an allergy.
I admit that I also sometimes buy tasty looking fruit or vegetable and find out later how to use them.
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If it isnīt broken, it doesnīt have enough features yet.

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#274173 - 02/08/15 09:27 AM Re: Public Health Alert (PHE) [Re: dougwalkabout]
M_a_x Online   happy
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
Itīs not necessarily about flowers. At this time o year store sell bulbs for several flowers to plant. These bulbs look a lot like some kind of onion. Sometimes they have a little green and white stem.
Onions are used in the kitchen for a long time. So it is negligent to display poisons plants next to food, especially when it is widely known that most people cannot identify a bulb reliably.
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#274177 - 02/08/15 10:58 PM Re: Public Health Alert (PHE) [Re: haertig]
Am_Fear_Liath_Mor Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 3078
Quote:

Is it just me, or do others think people are getting stupider? (1) It's stupid to eat a daffodil, and (2) it's stupid to display them amongst the vegetables. It's like the dumb leading the dumber here.


Makes you wonder how many will end up with a big patch of onions rather than the daffs as well. laugh

BTW, I'm with the 'Stupider' theory. Maybe folks have never seen a supermarket daffodil or an onion before. Certainly makes anyone who can identify wild edibles look like genius!

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#274179 - 02/09/15 04:21 AM Re: Public Health Alert (PHE) [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
haertig Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 03/13/05
Posts: 2322
Loc: Colorado
Originally Posted By: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor
Maybe folks have never seen a supermarket daffodil or an onion before. Certainly makes anyone who can identify wild edibles look like genius!

Well, in all honesty, you shouldn't need to have wild edible identification skills to buy your food in a supermarket. However, if the employees are mixing daffodils amongst the onions at your store, it would be a good skill to have (or just switch to a different supermarket with smarter employees).

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#274208 - 02/12/15 02:58 PM Re: Public Health Alert (PHE) [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
Ren Offline
Addict

Registered: 11/05/07
Posts: 522
Loc: Wales, UK
Seems this isn't as problematic as it first sounds. The last case of daffodil poisoning in the UK was in 2012.

Quote:
In February 2012, we investigated a cluster of people who presented at a local emergency department with sudden onset of vomiting after mistaken consumption of daffodils. Methods. We interviewed patients to collect information on daffodil purchase and consumption. With Local Authority we investigated points of sale to understand the source of confusion. Results. We identified 11 patients (median age: 23 years, range 5–60 years, eight females) among Bristol (UK) residents of Chinese origin. The most commonly reported symptoms were vomiting (n = 11) and nausea (n = 9) that developed within 12 h of daffodil consumption. There were no hospitalisations or deaths. Patients were clustered in two family dinners and one party. Bunches of pre-bloom daffodil stalks were purchased in two stores of one supermarket chain, which displayed daffodils next to vegetables, not marked as non-edible. Patients cooked and consumed daffodils mistaking them for Chinese chives/onions.

Discussion.

Gastro-intestinal poisoning should be considered in differential diagnoses of gastroenteritis. Multi-cultural societies are at risk of confusion between non-edible and edible plants. Supermarket presentation of daffodils may have contributed to mistaken consumption. We recommended explicit labelling and positioning of daffodils, away from produce. The supermarket chain introduced graphic ‘non-edible’ labels. No further patients were reported following action.

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