Two people have died after eating contaminated broccoli and sausage sandwiches from a food truck in Italy, according to reports.
Tamara D’Acunto, 45, and musician Luigi Di Sarno, 52, both died after suffering from botulism after buying the sandwich from a kiosk in Diamante, Calabria, in southern Italy.
The rare and life-threatening disease is caused by toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria which attack the nervous system.
More than 17 people have been hospitalised, with the Public Prosecutors Office seizing broccoli jars from the business, according to local media reports. Other cases have also been noted in Italy.
La Repubblica reports that Ms D’Acunto was a regular at the Peppino’s truck, run by 33-year-old Giuseppe Santonocito, who has been operating the stall selling sandwiches for nine years - including the one containing sausage and broccoli.
Mr Di Sarno was driving home from a holiday with his family in Calabria when they stopped to eat in Diamante, where he consumed the deadly sandwich.
According to the NHS, food-borne botulism can occur when someone “eats food containing the toxins because it has not been properly canned, preserved or cooked”.
It can also emerge as a result of infected wounds, usually a result of “injecting illegal drugs like heroin contaminated with the bacteria into muscle rather than a vein”, the NHS says.
Botulism becomes fatal when the attack on the nervous system causes paralysis. While most people make a full recovery, the paralysis can spread to muscles which control breathing, which is fatal in around five to 10 per cent of cases.
Elsewhere in Italy, a 38-year-old woman died due to botulism poisoning after eating guacamole from a festival stand in Cagliary, Sardinia, according to La Repubblica.
Roberta Pitzalis’ condition had appeared to stabilise before it suddenly deteriorated last week, the outlet reported.
An 11-year-old boy who also ate a taco with guacamole at the festival remains in hospital.
Authorities in Cagliari are investigating the outbreak and warning people to exercise caution when buying risky foods.
