The science behind contaminated baby spinach causing hallucinations

Authorities believe that the spinach caused toxic reactions due to contamination.

Supermarkets in Australia recalled batches of baby spinach after over 100 people experienced hallucinations with at least 54 requiring medical attention after consuming the vegetable. Authorities believe that the spinach caused toxic reactions due to contamination, TheNew York Timesreported on December 18.

Those affected experienced symptoms such as delirium, blurred vision, dilated pupils, nausea and vomiting, rapid heartbeat, hallucinations, fever and confusion. 

“They’re unable to see properly, they’re confused, they’re having hallucinations. And we’re talking about scary hallucinations; it’s nothing that’s fun,” Darren Roberts, the medical director of New South Wales’s Poisons Information Center, said in an interview on Australian television

Also Read | How much memory loss is normal with ageing?

The leafy vegetables, produced in Riviera Farms, are said to be contaminated with a weed, resulting in the severe symptoms. The baby spinach was shipped to Victoria in the Australian Capital Territory, which includes Canberra and New South Wales. 

A release by the Health Department of Victoria said that the symptoms suggest anticholinergic syndrome, which is caused by substances present in plants like mandrake root, nightshade and Samson weed from the Solanaceae family. 

Plants and drugs containing anticholinergic elements lower or stop the production of acetylcholine, a type of neurotransmitter that aids in thinking, memory and the visual system, Dominic fftytche, a professor of visual psychiatry at King’s College in London, told the publication.