Poisonous Chinatown Herbal Tea Leaves Two Critically Ill, Could Kill Other

East Bay Times ^ | March 10, 2017 | Joyce Tsai

[nickcarraway]

Health officials warned the public Friday to throw away any herbal tea purchased from a Chinatown shop, after two people became critically ill after consuming the tea which was found to contained Aconite, a lethal poison.

In separate incidents from February and March, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 30s became gravely ill within an hour of drinking tea made from leaves supplied by the same San Francisco herbalist. The tea leaves were purchased at the Sun Wing Wo Trading Company, located at 1105 Grant Ave. in Chinatown in San Francisco.

Each person quickly became weak, experiencing life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms, which led to the need for resuscitation and intensive hospital care. Lab tests later found that Aconite, a plant-based toxin, was in the tea samples they provided.

“Anyone who has purchased tea from this location should not consume it and should throw it away immediately,” said Dr. Tomás Aragón, health officer for San Francisco city and county, in a statement. “Aconite poisoning attacks the heart and can be lethal.”

The health department is removing the potentially deadly product from the shelves there. The department is also working with the business owner to trace the source of the contamination and ensure safety for future customers.

People who have purchased and consumed the tea, and experienced no symptoms, are safe, but should not consume any more of it, health officials said. If you consume the tea and experience symptoms, call 911 or go immediately to the nearest hospital.

Symptoms usually begin within a few minutes or up to a couple of hours and can depend on the amount ingested, officials warned. They can include numbness or tingling of the face, mouth or limbs; weakness in the limbs and paralysis. Other symptoms can include dangerously low blood pressure, palpitations, chest pain, slow or fast heartbeat, and irregular heartbeats that can lead to sudden death, as well as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

With no antidote, Aconite is commonly called monkshood, helmet flower, wolfsbane, “chuanwu,” “caowu,” and “fuzi” and is used in Asian herbal medicine to treat pains, bruises and other conditions. Raw Aconite roots, leaves and flowers are generally toxic but are used only after adequate processing.

For further questions, contact California Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or http://www.calpoison.org/

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I use a french press to make loose leaf tea.

After it has brewed 4 minutes I pour it into a warmed thermos and have hot tea for the day.