Aizawl: At least 33 people from Khumtung village in central Mizoram’s Serchhip district have been admitted to different hospitals due to food poisoning after consuming locally made ‘bekang um’ or fermented soybean, reports from Khumtung said on Sunday.
No loss of human lives has so far been reported until Sunday afternoon.
The reports said that at least seven people have been admitted to the Civil Hospital at Aizawl, eight people, including three minors, to the Referral Hospital at Falkawn village near Aizawl, and 12 people were being observed at the Emergency Department (Casualty) at the hospital. Six people are also admitted to the Trinity Hospital and Research Centre, a private hospital located on the southern outskirts of Aizawl.
The number of people treated at their respective homes is not yet ascertained, the reports said.
It was reported that a number of people bought the fermented soybean from the members of the local church of the United Pentecostal Church on Saturday as a part of fund-raising efforts.
A number of people who have eaten the fermented soybean were complaining of acute stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea on Sunday, resulting in a number of them being admitted to several healthcare facilities.
The state health department’s senior official of the Food and Drug Administration said that a team of experts will be sent to Khumtung village to collect samples of the fermented soybean, not yet consumed, for laboratory tests on Monday.
This is not the first instance that a number of people have taken ill or even died due to the consumption of fermented soybeans in the state.
FDA officials said that food poisoning can happen if the soybeans are preserved with insecticides or pesticides for seeds before being fermented or if the utensils used for fermentation are not properly sterilized before fermentation.