Opinion | Australia’s spinach recall spotlights peculiar history of thornapple, a hallucinogenic weed
- Otherwise known as jimsonweed, ‘devil’s snare’ or ‘devil’s trumpet’, it has the scientific name of Datura stramonium
- Effects of anticholinergic poisoning include ‘altered mental state’, which can manifest as delirium, hallucinations, agitation, restlessness, or changes in speech and gait
The agent that contaminated baby spinach, prompting a recent national recall in Australia, has been revealed. It’s a weed, not deliberate misadventure or a chemical contaminant.
The culprit is thornapple, otherwise known as jimsonweed or, to give it its scientific name, Datura stramonium.
Multiple cases of poisoning, now extending into their hundreds, were reported across numerous Australian jurisdictions in the past couple of weeks, following the consumption of baby spinach.
Symptoms included blurred vision, dry mouth, abdominal cramps – and quite significant hallucinations. These are all classic symptoms of “anticholinergic poisoning”.
‘Altered mental state’
“Toxidromes” are patterns of symptoms that give medical responders clues to what agent might be responsible for a poisoning. Not all types of poisoning come with their own toxidrome, but of those that do, anticholinergic poisoning is one of the most colourful and well-characterised.