‘Hallucinogenic’ spinach recall widens as Woolworths warns about salads

Woolworths has recalled two varieties of its pre-packaged salads a day after contaminated baby spinach from Costco was recalled after dozens of people fell ill, with some reporting hallucinations.

Eight people have become sick from eating the spinach in Victoria and the state’s health department said it is investigating the source of the contamination.

As of Friday, there were 47 people in NSW who reported symptoms after eating the spinach and at least 17 needed medical help, according to the state’s health department.

Those who became sick experienced a range of symptoms, including serious hallucinations, delirium, blurred vision, dilated pupils and fever.

Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) is heading efforts to alert consumers and is working with businesses to co-ordinate the recall across NSW, Victoria and ACT.

Woolworths on Friday recalled its 270g Chicken Cobb Salad with an expiry date of 20 December and its 290g Chickpea Falafel Salad with a used by of both 20 and 22 December.

A contaminated batch of baby spinach is believed to be responsible for severe illness and hallucinations.Credit: Rachel Husband

“The recall is due to potential contamination with unsafe plant material​,” said a warning on the FSANZ website.

“Food products containing unsafe plant material may cause illness if consumed.”

Aldi has also recalled its Fresh Salad Co Fresh and Fast Stir Fry from Victorian shops on the same grounds.

It is unclear whether the recalls are connected to that of the baby spinach, which was on Friday expanded to include products with best-before dates up to December 28 as a precautionary measure. It had previously warned consumers about products with a best-before date of December 16.

“It appears these products, which were grown on a farm in Victoria and shipped to stores in NSW, have been contaminated with a weed which can have health consequences if consumed,” Riviera Farms said in a statement.

The company said it advised authorities immediately after a retailer alerted it to the issue.

NSW Health said it was working with the NSW Food Authority and other jurisdictions to investigate the contamination.

NSW Poisons Information Centre medical director Dr Darren Roberts said there were patients still very sick more than 24 hours after symptoms began.

“The patients that have been quite unwell have been to the point of marked hallucinations where they are seeing things that aren’t there,” he said. “They can’t give a good recount of what happened.

“No one has died, so we’re very happy with that, and we hope it remains that way, but these people are quite sick.”

Investigations into the contaminant are ongoing, but NSW Health said it was confident the symptoms were caused by the accidental presence of a chemical.

“There are many possible causes for this – overseas we can see another plant accidentally entering supply,” Roberts said.

“Lots of tests are being conducted based on material that’s left and the blood and urine of patients [but] we feel pretty confident with the type of chemical that’s caused it.”

Riviera Farms said it had been in contact with food regulators on Thursday after notifying stores to pull the product from shelves.

“Early reports are that our one-kilogram plastic tubs of spinach with a best-before date of December 16 may be contaminated with a weed which can have health consequences if consumed,” a spokesman said.

“As soon as we were advised of the possible weed contamination from one of our customers, we immediately advised them to remove our impacted spinach from their shelves, and contacted state health and federal food authorities.

“There is no suggestion, and to our knowledge no possibility, that any other products have been impacted by this weed.”

Some of those affected called the Poisons Information Centre and were advised to seek medical attention.

“When people have these kinds of symptoms they should go to hospital, these effects won’t go away on their own,” Roberts said.

ACT Health has been contacted for comment.

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