Holidaymakers stricken by toxic honey
The victim to be admitted to Waikato Hospital
Health authorities have issued a warning about comb honey sold in the Coromandel in recent days after two holidaymakers became violently ill and a child nearly died.
The toxic honey was sold at a roadside stall and it is understood it was made by a Whangamata hobbyist.
Now authorities are arranging drop-off points for people with honey they fear may be contaminated so it can be collected and disposed of. Bees would otherwise find it and return the toxins to their hives.
Wellington mother Jo Whittle, her three-year-old son Daniel and eight-month-old baby were holidaying in Onemana with her parents, her sister and her sister%26#39;s partner, Joseph Reynolds, when they bought the honey on Thursday, the last day of their four-day break. It was in a plastic box with a transparent lid.
Reynolds, who is visiting from London with Whittle%26#39;s sister, ate a honey sandwich that night. He said it had no odour and tasted fine.
Hours later he felt nauseous and disorientated. He made himself throw up and went to bed.
While asleep he had a seizure and his family called 111.
Reynolds says the next thing he knew he woke up in an ambulance. %26quot;At that point I couldn%26#39;t even remember what country I was in.%26quot;
Thames Hospital doctors initially thought Reynolds had suffered a diabetic attack but when Whittle and her son also became ill they suspected food poisoning.
At 4am Daniel started throwing up and two hours later he had a seizure.
By that stage Whittle was also vomiting and weak, so her mother was looking after the boy.
Whittle said she heard her mother cry out and when she raced to the lounge she found her son had turned blue and had stopped breathing.
%26quot;I was extremely frightened, I thought my son was going to die… He was on the couch and his back was arched, he was shaking up and down.%26quot;
She laid him on the floor and he started breathing. The family called 111 again.
Ten minutes later Onemana volunteer firefighters arrived and gave Daniel oxygen until ambulance staff took over.
Reynolds was expected to be released from hospital today and the others were released on Friday.
The poison honey is produced by bees feeding on a native bush known as tutu. When they gather honeydew produced by the sap-sucking vine hopper insect feeding on the plants, they can introduce the poison tutin into honey.
National Beekeepers Association CEO Jim Edwards said suspect honey should not be thrown out, as that would return the poison to the food chain.
%26quot;Bees will actively seek out honey, they%26#39;ll find it anywhere,%26quot; he said. %26quot;If they access it, they%26#39;ll just quietly take it back to their hives.%26quot;
Waikato District Health Board spokeswoman Mary Ann Gill said the honey producer had voluntarily withdrawn it from sale when told about the incident.
The family has given the honey to the health board for analysis.
Food Safety Authority spokeswoman Trish Pearce said the producer would face charges under the Food Act 1981 if it was found they had sold unsafe honey.
Whittle said it was %26quot;incredible%26quot; how little honey they had eaten Daniel had a scraping on a bun and Reynolds had about two teaspoons%26#39; worth. Whittle had even less, which was possibly why she was less sick.
