Four people are suffering food poisoning after eating tuna imported from Thailand and sold at a Sydney CBD cafe.
Health authorities have been called in to investigate the source of the suspected contaminated tuna after four people showed symptoms of Scombroid poisoning.
The customers had ordered tuna salad from a cafe near Town Hall station, News Ltd has reported.
The South Eastern Sydney Local Health District said the fish may not have been stored correctly.
The cafe, which insists it meets the highest hygiene standards, has changed its brand of tuna since the customers fell ill, Network Seven reports.
The cafe's customers suffered symptoms including skin rashes, dizziness, tingling in the mouth and nausea after eating the salad on Monday.
Scombroid was linked to the death last year of Queensland mother and daughter Noelene and Yvana Bischoff, just hours after they ate contaminated fish at a restaurant in Bali.
AUSVEG chief executive Richard Mulcahy said more tuna products sold in Australia should be sourced locally.
"We've got a big tuna industry in South Australia," he told Fairfax radio.
"Possibly some of these manufacturers who haven't been very supportive of what we're doing are just looking at the bottom line and saying well, we can buy it from Asia, it's cheaper."
The Sydney cafe episode follows a Hepatitis A scare involving frozen berries imported from China.
Eighteen people have so far been diagnosed with hepatitis A linked to the berries, a week after a nationwide recall was issued for a range of products.
Scombroid: facts and symptoms
Scombroid poisoning
- also known as histamine poisoning, Scombroid is a type of food poisoning caused by high levels of histamine in fish which can occur if it isn't chilled properly
- freezing or cooking contaminated fish won't kill the toxin
- usually occurs in tuna, sardines, mackerel and swordfish
- treated with antihistamines
- extremely rare - of 57 people affected in Australia between January 2009 and December 2013, only nine were hospitalised and no deaths were reported
- Scombroid was linked to the death last year of Queensland mother and daughter Noelene and Yvana Bischoff who ate contaminated fish at a restaurant in Bali.
Symptoms
- tingling or burning in the mouth, rash on the upper body, drop in blood pressure, headaches and itching
- may progress to nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea requiring hospitalisation, particularly for elderly patients
- usually occur within 30 minutes after eating poisoned fish and can last from three hours to several days.
(Sources: Federal Department of Health, Food Standards Australia New Zealand and NSW Food Authority, Food Safety Information Council).
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