A funeral in Peru left at least nine people dead and dozens more sick. Officials say that twenty people were affected, and twenty of those people have been hospitilized. The vicitms werereported to have fallen ill afer eating a meat dish a drinking a drink called Chicha, which is made of fermented corn. Cause of illness and death has been determined as an organophosphate - a chemical used in pesticides. Officials say that there have been two previous cases of organophosphate poisoning in the same region. In 2013 there were twenty-three children at a school in Indian who died from eating organophosphates.
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What do you think could have caused the contamination?
I think it was probably just not properly monitered, this took place in the Peruvian Andes and, though it's probably just steryotyping, that area to me just seems like it would be more famrs and less hygene.
If you were a health official in Peru, how would you try to stop this from happening again?
I would limit the use of pesiticides on foods whether for human or animal consumption. I would also have foods tested for contaminates before packaging/selling.
Replies
Good summary but you didn't reply to any student comments which is worth 20 points.
Probbely just meat gone bad or the drink was spoiled and wasent kept in an area where is needs to stay fresh
If i was a health official i would probbely inspectt the food and drinks beofre an event starts or before people eat o drink
Well it sounds like it was caused by a chemical that's not safe to use on food that you're eating. I would make it illegal to use since it has been killing so many people lately. Since everyone knows how bad it is for you I don't think it would be a big problem.
I think that the contamination could have been from improper storage or pesticides like you said.
I think either the something in the food could have gone bad and made them all sick or something got into the food while making it.
Have people be more careful while making or putting it next to places with chemicals or not to get anything in it that could make people sick or kill them
1. There was probably a mishandling when the corn was fermented, harvested, or processed. There were plenty of places it could have been contaminated.
2. I would try to crack down on safety standards.
there could have been different pestisides in the corn and something could have gone bad with the meat and the cooking it just cook the food longer and boil the veggies longer and try to check it someway
Like you said, I think it was the organophosphate because in those areas, there has been two previous cases of this and they don't seem surprised that it happened again. Something must be getting into the food or drink, but I don't know what.
I would try to do experiments to find out what exactly is going into the food and drinks to cause the organophosphate. Yes, I agree limitting the use of pesticides on foods would help, too.
I think that the people did not realize or look carefully. It was a funeral and I do not think that anyone would want more people to die. I would make sure that grocery stores and restaurants inspected there food to make sure that it is not contaminated.
This could have been caused by the animal eating plants that had strong pesticides, or poor health procedures. I would try to stop it by testing the beef for specific chemicals that are deadly in pesticides.
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