A mother and her two chidren residing in Phu Tho Province, northern Vietnam have been hospitalized for food poisoning after consuming toad meat recently.

The three were transferred to the emergency department of Phu Tho General Hospital from a local medical center with symptoms of dizziness, nausea, and excessive vomiting.

The mother’s account showed that they started displaying those signs of food poisoning 30 minutes after eating two fried toads she had cooked for her family.

She claimed she was very careful in preparing the ingredients, getting rid of the toads’ skin and organs, only leaving meat and eggs, assuming they were safe for consumption.

She then ate the eggs and the children consumed the meat.

Doctors at Phu Tho General Hospital diagnosed all three with toad poisoning and prescribed them stomach pumping, activated carbon pills, and detoxification therapy.

Consuming toads is not uncommon for many Vietnamese people who believe that toad meat is nutrient-rich and can help in treating rickets.

Doctor Ha Thi Bich Van, head of the emergency department at Phu Tho General Hospital, refutes this misconception.

“In a toad’s body, there are some parts like liver, eggs, skin, glands, eyes, and brain that contain toxins, especially bufotoxin,” Van explained.

“This [bufotoxin] is an extremely toxic, heat-stable substance that can cause heart arrhythmia and rapid death.

“While the meat and fat of toads are not naturally poisonous, they can become contaminated during the food preparation process, which leads to toad poisoning, a condition with a severe prognosis and high rate of fatality.

“After a person consumes contaminated toad meat, the toxin will be absorbed through the digestive system, then cause symptoms like bloating, upper abdominal pain, excessive vomiting, and possibly diarrhea within one to two hours.

“When the toxin starts affecting the cardiovascular and nervous systems, the patient may show signs of dizziness, hallucination, cold sweats, increased saliva production, shortness of breath, apnea, cardiac arrest, and many other symptoms.”

Doctors strongly advise against consuming toad meat and products made from toad meat, unless it has been properly prepared.

Under no circumstance should one consume the egg, skin or internal organs of a toad.

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