Instructions: 1. Name of the Toxin: Phytohaemagglutinin (Kidney Bean Lectin)

2. Name of the Acute Disease:
Red Kidney Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) Poisoning, Kinkoti Bean Poisoning, and possibly other names.

3. Nature of the Acute Disease:
The onset time from consumption of raw or undercooked kidney beans to symptoms varies from between 1 to 3 hours. Onset is usually marked by extreme nausea, followed by vomiting, which may be very severe. Diarrhea develops somewhat later (from one to a few hours), and some persons report abdominal pain. Some persons have been hospitalized, but recovery is usually
rapid (3 - 4 h after onset of symptoms) and spontaneous.

4. Diagnosis of Human Illness:
Diagnosis is made on the basis of symptoms, food history, and the exclusion
of other rapid onset food poisoning agents (e.g., , , arsenic, mercury, lead, and cyanide).

5. Foods in Which It Occurs:
(stuff deleted)

The syndrome is usually caused by the ingestion of raw, soaked kidney beans,
either alone or in salads or casseroles. As few as four or five raw beans can trigger symptoms. Several outbreaks have been associated with "slow cookers" or crock pots, or in casseroles which had not reached a high enough
internal temperature to destroy the glycoprotein lectin. It has been shown that heating to 80C may potentiate the toxicity five-fold, so that these beans are more toxic than if eaten raw. In studies of casseroles cooked in slow cookers, internal temperatures often did not exceed 75C.

7. Usual Course of the Disease and Some Complications: The disease course is rapid. All symptoms usually resolve within several hours of onset. Vomiting is usually described as profuse, and the severity of symptoms is directly related to the dose of toxin (number of raw beans ingested). Hospitalization has occasionally resulted, and intravenous fluids
may have to be administered. Although of short duration, the symptoms are extremely debilitating.

U S Food & Drug Administration Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins 1992 (Bad Bug Book)

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