The guideline “Operational guidelines in cases of acute food poisoning due to ingestion of tropane alkaloids” was approved on 25 September 2023, within the Interregional Coordination Area of Prevention and Public Health.
The objective of the document is to guarantee food safety, through the adoption of timely measures to protect public health, in the event of episodes of acute food poisoning from tropane alkaloids (AT). The document provides indications to identify as quickly as possible the potential food vehicles responsible for intoxication and the sampling and analysis methods to confirm the presence of these substances.
The guideline illustrates the tasks of each of the subjects involved in this type of emergency.
The document also provides detailed elements regarding the timing with which the laboratories must guarantee the execution of the analyzes and the dissemination of the results to the competent authorities involved in the management of food poisoning.
The need to provide operational guidelines arises from the critical issues that emerged during the management of cases, which have been repeated over the years, of food poisoning related to the consumption of leafy vegetables (e.g. spinach, broccoli) sold fresh, loose or packaged, and as frozen foods, as well as products derived from flour (especially buckwheat).
The Regions were asked to transmit the document to any other potentially interested party (hospital facilities, general practitioners, paediatricians of free choice, etc.) to allow widespread information within the territorial area of competence.