Joseph Reynolds Discharged
The 32-year-old English tourist at the centre of a toxic honey poisoning scare in the Coromandel has today been
discharged from Thames Hospital. Joseph Reynolds, an IT support analyst in London, will continue holidaying in New
Zealand with his partner Vanessa Whittle and her family. They plan to return to the UK on April 1.
The other two who were also affected after they ate comb honey, thought to have had high levels of tutin toxin, were Jo
Whittle, 38, and her three-year-old son Daniel.
Jo Whittle today said they had both fully recovered and were looking forward to continuing their holiday.
The New Zealand Food Safety Authority and Waikato District Health Board advise all consumers who bought comb honey from
the Coromandel area in recent days not to eat the honey and to throw it out. Suspect honey should be well wrapped in the
rubbish so that bees are unable to get to it as if they did it would return the poison to the food chain. Despite
reports, health authorities have no plan to arrange drop-off points for people with honey they fear may be contaminated.
If consumed, comb honey with high levels of tutin toxin, can result in symptoms include vomiting, delirium, giddiness,
increased excitability, stupor, coma and violent convulsions. Any consumers who develop symptoms should contact a doctor
immediately and notify them of any consumption of honey within the preceding hours.
Symptoms usually develop within three hours of consumption. These honey toxins can be lethal, or make a person very
sick. As little as one teaspoon (approximately 10 ml) of toxic honey can have a severe effect on the human nervous
system.
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