Tomatine to Blame for Vomiting after Eating Cherry Tomatoes. “Don’t Eat It If It Tastes Bitter”

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Recently, a number of people have complained of vomiting and stomach pain after eating cherry tomatoes. The government announced that such problems were likely to have been caused by tomatine found in tomatoes. If a cherry tomato tastes bitter, then you should not eat it.

On March 30, the government held an emergency meeting with related agencies--the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Chungcheongnam-do Agricultural Research & Extension Services--nutritionists and toxicologists and discussed the cause of the vomiting that occurred after eating tomatoes along with measures to prevent future injuries to consumers.

The experts who attended the meeting agreed that the cause of the vomiting was probably tomatine. When a certain variety of tomatoes is exposed to low temperatures in the ripening stage prior to harvest, it can produce a lot of tomatine, an element that helps the plant protect itself. The tomatine can remain in the tomato even after it is fully ripe, giving the tomato a bitter taste and causing people to vomit. Tomatine is a substance that is produced naturally during the growth of the tomato, and which usually breaks down naturally in the ripening process.

The Chungcheongnam-do Agricultural Research & Extension Services believe the tomatine was produced in the problematic variety (domestic variety registration no. HS2106) when the tomatoes grew amid average temperatures that were about 3℃ lower than the average year in late January, which is when the variety is harvested. They confirmed that there were no problems with any other variety.

So far, the causal relations with the food poisoning have been confirmed in three farms growing the particular variety. Among them, one has already gotten rid of the variety in question, and their products are no longer in distribution. The government is considering an order temporarily restricting shipment from the two remaining farms and recommending them to voluntarily recall their products. The government plans to resume shipment of the tomatoes when they secure evidence from a close examination showing there is no difference with other tomatoes.

Meanwhile, they investigated the complaints by some children who suffered food poisoning symptoms of vomiting and stomach pain after eating cherry tomatoes served in meals at five day care centers and kindergartens in Wonju, Gangwon; Yongin, Gyeonggi; and Seoul since March and confirmed that there was no causal relations with general causes of food-poisoning such as bacteria and pesticide residue. The government traced the distribution route of the cherry tomatoes and confirmed that they were all of the HS2106 variety.

Experts explained that anyone eating the tomatoes in question could temporarily have symptoms of vomiting and stomach pain within an hour of eating the tomato. However, they should recover easily. They advised people not to take drugs to control the vomiting or diarrhea. However, if one has consumed a large amount of tomatoes or if symptoms are severe, they should immediately visit a nearby hospital and receive treatment.