Australians have been warned not to seek a spinach high after more than 130 people who ate the leafy green suffered from symptoms including hallucinations and delirium.
Aussies are now being urged not to seek out contaminated baby spinach products from supermarkets for a recreational high, as hundreds of people were left feeling ill - including having symptoms of a fever, blurred vision and delirium - after eating the vegetable.
Authorities on Sunday night tested the weed believed to be responsible for strange after-effects, after the product was recalled from retailers.
It is thought that while harvesting baby spinach, a tiny indistinguishable shrub found its way into many packages.
It is understood that the vegetable had been supplied by a farm in Lindenow, from the state of Victoria, where eight people fell ill.
Meanwhile, 90 people had symptoms in New South Wales (NSW), which prompted 33 of those affected to seek medical attention.
A child was also admitted to hospital in Queensland on Saturday night after eating the spinach, before being released on Sunday - making the tot one of 26 possible cases in that state so far.
Riviera Farms said the spinach was contaminated by a weed that had ended up in the spinach products, and "can have health consequences if consumed”.
The Telegraph reported a statement from the farm said: “As soon as we were advised of the possible weed contamination from one of our customers, we immediately advised them to remove our imported spinach from their shelves and contacted state and federal health authorities.
“There is no suggestion, and to our knowledge no possibility, that any other products have been impacted by this weed.”
Regardless, shoppers are being warned to check and throw away any recalled products, including salad and stir-fry mixes that may contain spinach, that have been sold at Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and Costco.
The sicky spinach had had been sold in a one kilogram plastic containers, with a best-before date of December 16.
Following this, neighbouring New Zealand 's Food Standards is also co-ordinating with the recall of their products.
Authorities have warned its citizens that symptoms can be severe and include delirium or confusion, hallucinations, dilated pupils, rapid heartbeat, flushed face, blurred vision, dry mouth and skin, and fever.
Speaking about the issue, Dr Brett Summerell, chief scientist at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, said that the harvesting of the the baby spinach is difficult to distinguish between other toxic plants - like nightshades - when it is small.
He said: “There are lots of plants that could do this – lots of weeds that are relatives to potato and tomato.
“This is likely to be a nightshade. When young, they are just a few dark green leaves which is probably not that much different to spinach. You’re harvesting all these leafy greens now at a very young age, sometimes it can be quite difficult [to identify].”
Summerell has gone on to warn people not to go searching for the contaminated products, or pick and eat weeds they cannot identify, saying: “People might be tempted to go out picking weeds thinking that they’ll get some sort of high [but] it’s really important to remember yes, there might be a hallucinogenic side to this, but there’s a whole lot of really horrible health issues.
“Whether it’s a mushroom or whether it’s the sorts of weeds, if you don’t know what you’re eating, don’t eat it.”
Health authorities in New South Wales has added that it is investigating what caused the contamination.
Australia’s assistant health minister, Ged Kearney, said the federal government was “communicating frequently with the regulators”.
