The Swiss poison information centre Tox Info Suisse provides advice in cases of possible acute poisoning, including reports concerning food supplements, slimming foods and foods for athletes. To obtain an overview of reported cases, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) asked Tox Info Suisse to evaluate the inquiries it had received over the past six years.
The number of inquiries to Tox Info Suisse has increased significantly in recent years. From 2014 to 2019, approximately 1200 reports were received. Around two thirds of these concerned the acute, unintentional intake by young children, leading to mild symptoms at worst. In cases of acute, intentional intake by adults, caffeine was the leading substance in terms of frequency and severity of symptoms (17 of the 22 moderate to severe cases involved caffeine). Two cases led to hospitalisation.
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Katharina Schenk-Jäger, Stefan Weiler
Novembre 2020
