Woman Poisoned After Eating Daffodils

Apr 26, 2024 | News On Japan

NAGANO - A woman in her 70s experienced severe food poisoning earlier this week after mistaking daffodils for garlic chives in Ueda City, Nagano, frying them up with eggs, leading to symptoms such as cramps and vomiting.

This isn't an isolated case. Despite their visual similarities, garlic chives and daffodils have a critical difference: one is edible, and the other is toxic. Kasahara Mie of the Nagano City Health Office explains that even for professionals, distinguishing them based solely on appearance can be challenging. However, she notes that the smell is a reliable indicator, as garlic chives have a distinctive odor that daffodils lack.

In the past decade, there have been 237 reported cases of poisoning from daffodils across Japan, resulting in one fatality. The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has advised against cultivating vegetables and ornamental plants together in home gardens to prevent such mix-ups.

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