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Food Safety Tips on Sauropus androgynus
Sauropus androgynus is a wild vegetable native to Southeast
Asian countries. It was introduced into Taiwan and Mainland in earlier
years. Its dark green leaves were reported to have various nutritive
value and were commonly consumed in Malaysia. When the plant was marketed
in Taiwan, it was regarded as a delicacy in restaurants. It was subsequently
used for weight reduction purpose and was consumed in the form of vegetable
juice (with or without blending with other juices such as apple juice,
honey, milk, etc), salad or cooked vegetables. Recently in the Mainland,
it was reported by the media that Sauropus androgynus, (marketed under
the name of “天綠香”) was available for sale in vegetable markets,
supermarkets and shops, and that a fast-food restaurant chain was serving
a kind of soup with Sauropus androgynus (“天綠香”) as one of
the ingredients.
However, Sauropus androgynus caused a food incident in
Taiwan, which indicated that the consumption of large amount of this
plant (especially in the uncooked state) resulted in insomnia, poor
appetite, difficulties in breathing and occurrence of bronchiolitis
obliterans (a severe form of lung disease). As a result, the plant was
banned for human consumption. Recently in October 2005, the South China
Agricultural University reported their results of an animal toxicity
study on oral ingestion of wild vegetables and raised safety concerns
on the use of Sauropus androgynus as food.
In Hong Kong, consumption of Sauropus androgynus, if any,
is uncommon. Nevertheless, the public are advised to note the following
food safety tips :
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