Case series / case reportindependent cross-checkabstract checked I-VEG-114 standard review
Badly stored vegetable broth caused blue-baby poisoning in Italian infants
Acquired methemoglobinemia in children presenting to Italian pediatric emergency departments: a multicenter report.
Overview
Raucci U et al.. Clin Toxicol (Phila) 2022 · PMID 35416740 · DOI 10.1080/15563650.2022.2061986
19 children (median age 8 months) developed methaemoglobinaemia, mostly after home-made vegetable broth that had been badly preserved; all survived with treatment.
Does the study support the specific claim? Yes · Methodological quality: low
Plain-language summary
Study explained simply
- What did the researchers want to find out?
Describe acquired methaemoglobinaemia in children.
- How was the study done?
Retrospective multicentre series.
- How many people, animals or samples were studied?
19 children.
- What was actually found?
Mostly from badly preserved vegetable broth.
- How large was the observed effect?
Not applicable.
- What do the results mean in everyday life?
Store home-made vegetable broths for babies properly or prepare them fresh.
- What are the study's limitations?
Small; no denominator.
- What does it say about Elawady's specific claim?
Supports infant risk.
- Do the results apply to Germany and Europe?
European.
- What can explicitly not be concluded from this study?
Cannot estimate how often it happens.
Scientific in-depth review
1. Full reference
- Authors
- Raucci U et al.
- Journal
- Clin Toxicol (Phila)
- Year
- 2022
- Identifier
- PMID 35416740 DOI 10.1080/15563650.2022.2061986
- Verification
- verified – PubMed efetch 2026-10-26; Crossref 2026-10-26
- Retracted
- no
- Corrections
- none
- Extent checked
- abstract only
- Conflicts of interest and funding
not stated in abstract
2. Research question
What are the characteristics of acquired methaemoglobinaemia in children presenting to EDs?
3. Study design and population
- Study design
- Case series / case report – Multicentre retrospective case series from five paediatric emergency departments
- Population
Children with acquired methaemoglobinaemia
- Country
Italy
- Period
2007-2020
- Sample size
19
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria
not stated in abstract
4. Methods and endpoints
- Exposure / intervention
Mainly home ingestion of contaminated food, chiefly badly preserved vegetable broth
- Comparator
none
- Endpoints
Clinical features, treatment, outcome
- Statistical methods
Descriptive
5. Actual results
- Results
Median age 8.23 months; median 6 h from trigger to symptoms; all cyanotic; 2 comatose; methylene blue in 14 (73.7%); median stay 2 days; all survived; mostly badly preserved vegetable broth.
- Absolute risks
not reported
- Authors' conclusion
Acquired methaemoglobinaemia is a cause of cyanosis in the weaning child; prompt recognition and treatment lead to rapid recovery.
6. Strengths
- Multicentre
- Recent
7. Weaknesses
- Small retrospective series
- No denominator
8. Risk of bias
- Orienting tool
- none applicable
- Type of assessment
- simplified assessment (abstract only)
- Full formal assessment
- no
- Overall risk of bias
- high
- Rationale
Case series.
9. Assessment of the statistical interpretation
Descriptive only.
10. Relevance to the specific claim
Shows the risk extends to weaning infants (median 8 months) when vegetable broths are badly preserved.
11. Independent contrary findings
none
12. Transferability to Germany and Europe
European.
13. Overall methodological judgement
Supports and widens the age range of the claim; emphasises storage.
| Multidimensional assessment | |
|---|---|
| Authenticity of the source | verified |
| Methodological quality | low |
| Risk of bias | high |
| Precision of results | not applicable |
| Directness | direct |
| Reproducibility | partly replicated |
| Consistency with the overall evidence | consistent |
| Regional transferability | high |
| Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive) | not applicable |
14. Open questions
Incidence.
15. Linked fact checks
- Nitrate-rich vegetables (e.g. courgette soup) given to young infants can cause severe methaemoglobinaemia. – Studies supporting the claim