7 die from food poisoning in northeast China

Seven people have died after eating contaminated food during a family meal in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, local authorities announced on Saturday.

The food poisoning occurred on October 5 when a resident surnamed Wang in Jidong County dined with eight family members at home and had sour noodles, a local food made of fermented corn flour, which had remained frozen for a year.

Police have ruled out homicide by poisoning since no toxic substances were detected from the extracts on the premises. A preliminary investigation suggested aflatoxin poisoning as hospital lab test results showed that the level of aflatoxin in the food was far higher than normal.