An elderly woman has died as a result of botulism poisoning, produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, after eating some Italian olives that contained the toxin.

According to the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, she succumbed to the illness on Thursday.

Another adult member of the same family remains in hospital.

Prior to their illness, both had eaten from a jar of stuffed organic olives, which was subsequently discovered to contain the toxin, as reported by THL, the National Institute for Health and Welfare.

The olives in question were manufactured and packaged in Italy, and the jar contains the Finnish wording "Gaudiano Bio oliivi mantelitäytteellä" (Gaudiano Organic Olives Stuffed with Almonds).

The best-before dates on the product are 08/2012 or 09/2012 and the batch numbers H2510X or L1810X.