Two people with a taste for casseroles were admitted to hospital with methamphetamine poisoning from a contaminated slow cooker.

The pair turned up at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital in October 2013, suffering from diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea, loss of appetite, dry and sore mouth, palpitations, dizziness, facial flushing, sweating, dilated pupils and racing heart rates.

The symptoms had developed within 10 minutes of eating a homemade bean casserole,

“The bean casserole had been prepared with canned butter beans, canned mixed beans, beef shin on a bone, pork hock, chicken stock powder, onions, carrots, sea salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf,” a detailed ESR report said.

Both reported milder symptoms, after eating the same bean casserole and a homemade beef casserole on separate days before being admitted to hospital.

The beef casserole was made using shin on the bone beef (coated in paprika and potato flour), sea salt, pepper, red wine, tomato paste, mushrooms, garlic, carrots, onions, beef stock and bay leaf, the ESR report said.

Tests of the casseroles at an ESR Laboratory, revealed traces of methamphetamine in both meals.

Further tests revealed methamphetamine inside the slow cooker and on the lid’s inner and outer surfaces.

“There was real concern that a criminal act of food contamination or deliberate poisoning had occurred.”

Police were informed but no further action was taken.