Food poisoning - deadly poison

Regarding nicotine: I read recently that nicotine patches, or the vials of liquid one buys for electronic cigarettes, contain enough nicotine to kill someone if swigged back all at once. That might be worth looking at. Not that the taste would be easy to disguise, but it might be useful.

Old Hack said:

Regarding nicotine: I read recently that nicotine patches, or the vials of liquid one buys for electronic cigarettes, contain enough nicotine to kill someone if swigged back all at once. That might be worth looking at. Not that the taste would be easy to disguise, but it might be useful.

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Hiding the taste is not easy, but I have read that tomato juice does an acceptable job. Nicotine was used in bars to give drinks an extra kick, or so I read. I would never drink the stuff.

Getting a group of people to unwillingly ingest a toxin is a challenge.

If it's in the food, an instantaneous effect ensures anyone who talks more than they eat isn't going to touch their food when they see folks dropping all around them. Strong tasting toxins pose a challenge to get enough in the system to do harm. And some people are just fussy eaters and could eat around your spiked food.

Drink is an option, but you need to account again for the reaction to a quick acting toxin - also that some folks are going to drink water, even if you're toasting with alcohol.

Environmental toxins would affect anyone not wearing a mask, which is a little obvious.

What about something that transmits through physical contact? Have the servers wear gloves to handle the silverware and coat the handles of the knives with something deadly?

Mariana said:

@ King Neptune
My original idea was the food poisoning (with some substance that that can cause paralysis within some minutes) in a public place, so that none of the guests can react when my MC and his gunmen burst in and kill them all. I’ve read some information about cyanide but I’m not sure if it can cause immediate paralysis.

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I just reread, and if this is what you want, and I can understand why you would, then sedatives really would be best. They wouldn't kill the guests, unless someone went wild with whatever they were in. But it would slow reactions, and I think that's what you want. Valium (Benzos), or something of that sort, could do what you want.

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

You might want to read Jerusalem Inn by Martha Grimes. Lots of plant/food poisoning info. [Spoiler Alert] The bad guy attempts to do in someone by replacing coffee beans with castor beans, IIRC.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

In 2003 there was a mass poisoning by arsenic in the coffee in New Sweden ME. There are some links in this Wikipedia article.

Siri Kirpal said:

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

You might want to read Jerusalem Inn by Martha Grimes. Lots of plant/food poisoning info. [Spoiler Alert] The bad guy attempts to do in someone by replacing coffee beans with castor beans, IIRC.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

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That's almost funny. It reminds me of Mussolini.

Well, everything is poisonous in the right dosage, so, from that point, the list is long. But for a method that has neither the too fast acting problem, nor a strong taste, why not use simple rat poison? Depending on the MC, it could even be seen as a message, if he poisons his enemies "exactly like rats". I would suggest against the cyanide, though: cyanides are unstable when not dry or in alkaline solutions, emitting hydrogen cyanide, which can be smelled (and poison the gunmen entering/waiters/whoever else is there)

Mariana said:

Hi to everyone and thank you ALL for your answers!


From what I’ve already read in the answers above, probably I’m going to choose the tetrodotoxin (pupper fish) or botulinum (or any other neurotoxin).


Basically, the scenario of poisoning is the most suitable for my story because I don’t want the Mafia boss to be prosecuted for homicide, plus I want to have the Police “covering up” the crime and state that it was not a homicide but the death of all guests was caused by food poisoning (so the catering company will be prosecuted instead). That could infuriate public opinion, together with the fact that the Mafia boss “didn’t count the loss of so many innocent lives and he did such a horrible thing just to ensure that his enemy and his family would end up dead”

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I agree. If To get the caterer blamed used puffer fish or botulinum, or someone could have made a peach pie that included the peach seeds and was spiced with leaves; those items contain a great deal of cyanide, and you could have someone toss in a little extra.
Mushrooms are another possibility.

When people die from eating puffer fish, there isn't usually any prosecution, because they should have known better.

A lot of people would shrug at a Mafia boss dying, but the caterer would probably have to change careers.

Mariana said:

But does the rat poison has immediate effects? I think that it does tastes really bad and except that I don't want any of the bad guys to be transferred at the hospital and then rescued. Can anyone survive from rat poisoning???

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No, most rat poisons aren't easily identified by taste, and take some time to work (depending on the exact poison, might be some days to a week), otherwise rats wouldn't feed on them (they tend to be quiet smart in such regards). for the saving in hospital thing, well, yes, that could become a problem, as an antidot is known and quiet readily available.

Mariana said:

Hi to everyone and thank you ALL for your answers!


From what I’ve already read in the answers above, probably I’m going to choose the tetrodotoxin (pupper fish) or botulinum (or any other neurotoxin).


Basically, the scenario of poisoning is the most suitable for my story because I don’t want the Mafia boss to be prosecuted for homicide, plus I want to have the Police “covering up” the crime and state that it was not a homicide but the death of all guests was caused by food poisoning (so the catering company will be prosecuted instead). That could infuriate public opinion, together with the fact that the Mafia boss “didn’t count the loss of so many innocent lives and he did such a horrible thing just to ensure that his enemy and his family would end up dead”

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While it sounds like your Mafia boss is so ruthless he doesn't care (since this scenario reminds me of the Red Wedding) you may consider poisoning the alcohol. If it's a sedative with an open bar people might just think folks are getting drunk, or for an instant effect put it in the champagne for the toast. This would leave survivors, but those would include any children there, if you don't want your guy to be a total bastard.