Student speaks out after eating 'toxic broccoli' sandwich that's left two dead and 17 others hospitalized

A student has spoken out after eating a 'toxic broccoli' sandwich that has allegedly left two people dead and a further 17 in hospital in Calabria, Italy.

Both Tamara D'Acunto, 45, and Luigi Di Sarno, 52, have died in the last week after consuming an allegedly contaminated sandwich in the region last week, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

LBC reports that at least 17 people have also been hospitalized following signs of botulism, including two 17-year-olds and two women in their 40s.

Meanwhile, People states five of those in the hospital are reported to be in the ICU.

Botulism is caused by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which can attack the body's nervous system, resulting in breathing difficulties, paralyzed muscles, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In a worst case scenario, it can result in death.

Gaia Vitiello is one of those to have been impacted by recent events having bought a panini from a food truck in the town of Diamante.

Gaia Vitiello fell ill after eating a broccoli sandwich (Gaia Vitiello)

Luigi Di Sarno died last week (Facebook)

Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Vitiello said she and all her friends bought the same sandwich on August 5, though she was the only one out of her pals to have broccoli.

"My friends only had mayonnaise, sausage, and chips. I added broccoli. It was the first time I'd ever done that," she told the paper.

"I had diarrhea. I thought it was indigestion. The next day, the symptoms worsened. I couldn't swallow and my legs were shaking."

The 24-year-old student had planned to sleep it off, but it was her sister who convinced her to go to hospital to get checked out.

"If my sister Alessia hadn't taken me to the hospital by force, I wouldn't be here today," she said.

Vitiello was transported to another hospital, where she received the medical treatment she required.

Tamara D'Acunto was the second person to die after eating a broccoli sandwich (Facebook)

The student was transported to another hospital (Getty Stock Photo)

The food truck which served the sandwiches has been seized and closed by police, with the product reported by ITV News to have been broccoli preserved in oil.

The Paola Public Prosecutor's Office is now investigating a botulism outbreak said to have happened in the food truck.

Maria Rosaria Campitiello, Head of the Department of Prevention, Research, and Health Emergencies, has said in a previous statement that patients were being given 'lifesaving antidote treatments'.

"It should be noted that the foods at risk of botulinum toxin are homemade preserves prepared vacuum-packed, in oil, or in water, and, rarely, industrial products," she added in a statement.

"This is why it is important to follow the rules for the correct and safe preparation and storage of food."