Sodium Nitrite Meat Additive Chemical Used to Poison Woman in Lover's Spat

Saturday, August 16, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: sodium nitrite, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) A Missouri woman named Angie Hausler was poisoned with the food additive sodium nitrite by a woman who wanted a chance at her husband.

Tina Vazquez told police that she filled a capsule with sodium nitrate and gave it to Angie Hausler, telling her that it was amoxicillin to help with her chronic illness. Vazquez allegedly hoped to hospitalize the other woman so that she could have more time alone with Hausler's husband Brian.

Angie Hausler began feeling sick shortly after Christmas, right around the time that Vazquez separated from her husband.

"I would take her to the local hospitals and they could never figure out what was wrong with her, other than saying that she had the flu or a viral infection," Brian Hausler said. "As time went on, the sicker she got. Tina would help out around the house. It was nice to have the extra hand, but after a while it got on our nerves because it was like we didn't have any privacy."

It is not clear if Vazquez was causing Hausler's illness by poisoning her, or if the poisoning was only a one-time incident.

Police believe that Vazquez acquired the sodium nitrate from the meat plant where she worked. The chemical is used to cure and preserve meats but can be toxic in large quantities, due to its property of removing oxygen from the blood. Hausler collapsed only 20 minutes after taking the poisoned pill, shortly after dialing 911.

Vazquez said she knew that a larger dose would be needed to actually kill Hausler, and that she deliberately gave her a non-lethal dose.

"I keep asking myself why this happened," Brian Hausler said. "What did I ever do to make Tina think that she ever had a chance to be romantically involved with me?"

Sodium nitrite is also suspected of playing a role in the development of colon cancer, migraines and chronic obstructive lung disease.