Local health authorities said 22 people have been discharged from hospital by Wednesday after they recovered from suspected food poisoning in northwest China's Gansu Province.

A total of 94 people in four villages have developed symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea as of 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to the health bureau of Yuzhong County, the worst-hit in the incident.

An initial investigation showed that most of the patients, aged between 3 and 71, became ill after eating a local wheat snack sold by a street vendor.

So far, 28 villagers are in hospital and 44 under medical observation, said doctors with the Yuzhong County Hospital, which was designated to treat most of the sick.

Lu Binzhong, who was receiving an intravenous drip in the hospital, said he began to suffer from diarrhea Monday after eating "niangpi" sold by a motorcycle vendor on the streets Sunday.

Other patients said they all ate niangpi from the same peddler, who carried about 100 kg of the food in two boxes on the motorcycle, and then felt sick.

The county's food safety supervision bureau began to conduct tests on samples of niangpi early Wednesday morning and the result is expected to be announced Friday.

The police were looking for the vendor.

Niangpi is popular in the northwest, including Gansu and Qinghai provinces.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2009)