Which is the most dangerous food in the world?

Bill Yu Liao (廖彧)

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Lives in Australia, professional procrastinator 6y

Which is the most dangerous food in the world?

Which is the most dangerous food in the world?

These foods are not dangerous if eaten properly. However, they can potentially be deadly if not eaten correctly.

Rhubarb

The delicious red stalk of the Rhubarb where we normally eat is toxin free so no worries there. It is the leaves of the Rhubarb plant which contains the toxins. The leaves contain oxalic acid which is lethal to humans in high concentrations. The oxalic acid will wreak havoc in your digestive and renal areas (kidneys). The symptoms include breathing difficulty, burning of mouth and throat, eye pain, bloody urine, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. Of course, you need to eat a tonne of Rhubarb leaves to actually reach the lethality point. For reference, a 70 kg person would have to consume about 5 kg of Rhubarb leaves to reach lethality.

Almonds

Did you know that almonds contain cyanide? But don’t worry. Bitter almonds only contain somewhere between 4 - 9 mg of hydrogen cyanide, which is 42 times more than the trace levels found in sweet almonds (sweet almonds is the type people normally eat). After eating about roughly 450 grams of sweet almonds, you may start to experience some mild symptoms including a headache, dizziness, nausea, and rapid breathing. In order for the poison to actually kick in, you’ll have to consume about 1.8 kg of almonds within a couple hours (2 - 3).

Apple Seeds

Most of you probably know this one. Apple seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides, which produces cyanide once they enter the digestive system. This chemical also has a significant presence in other fruit seeds including peach, cherry, and plum, but apple seeds contain the highest concentration. About 100 grams of apple seeds for the poison to kick in, which is much easier to do than the previous two. Of course, the whole point of seeds in fruit is so that birds and other animals can carry them elsewhere to spread the plant around which will be quite difficult to pull off if the animal carrying the seed dies from cyanide poisoning. Therefore, the cyanogenic glycosides are only accessible if the seed is crushed, and whole seeds are completely safe.

Kidney Beans

Kidney beans contain a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin. About 4 or 5 raw kidney beans is enough to trigger symptoms. Early symptoms include stomach aches and vomiting. Boiling the bean deactivates the toxin which is why we can eat them normally. But heating the bean below the boiling point actually increases the toxin’s potency. A single heated bean is enough to trigger painful symptoms such as severe nausea, followed by extreme vomiting, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain. There are currently no recorded deaths caused by kidney beans so rest assured. Just cook it properly.