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17 Foods That Can Actually Kill You

17 Foods That Can Actually Kill You

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We all need food to survive, but we also need to be careful about what we put in our mouths. While it’s pretty obvious that you’re not meant to ingest rat poison, cleaning solution, or razor blades, some foods that seem harmless can cause serious problems. Here are 17 foods that can actually kill you.

Sources: HuffingtonPost.com, Thrillist.com

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Ackee

The national fruit of Japan, the ackee is 100-percent safe — and delicious — when it’s ripe. But when it’s not, it contains toxic hypoglycin A and hypoglycin B, which, when converted to acid in the body, can lead to vomiting, unconsciousness, coma, and death. In 2011, unripe ackee was responsible for more than 20 deaths in just three months, so beware!

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Elderberries

Elderberries have become extremely popular as a flavoring for many drinks, as well as a medicinal tea, but the uncooked green parts are extremely poisonous. They contain glycosides that are converted into cyanide when metabolized in the body. Elderberry jam is a pretty safe bet though, given that the fruit has to be cooked first.

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Blowfish

You’ve probably heard about the dangers of blowfish, given that its organs contain a lethal amount of terodotox. But blowfish, or fugu, remains a delicacy in many parts of the world. It must be cooked properly, however, or victims will find their muscles all paralyzed, leading to asphyxiation.

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Kidney beans

Kidney beans need to be boiled for a minimum of 10 minutes, or they will retain their natural toxin, phytohaemagglutinin, which leads to severe nausea and vomiting. Even cooking kidney beans at a temperature below boiling will not remove the toxin, so be sure to cook them correctly before you toss them in your next pot of chili!

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Potatoes

Green potatoes are more than just gross to eat – they’re also toxic. Packed with solanine, green potatoes can cause severe vomiting and can even lead to cardiac arrest if consumed in large portions. It’s unclear why you would want to eat large quantities of green potatoes, but here’s the warning all the same.

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Rhubarb

Rhubarb pie is delicious, unless you use the leaves. The stalks fine, but rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, a common ingredient in most bleaches. Eaten, oxalic acid can lead to severe vomiting and can sometimes cause victims to go into shock and die. So maybe just the stalks?

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Wild almonds

Don’t worry — there are two types of almonds, and we really only eat one of them. Sweet almonds are a fantastic snack, packed with great nutrients, but bitter raw almonds are packed with something else — cyanide. Cooking bitter almonds neutralizes the substances, or you could just play it safe and stick to the sweet variety.

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Cherries

Though cherries themselves aren’t actually toxic, the pits are a bit more dicey. Cherry pits are packed with hydrogen cyanide, which is definitely not something you want to be consuming on a daily basis – or an anytime basis, for that matter. But even if you swallow a pit whole, don’t fret – the pits are too thick to break down inside the body, and usually just come out whole. Better to be safe, though, and spit those suckers out!

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Apples

An apple a day keeps the doctors at bay, but if you eat massive amounts of the seeds, you’ll have those same doctors beating down your door. The chemical compounds in apple seeds break down into cyanide in the body, so maybe just avoid those bits when you chow down on your next apple.

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Commons.Wikimedia.org

Castor beans

Castor oil was traditionally used as a medicinal laxative, and is often used in cooking today. But raw castor beans also contain ricin, which isn’t good for you. So much so that a dose of purified ricin powder the size of a few grains of table salt can kill an adult. Just last week, a Texas actress who admitted to sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was sentenced to 18 years in prison, CNN reports. Unless you prefer poison in your diet, steer clear of those suckers until they’re well cooked and blended into something else.

Thinkstock
Thinkstock

Cassava

Cassava is found in tapioca pudding, soups, stews and many meat dishes. However the plant, otherwise called Yucca, if not prepared properly or eaten raw can turn into hydrogen cyanide in your stomach, which can kill you. Symptoms of poisoning from the stuff include dizziness, headache, agitation, confusion, or convulsions.

Source: Cancer.org

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Flickr.com

 

Apricots, plums and peaches

These are all stone fruits, just like the cherry, and so eating a broken pit of any of these can be dangerous for the same reasons eating a cherry pit can be. Apricot kernels in moderation, however, have been found to fight cancer.

Source: Delish.com

easythaieasygo.com
easythaieasygo.com

Rice

Rice contains a toxin called arsenic that can lead to vomiting, abdominal pain and vertigo. Arsenic is highest in brown rice, specifically that from Texas, and lowest in white rice. But don’t cut your sushi habit just yet: you’d have to consume nearly 2,000 servings of rice in one meal to have fatal results. That being said, prolonged exposure to the stuff can cause heart disease and bladder cancer.

Source: Mensfitness.com 

kitchenthymes.com
kitchenthymes.com

Pears

Pears, like apples, have compounds in the seeds that your stomach acids can turn into the very dangerous cyanide. Large quantities of the stuff can cause poisoning.

Source: Rightdiagnosis.com 

foodnetwork.com
foodnetwork.com

Leaf Greens

You might not think of leafy greens when you think of E. coli, salmonella and Norovirus, but if not washed properly, some leafy greens have been found to carry these. Don’t order the house salad anywhere that doesn’t look clean.

Source: Europa.eu 

delish.com
delish.com

Homemade ice cream

It sounds like the makings of a fun night at home, but many homemade ice cream recipes call for unpasteurized milk and that can carry pathogens like salmonella.

Source: Fda.gov

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Water

Have you heard of death by water? It has nothing to do with drowning. Hyper-hydration, or water intoxication, is what happens when you drink too much water, causing an imbalance of electrolytes in your brain. This can be lethal.

Source: Webmd.com