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Your last supper -- 10 foods that could kill you dead
Science Weird Health
Ever eaten so much food you thought you might die? Not exactly likely, sure, but at the
very end of the spectrum of possibility, actually, genuinely, die? That last bit of naan, the
extra kebabs that were best left unordered, the milkshake no-one ended up wanting, but
you couldn't see go to waste...
Let's face it, it's not going to happen. But if you were to gobble down one too many
Apricots, cyanide-containing-stones and all, there's a definite chance, as fatalities in large
Apricot growing areas such as Turkey have proven.
Investigating the darker side of our culinary world, Asylum intrepidly discovers the
foodstuffs that could actually kill you, after the jump.
(All photos courtesy of Getty Images unless mentioned otherwise)
By Alastair Plumb
http://www.asylum.co.uk/2009/11/24/your-last-supper-10-foods-that-could-kill-you-dead/ (4 of 13)25.11.2009 15:35:24
Your last supper -- 10 foods that could kill you dead - Asylum UK | For All Mankind -- Men's Lifestyle, Opinion and Humour
Cherries
Ah cherries... so sweet, so innocent, so delicious. Good in a pie, on their own, or in exceptionally camp
drinks, cherries' little secret is contained in their leaves and seeds. If the seed is damaged in anyway, such as
chewing, it releases prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide), which as a cyanogenic in large enough quantities will
eventually give you a nasty case of death. The same applies for its family members, such as peaches and
plums, so look out for those buggers too.
Deadliness rating: 4/10
You'll have to make a bit of an effort to eat too many - though larger doses can lead to difficulty breathing
and kidney failure and known reactions include coma, convulsions, and respiratory arrest.
Mushrooms
Arguably the sneakiest fungus known to man, the infamous 'Death Cap' mushroom looks a lot like the
perfectly edible 'straw mushroom', leaving unsuspecting toadstool chompers suffering from liver and kidney
damage. Almost all known mushroom-related deaths can be put down to this cheeky fella, including such big
mushroom-eating names as Roman Emperor Claudius and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.
Deadliness rating: 9/10
Clever, wily, and very lethal, this is a mushroom not to be messed with. A few antidotes are known but
otherwise look forward to a bit of intracranial hemorrhage, pancreatitis, and heart attacks.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb, the least famous pie-filler, and an often-overlooked vegetable, is never served with its impressively
large leaves. The reason? Yep, you guessed it, poison. It contains the kidney-killing oxalic acid, the stuff that
makes kidney stones. And if you've met anyone who's had them, you'll know it's no laughing matter - think
of the most painful sensation you've ever had, add some more pain, and then even more pain than that, and
you're not even close.
Deadliness rating: 3/10
The leaves are incredibly bitter, which is normally a good pointer to stop eating them, but if someone did
have a crumble-loving death wish, 5kgs of the stuff would have to be slipped into nana's finest to kill you
outright.
Potatoes
As if its susceptibility to crop-destroying potato blight (responsible for great famines worldwide) weren't
enough, potatoes can also kill you in other, more ingenious ways. Its poisonous stems and leaves aside, once
the 'tater goes green, it means it's full of glycoalkaloid poison, and is in no way good for your health, so leave
it out the mash at all costs.
Deadliness rating: 5/10
High heat normally gets rid of the bad stuff (i.e. boil 'em) but people unfortunate enough to drink potato-leaf
tea may well slip into a coma and eventually die.
Nutmeg
First things first - nutmeg is a hallucinogenic drug. If you have enough, it's like taking amphetamines, but
with the added bonus of nausea, fever, and headaches to boot. 7.5 grams and you'll start convulsing, 10g
and you'll hallucinate, and a whole one will leave you feeling "nutmeg psychosis" and mind-blowing sense of
impending doom.
Deadliness rating: 7/10
Nutmeg death has happened twice in recorded history (in 1908 and 2001) but it is entirely possible, if
amazingly trippy.
http://www.asylum.co.uk/2009/11/24/your-last-supper-10-foods-that-could-kill-you-dead/ (5 of 13)25.11.2009 15:35:24
Your last supper -- 10 foods that could kill you dead - Asylum UK | For All Mankind -- Men's Lifestyle, Opinion and Humour
Tomatoes
Some chefs add the tomatoes stems and leaves to their dishes to improve the fruit / vegetable / berry's
flavour, but if left in the mix, there's agitation and stomach pain to be had by all who eat it. The same goes
for the green, unripened ones you might fancy go into that limited edition Heinz ketchup (they didn't). Again,
tomato tea is also to be avoided.
Deadliness rating: 3/10
Are you going to be hunting down tomato stems and leaves to munch on as you watch Anchorman for the
fifteenth time? Our prediction: not so much.
Almonds
Not technically a nut (much like how tomatoes are not technically a vegetable) bitter almonds require a good
deal of preparation to remove the 4-9 mg of hydrogen cyanide contained in each one. Heat treat them to
remove the bad stuff, and if you're desperate for a bitter almond fix, don't go to New Zealand, where they've
officially banned them.
Deadliness rating: 6/10
Tasty, flavoursome pseudo-nuts, bitter almonds are easily eatable, and choc-a-block full of cyanide. Their
danger is great enough for the US to restrict the sale of the raw variety to protect its citizens.
Apples
Though your schoolyard mates might have boasted about the number of whole apples they could engulf
down their pie holes, they were actually filling up their bodies with another source of cyanide, released on
digestion, hidden within the pips. So rare in adult humans as to make no matter, there's still a small chance
you might end up vomiting up what's meant to keep the doctor away.
Deadliness rating: 2/10
You'll actually have to try hard on this one. (Photo credit: Flickr: Shielnaik)
Castor Seeds
Though you've probably never seen their seeds, the castor plant is where castor oil comes from, which is a
part of our everyday culinary lives, cropping up in food additives, flavouring and chocolate. The seeds
themselves, however, are full of ricin - a substance so lethal half a grain of sand's worth (500 micrograms)
will have you popping your clogs off in no time. Removed before being made into the oil, ricin isn't to be
worried about... unless you've chewed and swallowed four to eight castor seeds, in which case, it's probably
all over bar the extreme vomiting.
Deadliness rating: 9/10
Sure, it's not going to pop up in your shopping bag on the way back from Sainsbury's, but castor seed
milkshakes don't come recommended. Interestingly, it takes 4 seeds will kill a rabbit, 5 a sheep, 6 a horse, 7
a pig, 11 a dog, but 80 to kill a duck. Now you know. (Photo credit: Flickr: Miheco)
Blowfish (Fugu)
Those in Hong Kong and Japan might call it a delicacy, but we'd just call it a death wish. The most poisonous
thing you could ever order to your table, its liver, muscles, ovaries, and skin is full of a poison called
tetrodotoxin, 1,200 times more deadly than cyanide. Only careful preparation from a three-year-trained chef
(see video) can save you from potential paralysis and death in four to six hours.
Deadliness rating: 10/10
Are you insane? This is the king of deadly foods, and definitely not one for dinner parties. Trust us, they don't
end well. (Photo credit: Flickr: Petrjan)
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