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Rinsing off fruits and veggies is a common practice to clear away pesticides, and thoroughly cooking raw meat is also hugely important. But what about when choosing right food becomes matter of life and death?

Most of us have probably heard of fugu, or the pufferfish, which is a highly poisonous fish that proves fatal when incorrectly prepared. Frighteningly enough, there are more than a few familiar foods that can kill you. To keep you informed on all that is (potentially) dangerous, we bring you 10 everyday foods that can turn deadly if not prepared just right.

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1. SEEDS OF FRUITS

It is okay to eat and enjoy natural fruits, but consuming their pits or hard core could be fatal in many ways. Eating the pits of cherry, peach, apricot, peach or olives is bad for your health – and it does not matter if they are ground into a powder. The pits of these among other fruits contain prussic acid – a type of hydrogen cyanide which is often used in fumigating solutions and organic compounds. Eat only the ripe flesh of these fruits and avoid their central pits.

2. RHUBARB

Rhubarbs are plants having long green or reddish acidic leafstalks growing in basal clumps. Only the stems are edible and safe when cooked, but the leaves are poisonous. The leaves are known to contain oxalic acid which can cause kidney stones when consumed even in minimal quantities.

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3. NUTMEG

Everyone loves nutmeg. It’s a hard aromatic seed which is used as spice when grated or ground, and widely used to season or flavour food and snacks. But medical sources suggest the nutmeg seed could be hallucinogenic, meaning it is capable of producing hallucinations or used to produce psychoactive drugs that induce altered sensory experiences.

4. POTATOES

Who doesn’t love potatoes? A potato is an underground stolon that bears edible starchy tubers and widely cultivated as a garden vegetable. Its vines are poisonous. Potatoes are eaten as a staple in many households, its leaves, stem and tuber contain glycoalkaloids which has been associated with diarrhea, headaches, confusion, cramps, and in rare cases coma and death.

5. ALMONDS

You know what almonds are, don’t you? It is an oval-shaped edible seed which can be eaten when dried or used in various meals. There is sweet almond and the bitter almond. While the sweet almond is relatively safe to consume, the bitter almond is said to contain high levels of hydrogen cyanide. Eating one or two bitter almonds may be okay, but any amount above 5 could be fatal for both children and adults.

6. HONEY

Honey is sweet to the tongue and almost every household in the entire world have a bottle for consumption. Honey can also be applied in various ways to meet domestic needs, but its raw form can be deadly if care is not taken. Raw honey is never pasteurized to destroy the toxins injected by bees in it, making it contain grayanotoxin. High levels of grayanotoxin is known to cause nausea, dizziness, body weakness, sweating, and vomiting among others.

7. TOMATOES

Tomatoes are used to prepare stew and used in salads among other household meals. But only the fruit is safe to eat, tomato leaves and stems can induce digestive problems due to the alkali chemicals they contain. So if you enjoy consuming tomatoes as a vegetable in salads and meals, avoid eating its leaves or stem, and do not consume unripe tomato fruits because these can be quite deadly.

8. TUNA FISH

Tuna fish is usually served as steak and quite delicious to the palate. But tuna frequently absorbs mercury which is very harmful to the body. Mercury can damage the organs of the body and be very deadly to children and pregnant women if consumed in tuna. Consuming a single steak of tuna may not harm you, but consuming tuna fish frequently over a long period of time could cause deposits of mercury to build up on your body, causing organ damage.

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9. CASSAVA

Cassava is only known as tapioca in many parts of the world, and it is largely consumed as a family staple in Africa. Cassava is also a rich source of starch, and other substances. It can be eaten boiled, made into chips, or converted to several kinds of household meals. But hold on! Scientific research suggests the crop is high in linamarine and its tuber is rich in cyanide – an organic compound that could be very poisonous and quite deadly to consumers.

10. CASHEW NUTS

Do you have a bottle of cashew nuts in your home? Almost everyone does because it is available in supermarkets and various community stores. While everyone enjoys the crunchy snack, little do people know that the nut contains the chemical urushiol, also found in poison ivy. The urushiol toxin has been removed from cashew nuts you buy in supermarkets, so it is very dangerous and fatal to consume raw cashew nuts. Many people are allergic to cashew nuts and it is best for such people avoid the nut completely, raw or roasted.

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