Toxic Food: Everyday Produce That Can Be Poisonous

Ever since we were little kids, our parents have been drilling it into our heads: "Eat your fruits and veggies, they're good for you." We can't even count how many times we've heard the saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

But what if we told you that some of these produce items might be dangerous? While eating an apple may give you much needed vitamins, the seeds could actually make you feel sick.

We're not telling you to stay away from the very nutritious fruits and vegetables. And we're not trying to fill you with fear or make you wonder if every meal that's on your plate is safe to eat. But we do want to better inform you on which foods you should be cautious of when preparing, and which ones have leaves or seeds you need to steer clear of.

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Comments

[Enough DS]

01:25 PM on 05/28/2012

Who eats the pits? Wonder how the study was proven? Probably too big for mice......

[Syllogizer]

04:28 PM on 05/27/2012

Why are HuffPost writers on food topics SO incompetent? 'Glycoalkaloid' is NOT the name of a chemical. It is the name of a whole CLASS of chemicals: several different sugers combined with ANY alkaloid can be in the class of chemicals, "glycoalkaloid".

After seeing such incompetence, I cannot trust the cooking instructions given for handling foods with limarin in them, either.

[Chris Cole9]

07:04 PM on 05/25/2012

This is why everyone should just eat hamburgers all the time... much safer. :P

[rwgunn]

05:24 PM on 05/29/2012

Only if you're careful to NOT swallow the hamburger pits (or leaves)...

[HyeThymeCafe]

01:14 PM on 05/25/2012

As for the cherries, I wonder if that pertains to all cherries or a certain variety. Mahlab is a spice that has been used for centuries (ground pit of the St Lucie Cherry). Being Armenian, I use it a lot in breads, cookies, etc. It is very common in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes, so I'm surprised to hear that.

[smmrselysummers]

11:24 AM on 05/25/2012

Who would eat uncooked beans? That makes no sense. You'd have to be beyond starving. I can't even imagine.

[dickbyrne9]

07:22 AM on 05/25/2012

Spinach contains calcium but will not release it to us. Use Kale instead but hand wash it well.

[Aquatic]

10:48 PM on 05/24/2012

Peaches pits? Apples seeds? Pretty sure English is not the first language of the caption writer. Having both be plural would be correct in a lot of languages, when you think about it. Pits of peaches, seeds of apples.
I'm devoting too much thought to this, aren't I?

[Lechiffre]

02:06 AM on 05/25/2012

The writer's American .

[Aquatic]

07:32 AM on 05/25/2012

Strange. Maybe a regionalism. Cranston, RI.
Someday I will hear somebody else use that construction and I will think, aha. I'm making all this up, of course.

[Ghostberry]

11:23 AM on 05/28/2012

"it would give you a stomach ache at worse." hah

[prodemlib]

10:28 PM on 05/24/2012

Ha! I KNEW it! Lima beans ARE poisonous!

[AaronToo1]

10:13 PM on 05/24/2012

How could you... accidentally swallow a peach pit? Peach pits are enormous.

Tomatoes are in the nightshade family. Of course the leaves are toxic.

[dickbyrne9]

07:24 AM on 05/25/2012

If you have ever seen a large dog "passing" a peach pit, you would never forget it.

[blackwind]

08:41 PM on 05/24/2012

They should have mentioned that it is the red elderberries that are considered poisonous. The blue ones have much lower amounts of cyanide in them, and people eat and make wine out of them all the time.

[Iva 123]

08:32 PM on 05/24/2012

Apple seeds contain B17 which in large amounts is poisonous, but in small amounts are beneficial in anticancer therapy, it is also high in magnesium which is very important for cell membranes to allowed glucose to pass through ( diabetes prevention), make bladder more flexible ( prevent bladder linkage), allow calcium into cells to transmit nervous impulses.

[tissa]

08:26 PM on 05/24/2012

Cyanide is an organic, natural compound and it is no surprise it is found in trees, fruit and seeds.

[Syllogizer]

04:34 PM on 05/27/2012

Unfortunately, many people still believe that being "natural, organic" means it is good and safe. But these examples make it clear how false that is. At least it should be clear.

[tissa]

04:41 PM on 05/27/2012

Exactly.

[Tiffany Tinney]

08:20 PM on 05/24/2012

Who would have though: cyanide in cherry seeds and peach seeds.

[Mambo Racine]

08:43 PM on 05/24/2012

Naturally! It keeps insects from eating them, so th plants can reproduce.

[Ides]

10:01 PM on 05/24/2012

I once cracked open a peach pit and ate the seed inside. Surprisingly tasted and looked pretty much like an almond, which is the seed of a drupe in the same subgenus which also metabolises as cyanide.

[sierraseven]

07:40 PM on 05/24/2012

On the rhubarb video: the restriction on pulling stalks in the first year only applies if you have started the plant from seed. If you received a "split" from an established plant, you can pull stalks as soon as the plant gets big enough.

[sierraseven]

07:37 PM on 05/24/2012

Fava beans, or broad beans, are toxic to a small percentage of the population that has an genetic enzyme deficiency. Look up "favaism" or G6PD deficiency.