From the contents of your kitchen cupboards to famous delicacies from around the world, there are many foods that are delicious but potentially deadly. Learn what you should watch out for before taking a bite.
1 Kidney Beans
Kidney beans contain high levels of phytohemagglutinin, making them toxic. Cooking the beans thoroughly gets rid of the poison, but eating even a few undercooked beans can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. The US FDA advise boiling for 30 minutes to completely breakdown the toxin. Canned kidney beans are pre-cooked and completed safe to eat from the tin, so put these in your chilli if youâre of a nervous disposition.
2 Irish potatoes
Donât eat green Irish potatoes. The green parts contains a poison called solanine, which can cause serious illness if eaten in large quantities. The leaves, stem, and sprouts of the potato plant contain glycoalkaloids, found throughout the nightshade family (a flowering plant category). So just be careful when youâre making wedges, guys.
3 Peanuts
Around 1 per cent of the US population has a peanut allergy, making it one of the most common kinds of allergy. If youâre seriously allergic and ingest a peanut in any form (including oil) or even inhale peanut proteins in the air, you become very ill. In the UK, restaurant owner Mohammed Zaman was jailed for six years after a takeaway from his restaurant containing powdered nuts caused Paul Wilson, 38, to suffered a severe anaphylactic shock and die in January 2014. WHAT TO DO WHEN DOG CHASES YOU
4 Hot Dogs
Issues with the dubious meat content found in cut-price hot dogs aside, choking is a very real hazard when eating this American classic. Johns Hopkins University reported that hot dogs are the number one cause of choking-related injuries in children under three. Chew slowly and cut them into bite sized pieces before serving.
5 Nutmeg
This Christmassy spice, which adds its delicate flavour to custards, bechamel and rice pudding, is a hallucinogenic if eaten in large enough quantities. It can cause convulsions, palpitations and nausea, not to mention visual distortions and a sense of paranoia. Maybe steer clear of having that 10th glass of eggnog, as it takes only around 2-3 teaspoons of the ground spice to have an effect. Itâs also highly toxic to dogs.
6 Mushroom
Some fungi are anything but fun. With names like the âdeath capâ and âdestroying angelâ, these mushrooms arenât messing around. As a rule, if you arenât 100 per cent sure of what youâre eating, especially if youâve picked something yourself, donât risk it. Deadly mushrooms often look uncannily like edible ones, and even experts can find it hard to tell the difference.
Author Nicholas Evans and his family nearly died of liver failure after picking the deadly webcap variety. In the US, 14 people were poisoned in San Francisco after eating death cap mushrooms, three needed a liver transplant, including an 18-month-old baby
