As we all know that the importance of food preparation is critical. We normally rinse off fruits and veggies before eating them because it clears pesticides, and also to cook raw meat thoroughly is also important. But there are also some of the food that can cause death if prepared incorrect.
Have you heard of fugu or the puffer fish? It’s a highly poisonous fish that proves fatal when prepared incorrectly.
Here are 7 foods that can kill you if not prepared correctly.
1. Honey
Honey is sweet but it contains a poisonous toxin called Pyrrolizidine alkaloids. It needs to go through a pasteurization process to eliminate these toxins, but unpasteurized honey is extremely dangerous. Eating just a 1 teaspoon of unpasteurized honey can lead to headaches, weakness, dizziness and vomiting that can last up to 24 hours. It is also possible that more than 1 teaspoon can kill you.
2. Potatoes
we all love potatoes and that is why whenever we see a potato, we couldn’t stop ourselves from having one. But let me tell you that ordinary potatoes if consumed at the wrong time can be dangerous. The leaves, stem and sprouts of a potato contain glycoalkaloids, which is a poison found in flowering plants called nightshades of which a potato is one. If you leave a potato in too moist or bright condition or if you just let them sit out for too long, they will begin to sprout. You should throw these potatoes away even if you cut off the shoots, the poison maybe in the potato if too much time has passed.
3. Cashews
If you see any raw cashews in a market, know that they are lying to you because those raw cashews have been steamed to remove a chemical called urushiol, which is also found in poison ivy. Consuming actual raw cashews can prove fatal, especially for people with an allergy to poison ivy. So if you ever come across these cashews, don’t eat them. As little as a handful of raw cashews could be very dangerous.
4. Red Kidney beans
Eating raw food is considered healthy, but some very unhealthy consequences occur when eating certain foods raw. One such food is Red Kidney bean. Red kidney beans contain toxins called lectins, which can easily kill the cells in your stomach. The only way you can enjoy red kidney beans is that soak them in water for about 5 hours before consuming. Otherwise eating as much as half a cup of raw red kidney beans can make you seriously ill.
5. Rhubarb
You should keep a reminder to monitor that how much strawberry rhubarb pie you eat this summer. Because rhubarb leaves, which are not supposed to use in baking or cooking contain oxalic acid, which causes kidney stones. It takes 11 pounds of leaves to kill you.
6. Elderberries
Elderberries are commonly used in jams, wines and teas. But you will be surprised to know that their seeds and leaves contain fatal levels of the cyanide-producing glycoside. If the fruit is not strained properly or is too undeveloped when used to make your jam or wine, you could be looking at severe nausea and potential coma, or even death. It takes only a cup of incorrectly prepared elderberry juice, wine or tea to result in minor sickness, but you would have to drink up to five glasses to be in serious danger.
7. Cherries
The pits of cherries, along with plums, peaches and apricots contain compounds that turn our bodies into cyanide, but those other fruits happen to have a far larger pit which makes them harder to swallow. But not to worry there’s good news that unless you crack opens a cherry pit which is hard enough as it is, which is unlikely for you to get sick from swallowing them. It would take only one or two crushed cherry pits to kill you.
