EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK

EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK Most Dangerous Foods Hotdogs Ackee Fugu(Pufferfish) Peanuts Leafy greens Rhubarb Tuna Cassava Mushrooms unripe ackee fruit contains a poison called hypoglycin, so preparers must be careful to wait until the fruit's protective pods turn red and open naturally the intestines, ovaries and liver of fugu (or blowfish) contain a poison called tetrodotox- in, which is 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide. from 1997 to 2002, incidents of peanut allergy doubled in children. leafy greens - including spinach, lettuce, cabbage, arugula and kale – were listed as the riskiest foods of 2009, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is regulated by the FDA rhubarb, the vegetable so celebrated for its role in pastries that it's also known as the "pie plant," has a kick to it the FDA has also warned against the likelihood of fresh fish lovers falling prey to Scombroid, a mild food poisoning caused by the toxins emitted from improperly refrigerating fish such as tuna, mackerel, bluefish and mahi-mahi. better known to Americans as tapioca, the pudding favorite is produced from the roots of this bush-like plant. varieties like the Death Cap, Destroying Angels and Deadly Webcap are highly poisonous and capable of inducing death research, they say, shows that hot dogs are the top cause of food-related chok- ing in children under the age of 3 if improperly eaten, though, ackee can cause what has been dubbed the Jamaican Vomiting Sickness - which, other than the self-explanatory symptoms, can lead to it's the most common cause of food-allergy deaths, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. the group identified 363 separate outbreaks linked to the veggies last year; 240 of those cases were linked to food from restaurants. the CDC warns that neither cooked nor raw rhubarb leaves should be consumed, owing to the toxins (including oxalate) they contain. if prepared incorrectly, the cassava plant can produce cyanide, a deadly compound when consumed. aside from hallucinogenic properties, mushrooms can also kill. the toxin is so potent that a lethal dose is smaller than the head of a pin, and a single fish has enough poison to kill 30 people food choking causes nearly one childhood death in the United States every five days the majority of contaminations were linked to a pathogen called Nirovirus, which is usually spread by the unwashed hands of an ill food handler or consumer roughly 1% of the population that has a peanut allergy. high mercury levels could damage the unborn or young childs's developing nervous system. cassava should be cut into smaller pieces, soaked in water and cooked thoroughly in boiling water. ilngesting a large amount of the once open, the only edible portion is the yellow arilli, which surround always-toxic black seeds because of the high risk, chefs must undergo two to three years of training obtain a fugu-preparing license, and such exper- tise raises the price of a fugu dish to up to $200 leaves can cause peanut allergies, Tree allergies, continue to be reported by more than 3 million Americans both poisoning. mince or thinly slice hot dogs before giving them to young children other contaminants include E. coli and salmonella stick with the stalk GOURMANDIA Sources Prevalence of peanut and tree nut allergy in the United States determined by means of a random digit dial telephone survey: a 5-year follow-up study. by Sicherer SH, Muñoz-Furlong A. Sampson HA from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gow/pubmed/14657884 10 Most Dangerous Foods from http://contentime.com/time'specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1967235,00.html ADangerously Tasty Treat: The Hot Dog is a Choking Hazard from http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/A-Dangerously-Tasty-Treat-The-Hot-Dog-is-a-Choking-Hazard.aspx