# Brazil Nuts - WTH, is there a shortage or what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163 "2013-11-18T03:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/1 "2013-11-18T03:26:27Z")
I was going to buy some mixed shell nuts in the grocery store today, to start stocking up my holiday nut bowl. There were the usual suspects: walnuts, almonds, pecans, and filberts, and one - one - little brazil nut in the whole bin, in there by mistake I guess. No brazil nuts. What is going on? ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/2 "2013-11-18T22:55:17Z")
Just a WAG- don’t Brazil nuts have to be imported rather than grown domestically? Might impact cost. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/3 "2013-11-18T22:59:54Z")
So in checking the [wiki page for Brazil nuts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_nut), I found this fascinating little gem of a fact: > [@](#): > > Brazil nuts were, in the 1960’s, known by the epithet “nigger toes”, though this term has fallen out of favor due to its political incorrectness. They can be seen being sold in a market under this name in a scene from the 1922 Stan Laurel film The Pest. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/4 "2013-11-18T23:02:57Z")
[Oops, wrong kind of Brazil nuts.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=693406) ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/5 "2013-11-19T02:18:19Z")
There can’t be a SHORTage, those things are huge! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/6 "2013-11-19T04:40:44Z")
We don’t seem to have found an answer to the OP yet. Looks like it’s a tough nut to crack. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/7 "2013-11-19T04:46:17Z")
The [Brazil Nut effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granular_convection) pushes Brazil nuts to the top or a container of mixed nuts that has undergone vibration. That means it’s very easy to get a Brazil nut light batch if someone else scoops up the top of the pile. This is actually a serious problem in mixed nutology. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/8 "2013-11-19T04:50:03Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > So in checking the [wiki page for Brazil nuts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_nut), I found this fascinating little gem of a fact: Yeah, “nigger toes” was not an unknown phrase for the nuts growing up here in Chicago in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/9 "2013-11-19T07:08:41Z")
They are, of course, [the most radioactive of foodstuffs](http://wildjuggling.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/radioactive-brazil-nuts-and-the-naturalistic-fallacy/). ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/10 "2013-11-19T07:39:45Z")
As noted in the wiki article, in-shell Brazil nuts are not imported into the EU, as the shells may contain aflatoxins - highly liver-toxic compounds produced by fungus growing inside. Shelled Brazil nuts are available, as they can be tested. This is not a specifically Brazil nut issue - all nuts are susceptible to aflatoxin contamination to some degree. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/11 "2013-11-19T13:37:25Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > So in checking the [wiki page for Brazil nuts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_nut), I found this fascinating little gem of a fact: Yeah, my mom had to teach us kids not to follow in my grandfathers footsteps by using that term. This was in the '80s int he Pacific Northwest. ---
**Author:** ![Clothilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Clothilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothilde)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/12 "2013-11-19T15:31:57Z")
I was at the grocery store yesterday. They had a display of the bags of mixed nuts. Right next to those were stacks of bags of nothing but unshelled brazil nuts. About $3.50 a bag. They also had stacks of bags of pecans, bags of walnuts, and bags of hazelnuts. I stood there and just INHALED for a minute. I just love this time of year with all the nut displays. Anyway, they were all Diamond brand, so, as best as I can tell there’s no shortage. I’m in Alabama, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/13 "2013-11-22T10:31:45Z")
Or perhaps the problem is that they taste like air? The problem is most definitely not that we all used to call them nigger toes, or that they were suffused with puke-titus. I always assumed they put Brazil nuts into the mix to hide the fact that there were precious few almonds, macadamias, and walnuts in the mix. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/14 "2013-11-22T14:33:39Z")
Yeah, it’s been years since I remember having a Brazil nut, but of all the nuts in the “mixed nuts” assortment, it was by far my least favorite. I also remember my uncle having the loose nuts in-the-shell around, and they were a pain in the ass to open up. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/15 "2013-11-22T15:02:56Z")
Brazil nuts are one of my most favorite nuts. Might I trade my hazelnuts (which taste more or less like dirt before they taste like hazelnut) for you Brazil-nut-haters’ Brazil nuts? 😃 They are difficult to crack, but I’ve got a cracker that seems designed for them–it’s of a shape to sorta cradle them perfectly, and then it screws down to compress them longitudinally. Not perfect, but works more often than it doesn’t. Mmm, nuts. I need to get some nuts, so that I can invite friends over and offer them my nuts. While assuring them, “You’re gonna love my nuts.” I know I love my nuts! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/16 "2013-11-23T23:18:36Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Brazil nuts are one of my most favorite nuts. Might I trade my hazelnuts (which taste more or less like dirt before they taste like hazelnut) for you Brazil-nut-haters’ Brazil nuts? See, I think that Brazils are the ones that taste like topsoil. I go through a two pound can of mixed nuts from Aldi every couple weeks. There are almonds, cashews, pecans, hazelnuts and Brazils. I save the latter for one of my buddies. Last week, he got a ziplock sandwich bag nearly full. Last winter, I’d toss a couple a week out for the squirrels and rabbits but my generosity toward the local rodent population has taken a hit in light of their apparent policy on garden destruction. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brazil-nuts-wth-is-there-a-shortage-or-what/674163/17 "2013-11-23T23:26:13Z")
When I was a kid my mom always had a bowl of mixed nuts in the shell and a nutcracker around the holidays. I thought a brazil was an animal like a gazelle, and the oddly-shaped nuts were somehow a…product…of the brazil. I ate them anyway.