# Common foods with strange or dangerous properties **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2017, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481 "2017-11-02T10:49:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 2, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/21 "2017-11-02T14:58:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I wonder if these canned beans have already been boiled ten minutes to make them safe? Canned beans are very obviously already cooked. If you’ve ever eaten beans out of a can vs beans that have been soaked, you’ve noticed the difference. I don’t think it’s a so much a matter of making them safe (as it’s done with all beans) as it’s much more convenient to just dump cooked beans into whatever you’re making instead of having to simmer them for a couple of hours. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/22 "2017-11-02T15:04:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 7 foods that are poisonous. > > Only two are very common. Red Kidney beans and Lima beans require boiling for ten minutes. I wonder if these canned beans have already been boiled ten minutes to make them safe? > > [7 Everyday Foods That Just Happen To Be Poisonous | HuffPost Life](https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4039765) yes. the canning process cooks them. this is only a concern with raw or dry beans. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/23 "2017-11-02T15:05:32Z")
It’s not a “common food” by any measure, but it always fascinated me. The May Apple is a low plant that produces a fruit that is comically disproportionate in size, considering how small the plant is. Its fruit is fine when ripe, but poisonous when green. > **[Podophyllum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podophyllum)** > > See text > Podophyllum is a genus of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native from Afghanistan to China, and from southeast Canada to the central and eastern United States. The genus was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. > The taxonomic status of the genus has varied. Some sources transferred all but Podophyllum peltatum to other genera, such as Dysosma and Sinopodophyllum. As of October 2022\[update\], Plants of the World Online regarded these genera as synonyms of Podophyllum.... [http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/food/edibleplants/mayapple/index.html](http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/food/edibleplants/mayapple/index.html) We had a lot of them growing at my Boy Scout camp. I never tried eating them, because I could never remember when the fruit would be ripe. It turns out that the season for the ripe fruit is well after the times we were camping, so it never would have been safe to eat. And it turns out that the seeds, even of the ripe plant, are toxic. > **[May Apples in Late July: A Cautionary Tale](https://www.ediblemanhattan.com/departments/urban-forager/may-apples-in-late-july-a-cautionary-tale/)** > > Central Park’s Podophyllum peltatum are dangerously delicious. _Bon apetit!_ ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/24 "2017-11-02T15:20:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 7 foods that are poisonous. > > Only two are very common. Red Kidney beans and Lima beans require boiling for ten minutes. I wonder if these canned beans have already been boiled ten minutes to make them safe? > > [7 Everyday Foods That Just Happen To Be Poisonous | HuffPost Life](https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4039765) So says a Huffpost article regarding lab rats. I doubt soaking instead of boiling is going to make much of a difference in regard to a very common food that is soaked instead of boiled by millions becoming poisonous and this not being a common occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/25 "2017-11-02T15:36:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s not a “common food” by any measure, but it always fascinated me. The May Apple is a low plant that produces a fruit that is comically disproportionate in size, considering how small the plant is. Its fruit is fine when ripe, but poisonous when green. Before googling, I assumed that this was another name for the “[maypop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_incarnata)”, but it isn’t. Maypop fruit are edible, too. (They have a slight sweetness to them, but nothing good enough to bother with.) (ETA: And I see from the wiki that eating maypops can interact with some medications, so fitting with the OP.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/26 "2017-11-02T15:37:48Z")
Attempting to survive on a diet of straight rabbit results in death from rabbit starvation- protein poisoning. Wild Almonds are poisonous, and cultivated almonds are descended from mutants lacking the poison producing gene. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/27 "2017-11-02T15:54:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ecks](#): > > Attempting to survive on a diet of straight rabbit results in death from rabbit starvation- protein poisoning. It’s not the protein that is poisonous. Although there surely is some upper limit of protein consumption, it is not the protein amount that is of first concern; it’s the lack of fat. Fat is an essential nutrient, and it’s severely lacking in rabbit meat. However, you can survive on a diet of straight rabbit for some time by eating the organs, the fat around it and cracking the bones and eating the marrow. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/28 "2017-11-02T15:56:24Z")
What about gay rabbits? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/29 "2017-11-02T16:00:11Z")
Or, of course, you can live on a diet of mostly rabbit, supplemented with a little of something fattier. While you do need some fat, it’s not very much compared to your need for protein. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/30 "2017-11-02T16:13:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or, of course, you can live on a diet of mostly rabbit, supplemented with a little of something fattier. While you do need some fat, it’s not very much compared to your need for protein. So what you’re saying is that Elmer needs to [shoot both Bugs _and_ Daffy?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-k5J4RxQdE) ---
**Author:** ![Meme\_Chose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Meme\_Chose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meme_Chose)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/31 "2017-11-02T16:18:51Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > "To make the leaves safe to eat you have to boil it, drain and replace the water, and boil it again 3 or 4 times. So, it’s homeopathic poke. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/32 "2017-11-02T16:52:24Z")
Wow, I am learning fun new facts from this thread. And I’m reminded of two more - It stretches the idea of “common,” unless you are a Pacific Island dweller hellbent on eating green leaves no matter what, but taro leaves contain oxalic crystals and while the leaves are edible, you do have to boil the crap out of them in several changes of water to avoid itchy throat symptoms. Pineapple contains raphides (oxalic crystals again, basically) - enough for eating pineapple to be a problem for some people. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/33 "2017-11-02T17:02:34Z")
What some people didn’t know is that many parts of the pine tree _are_ edible. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/34 "2017-11-02T17:08:35Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > But it has the benefit of being free (looking out the window from where I’m sitting, I see poke plants about 25 feet away from me in a field, free for the taking if they weren’t dying down for the season.) They’re only free if you don’t value your own time. Sure, they don’t cost _money_, but they sure do cost you hours of time! Back in the old days they might cost you pumping a lot of water out of the well, too. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/35 "2017-11-02T17:29:32Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > They’re only free if you don’t value your own time. Sure, they don’t cost _money_, but they sure do cost you hours of time! (Shrug) fill a boiler with poke and water. Put it on the stove top, turn it on. Go read a book for 10 or 20 minutes. Go replace the water. Read some more. Repeat. It takes _time_, but not constant _attention_. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/36 "2017-11-02T17:49:21Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > So says a Huffpost article regarding lab rats. I doubt soaking instead of boiling is going to make much of a difference in regard to a very common food that is soaked instead of boiled by millions becoming poisonous and this not being a common occurrence. You don’t soak OR boil beans to prepare them, you soak AND boil them. Though soaking beans has been shown to be pretty pointless. > **[Don't soak your dried beans! Now even the cool kids agree](https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-dont-soak-dried-beans-20140911-story.html)** > > Are you still soaking dried beans? Why? > **[Guess What? You Don't Actually Have to Soak Beans Overnight](https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/soaking-salting-dried-bean-myths-article)** > > Skip the overnight soak and make your best-ever pot of beans with this time-saving method. > **[So You Like Flavor? Don't Soak Your Black Beans!](https://www.seriouseats.com/soaking-black-beans-faq)** > > I've spent my whole life soaking black beans before cooking them just like every other bean around. But Russ Parsons of the L.A. Times recently chastised me for it, claiming that un-soaked black beans are better in almost every way. I put it to the... And there are lots of warnings out there about boiling your kidney beans for ten minutes before cooking them in a slow cooker. I think more people get sick off of improperly cooked kidney beans than they realize. Since the symptoms are similar to food poisoning, people just assume the deviled eggs or potato salad had been in the sun too long. All along it was the BEANS! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/37 "2017-11-02T18:11:50Z")
I had previously heard about boiling red kidney beans. I didn’t know Lima beans had the same requirement. That’s important to know. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/38 "2017-11-02T19:19:15Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > You don’t soak OR boil beans to prepare them, you soak AND boil them. Though soaking beans has been shown to be pretty pointless. > [Don't soak your dried beans! Now even the cool kids agree](http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-dont-soak-dried-beans-20140911-story.html) > [How to Soak Beans Quickly—And Why You Should | Epicurious](https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/soaking-salting-dried-bean-myths-article) > [So You Like Flavor? Don't Soak Your Black Beans!](http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/soaking-black-beans-faq.html) > > And there are lots of warnings out there about boiling your kidney beans for ten minutes before cooking them in a slow cooker. I think more people get sick off of improperly cooked kidney beans than they realize. Since the symptoms are similar to food poisoning, people just assume the deviled eggs or potato salad had been in the sun too long. All along it was the BEANS! None of your links mention anything about the need to cook beans regarding toxins, specifically, phytohaemagglutinin in red kidney beans. Those articles were more about flavor and quickness of cooking than safety. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/39 "2017-11-02T19:54:06Z")
Apple seeds contain cyanide but probably not enough to hurt you if you eat the whole apple as some people do. Doritos are flammable. If you light them, they burn. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481/40 "2017-11-02T22:13:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I didn’t know Lima beans had the same requirement. That’s important to know. For some of you maybe. I haven’t been forced to try to choke down a Lima bean since I went off to college. Ugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-foods-with-strange-or-dangerous-properties/800481.md?page=3)