# Do pistachios con tain poison? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036 "2011-01-18T02:28:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/1 "2011-01-18T02:28:12Z")
I seem to remember that pistachios contain mild poison. My name is george, and I am a pistachio addict. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/2 "2011-01-18T02:32:28Z")
Not sure. But keep in mind just about any substance can be a “poison” if you consume enough of it. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/3 "2011-01-18T02:38:22Z")
As with peanuts, [pistachios may be contaminated with aflatoxin.](http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/nuesse/pistazie/pistazie.htm#toxizitaet) Iranian pistachios had a particular [aflatoxin problem a few years ago](http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20020727a8.html). ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/4 "2011-01-18T02:41:18Z")
I think that I read (probably in a Straight Dope column) that cashew trees have an oil in their leaves and nuts that can cause some people skin irritation, similar to poison ivy. Mangos also secrete a similar toxin, and can cause blistering in some people who handle the fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/5 "2011-01-18T08:02:37Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Not sure. But keep in mind just about any substance can be a “poison” if you consume enough of it. Enough is fine. Too much is the problem (that’s why they call it ‘too much’) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/6 "2011-01-18T08:16:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Enough is fine. Too much is the problem (that’s why they call it ‘too much’) 😉 Obligatory [Fry and Laurie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrPdDEutlMw&feature=related) reference. 2:38 - 2:55, to be specific. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/7 "2011-01-18T08:19:41Z")
Cashews can burn your hands. They require processing before they can be eaten. > [@](#): > > Within the true fruit is a single seed, the cashew nut. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the nut of the cashew is a seed. The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing an allergenic phenolic resin, anacardic acid, a potent skin irritant chemically related to the more well known allergenic oil urushiol which is also a toxin found in the related poison ivy. Some people are allergic to cashew nuts, but cashews are a less frequent allergen than nuts or peanuts. > [@](#): > > The cashew nut can also be harvested in its tender form, when the shell has not hardened and is green in color. The shell is soft at this stage, and can be cut into two with a knife. The kernel is extracted (it is still corrosive at this stage, so gloves may be required) and soaked in turmeric water to get rid of the corrosive material before use. > **[Cashew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew)** > > Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree Anacardium occidentale, in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as 14 meters (46 feet), but the dwarf cultivars, growing up to 6 m (20 ft), prove more profitable, with earlier maturity and greater yields. The cashew nut is edible and is eaten on its own as a snack, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or ca... ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/8 "2011-01-18T09:03:42Z")
And of course, almonds contain cyanide. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/9 "2011-01-18T11:45:10Z")
As do most(?) pits from [drupes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupe). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/10 "2011-01-18T11:48:14Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > As do most(?) pits from [drupes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupe). I believe it’s members of the rose family, generally, rather than drupes - which are just a plant’s way of configuring a fruit ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/11 "2011-01-18T11:48:58Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > And of course, almonds contain cyanide. I once got poisoned by bad almonds, feels weird. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/12 "2011-01-19T00:38:02Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > … > My name is george, and I am a pistachio addict. > :eek: 1.We admitted we were powerless over pistachios—that our lives had become unmanageable. 2.Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3.Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4.Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5.Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6.Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7.Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8.Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9.Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10.Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11.Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12.Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to pistachics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/13 "2011-01-19T00:41:14Z")
What is tain poison, and how do you con it? And how can a nut con it? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/14 "2011-01-19T00:59:30Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > What is tain poison, and how do you con it? And how can a nut con it? I don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pistachios-con-tain-poison/568036/15 "2011-01-19T01:25:50Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > What is tain poison, and how do you con it? And how can a nut con it? Nut myNut = new Pistachio(); foreach (Poison currentPoison in Poisons) { if (currentPoison is Tain) { myNut.Con(currentPoison); } }