# Is any meat toxic to humans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2007, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660 "2007-09-10T10:53:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/21 "2007-09-10T17:50:17Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] Oh, didn’t read the article entirely… But then again, everyone knows you shouldn’t eat Vermicious Cnids, nor anything that feeds upon them…that’s common sense. [/QUOTE] Wasn’t Cnid Vermicious one of the Sex Pistols? ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/22 "2007-09-10T17:55:28Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I remember reading that some Arctic expedition got in serious trouble after eating polar bear liver, as it contains toxic doses of vitamin A. [/QUOTE] Interesting that you should mention this. I once happened upon a mystery story that was published in a kids’ magazine, oh, back around 1982. It was one of those can-you-guess-the-answer-before-our-hero-does stories, and centered upon a couple of scientists in an Arctic outpost who were rivals. They get caught in a blizzard and spend about a week out in the wilderness before they are rescued. Upon returning to base, the one comes down with a mysterious illness and the other is accused of foul play. As it turns out, the two had killed a polar bear during their ordeal and the gentleman who became ill had eaten part of the bear’s liver. Reading through the victim’s journal, our hero notices this part of the story and voila! The truth is revealed. I was about ten or eleven when I read this, and the magazine in which the story appeared was intended for an audience of that age. I could not, for the life of me, understand how the author came to the conclusion that your average fifth grader would know about the toxic level of vitamin A in polar bear liver. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/23 "2007-09-10T19:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] The Giant Squid flesh is full of ammonia, so is poisonous. [/QUOTE] This can be counteracted by mixing it with goat meat, in a cannon. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/24 "2007-09-10T20:04:29Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] This can be counteracted by mixing it with goat meat, in a cannon. [/QUOTE] Or trebuchet. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/25 "2007-09-12T07:44:39Z")
[Greenlandic shark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakarl) is poisonous unless properly prepared. “Properly” being a relative term, of course :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/26 "2007-09-12T14:56:21Z")
I thought vulture meat was inedible due to the amount of carrion they eat. Anybody know more about that? ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/27 "2007-09-12T15:43:19Z")
How many of these examples demonstrate situations where the meat itself is toxic rather than the toxin being contained in a gland that could be damaged by improper handling or preparation which would then contaminate otherwise edible tissue? Aside from polar bear liver that is. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/28 "2007-09-12T15:54:04Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] This can be counteracted by mixing it with goat meat, in a cannon. [/QUOTE] New Squidgoat Puffs! From Post! Shot from cannons! ---
**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:** [September 12, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660/29 "2007-09-12T17:34:09Z")
> [@](#): > > I never eat anything that sounds like you should spit it out.. Ptooey! > Coincidence…or? I don’t think it’s a coincidence, actually. The natives of the region just use the same (or very similar) onomotopæa for “patooie” that we do, and named the bird for its foul taste. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-meat-toxic-to-humans/418660.md?page=1)