# Poisonous volunteer squash? Anyone heard of this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 30, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453 "2007-08-30T01:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rebeccaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@rebeccaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rebeccaj)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/21 "2016-12-10T07:27:05Z")
[http://www.swampyacresfarm.com/wordpress/poison-volunteer-squash-warned/](http://www.swampyacresfarm.com/wordpress/poison-volunteer-squash-warned/) Happened to see this discussion and thought this first-hand account of someone supposedly being poisoned by a squash would be appropriate to add here. I am trying to find out if it’s ok to eat decorative squash (fleshy, not woody like a gourd). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/22 "2016-12-10T15:02:00Z")
> [@rebeccaj](#): > > [http://www.swampyacresfarm.com/wordpress/poison-volunteer-squash-warned/](http://www.swampyacresfarm.com/wordpress/poison-volunteer-squash-warned/) > > Happened to see this discussion and thought this first-hand account of someone supposedly being poisoned by a squash would be appropriate to add here. > > I am trying to find out if it’s ok to eat decorative squash (fleshy, not woody like a gourd). The thread is nine years old. Everyone died from squash poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![rebeccaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@rebeccaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rebeccaj)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/23 "2016-12-11T08:12:41Z")
If only they had known not to eat the bitter stuff! [https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.usfoodsafety.com/2011/07/18/toxic-squash-syndrome-honey-intoxication-and-fish-poisoning-in-washington-state/amp/?client=ms-android-google](https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.usfoodsafety.com/2011/07/18/toxic-squash-syndrome-honey-intoxication-and-fish-poisoning-in-washington-state/amp/?client=ms-android-google) Threads are forever. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/24 "2016-12-11T09:00:17Z")
I know this is an old thread, but yup, I’d heard of this. It’s actually pretty hard to be poisoned, as curcurbitacin, the problem chemical, is so inedible bitter that any fruit with a high enough concentration to be risky is going to taste so foul you’d need to force yourself to eat it. Accidental crosses may produce high levels in fruit, but sometimes otherwise normal named variety plants will produce a freakishly high concentration of it, sometimes in just one fruit, probably in response to stress (never heard of it happening in commercial plants, but I know home growers who’ve had this happen). If you’re not sure, taste it before making a whole batch of squash curry or something. It’s pretty rare, and normally just makes you feel awful rather than being truly dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/25 "2016-12-12T05:03:58Z")
Pretty much the worse thing that could happen with volunteer squash is that the genes crossed and the resulting fruit won’t taste good. I’ve heard of people planting saved seeds that they thought were, for instance, pumpkins, and got some kind of strange cucumber/zucchini/pumpkin cross that looked interesting and tasted even more interesting, and not in a good way. In at least one case, they decided to feed these to their backyard poultry (this, BTW, is what’s usually done with giant pumpkins, which are technically edible but don’t taste good either) and those chickens and ducks made some very yummy eggs. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/26 "2016-12-12T05:09:35Z")
I almost ate some poisonous volunteer squash once. But at the last minute my wife stopped me. It was a marrow escape. ---
**Author:** ![quimper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7c8e57/32.png) [@quimper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quimper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/27 "2016-12-12T15:18:25Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I know this is an old thread, but yup, I’d heard of this. > > It’s actually pretty hard to be poisoned, as curcurbitacin, the problem chemical, is so inedible bitter that any fruit with a high enough concentration to be risky is going to taste so foul you’d need to force yourself to eat it. Accidental crosses may produce high levels in fruit, but sometimes otherwise normal named variety plants will produce a freakishly high concentration of it, sometimes in just one fruit, probably in response to stress (never heard of it happening in commercial plants, but I know home growers who’ve had this happen). If you’re not sure, taste it before making a whole batch of squash curry or something. > > It’s pretty rare, and normally just makes you feel awful rather than being truly dangerous. Zucchini (aka courgettes) are particularly susceptible to reversion to wild phenotype, and can even [cross pollinate with poisonous ornamental squashes](http://www.clever-storage.com/food-storage/issues-of-home-economics/beware-of-poisonous-surprises-in-your-garden.html), yet some people get it in their heads that commercial seeds = BAD and saved seeds = GOOD. [A German man died after eating a stew made from his neighbor’s heirloom zucchini.](http://www.thelocal.de/20150821/courgette-stew-kills-pensioner-in-heidelberg) Thinking he was eating ‘health food’, he ignored the incredibly bitter poison and finished the whole bowl, which ended up killing him. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/28 "2016-12-12T23:34:00Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > I almost ate some poisonous volunteer squash once. But at the last minute my wife stopped me. It was a marrow escape. We have standards here, you know! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/29 "2016-12-12T23:39:35Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > We have standards here, you know! They’re low, but we have them! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453/30 "2016-12-12T23:49:42Z")
> [@rebeccaj](#): > > If only they had known not to eat the bitter stuff! > > [https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.usfoodsafety.com/2011/07/18/toxic-squash-syndrome-honey-intoxication-and-fish-poisoning-in-washington-state/amp/?client=ms-android-google](https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.usfoodsafety.com/2011/07/18/toxic-squash-syndrome-honey-intoxication-and-fish-poisoning-in-washington-state/amp/?client=ms-android-google) > > Threads are forever. Okay, you’re a keeper. > [@Biotop](#): > > I almost ate some poisonous volunteer squash once. But at the last minute my wife stopped me. It was a marrow escape. But you will have to go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous-volunteer-squash-anyone-heard-of-this/417453.md?page=1)