Health experts are always warning us to stay away from the unhealthy items on supermarket shelves, foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat. It seems wherever you go these days some very strange additives and preservatives are written on virtually all food packages. In fact, these weird chemicals are being blamed for the high levels of cancer in North America. They won't kill you outright; at least that's the good news. There are some foods out there, however, that pose a lethal risk to anyone who dares to eat them. This article takes a closer look at some of these dangerous edibles.
Fugu
If you eat this you might not leave the restaurant alive. This delicacy served in Japanese eateries still causes deaths in the country. Also known as puffer fish or blowfish, its ovaries contain a deadly poison called tetrodotoxin which has been found in these marine creatures that swim off the coast of Baja California. Highly trained chefs remove most of the toxic parts of the fish and there is just enough of the poison to produce a numbing tingle on the lips. Don't try to prepare this at home. There is no antidote. Fugu is most widely available in the southwestern part of Japan around Yamaguchi and Shimonoseki and is usually served in paper-thin slices.
Wild Mushrooms
If you can't positively identify it and if you're not an expert botanist don't eat it! Randomly picking out fungi in forested areas while hiking and eating them is not only extremely foolish, but also potentially deadly. The chanterelle mushrooms are bright orange and sometimes an orange/yellow combination and are safe to eat. On the other hand, ingesting the Amanita muscaria or Amanita phalloides, which are also known as the fly agaric and death cap respectively, can cause all sorts of terrible symptoms like nausea and vomiting. This is followed by kidney failure and death within three days. The chanterelle variety and the death cap are similar in shape and in colour, so beware!
Peanuts
Eating these nuts is harmless for most of us, but if you're allergic to them even the smallest amount can be lethal. Exercise extreme caution when in supermarkets; sometimes peanuts are disguised with such names as hydrolyzed plant protein or groundnuts on food labels. Anaphylactic shock can occur and death will quickly follow unless the victim is treated with epinephrine. Symptoms include swollen lips, dizziness and difficulty breathing.
Water
Although it's essential for us and all other life forms on Earth, drinking too much of this liquid can produce a condition called water intoxication. Basically, your tissues can begin to swell with excessive amounts of water and cells will burst like oversized balloons. A twenty-eight year old California woman named Jennifer Strange died from this earlier this year. While competing in a radio station's on-air water drinking contest, she drank six litres in three hours. So, don't overdo it. Give your body time to flush out water naturally by urination and sweating.
