Potentially Fatal Foods!

If you’re sensitive to urushiol, you should avoid picking mangoes

The fruit contains the isotope potassium-40, so every banana emits a small amount of radiation. As Mental Floss explains, “Bananas are such a common everyday source of radiation that there’s even an unofficial unit of measurement for radiation called the BED, or Banana Equivalent Dose, that’s used to illustrate foods’ radiation levels.”

Brazil nuts grow on trees with a deep root system. The roots go deep into soil that’s high in natural radium, and the roots absorb the compound. Radium makes its way to the Brazil nuts — which can have radium levels 1,000 times higher than the levels in other foods.

Raw cashews you might find in a supermarket are not actually raw, as they've been steamed to remove the urushiol, a chemical also found in poison ivy. This chemical can cause the same effect as poison ivy, or poison oak. High levels of urushiol can supposedly prove fatal. People who are allergic to poison ivy are likely to have a fatal allergic reaction to eating actual raw cashews.

The leaves and roots of cassava are surprisingly rich in cyanide.

The danger in tuna is the mercury that the fish absorbs. Once in your body, mercury will either pass through your kidneys, or travel to your brain and supposedly drive you insane. The FDA recommends children and pregnant women do not consume tuna at all. While it's unlikely that eating a massive amount of tuna in one sitting will kill you, it's a good idea to monitor your weekly intake.

Because it doesn't go through the pasteurization process in which harmful toxins are killed, unpasteurized honey often contains grayanotoxin. That can lead to dizziness, weakness, excessive sweating, nausea, and vomiting that last for 24 hours. Typically just one tablespoon of concentrated grayanotoxin can cause the symptoms above. Consuming multiple tablespoons would be a bad idea.

Yucca contains poisonous glycosides, which have been known to kill both the malnourished in developing nations but also otherwise healthy people. If you're growing yucca in your garden, avoid glycosides poisoning by drying or cooking the yucca soon after it is harvested.

If you don't chew carefully, the suction cups could stick to your throat, making you suffocate.

Lima beans contain cyanide as a natural defense. Thankfully, the U.S. restricts commercial lima bean growth to only those beans with low cyanide levels

Rhubarb leaves contain the chemical oxalic acid, which is used to make many household cleaning products. It would take ten pounds of leaves to kill you, but even small amounts of rhubarb leaves can cause vomiting and nausea.

Fugu (puffer fish) is a delicacy of Japanese cuisine, but ordering fugu carries a great risk. The puffer fish's organs and skin contain tetrodotoxin, a poison that can paralyze and asphyxiate humans. In order to keep people safe, fugu can only be prepared by licensed chefs who have received special training.

A large serving will carry with it a large dose of the organic compound myristicin. In rare cases, myristicin poisoning has lead to death. In less extreme instances, the poison can cause hallucinations and nausea

Every serving of rice (about 1/4 cup) contains a few micrograms of arsenic. Honestly, death by rice is, at best, a theoretical concept, as it would take about 1,800 cups to kill you

Raw, red kidney beans contain a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin. This toxin won't kill you, but it will cause serious vomiting and nausea. To kill the toxin, boil the beans for ten minutes.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, hot dogs are one of the most dangerous foods for a young child. Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with the contents of the dog, but the food's round shape, perfect for blocking airways. So, always remember to dice up a small child's hot dog.

Bitter almonds contain a substance that will break down into cyanide inside your body. Cooking bitter almonds should neutralize the toxin.

Tomato leaves and stems have been known to contain the poison glycoalkaloid. Although glycoalkaloid isn't likely to kill you, it has been known to cause severe stomach pain and cramps.

Elderberries contain glycosides, which when metabolized, they turn into a form of cyanide. As with bitter almonds, cyanide in elderberries can be neutralized by cooking the berries

Green potatoes produce the chemical solanine, which can cause vomiting and even cardiac arrest

The cherry itself is safe and delicious, but don't eat the pits. Cherry seeds are located inside the pit, and the seeds contain enough cyanide to kill a 150-pound person

A single apple seed contains around 700 miligrams of cyanide. Thankfully, you'd have to eat about 200 seeds to kill yourself, and the average apple has less than 10.