You Must Know, Here's 12 Foods That Could Kill You

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You Must Know, Here's 12 Foods That Could Kill You - From potentially lethal fish to deceptively innocuous-looking fruit, here are 12 foods from around the world that you don’t want to sample without chef supervision.

1. Fugu
   A lethal dose the size of a pin head — of the puffer fish (Fugu) contains tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide. This means one fish can kill around 30 people. The Fugu skin, and some organs like the ovaries and liver, are the source of a paralyzing death when not prepared correctly. Because of the high stakes, chefs usually undergo two to three years of training to obtain a fugu-preparing license, and having fugu in a restaurant could run you $50 or more in Japan. This Japanese delicacy comes in around 40 kinds of fugu fish, and around 10,000 tons of the fish are consumed in Japan every year. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: Hoshinoya in Kyoto, Japan, prepares a blowfish sashimi.
2. Ackee Fruit
   The pink colored Ackee fruit contains a poison called hypoglycin, and when the fruit is properly boiled, the poison dissipates. However, if you happen across unripe ackee, there is a chance you could succumb to Jamaican Vomiting Sickness, which can lead to seizures, a coma and even death. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: Rockhouse Hotel in Negril, Jamaica, offers an ackee hummus dip.
3. Lionfish
   Lionfish, a venomous fish native to the Indo-Pacific, has been an invasive species in the Atlantic for over a decade. Lionfish harm reef ecosystems with no known predators and continues to reproduce all year long. Because lionfish are venomous and not poisonous, there is no harm in eating the lionfish meat. Just don't pick one up with your bare hands. Once you dispose of the spines, there is no risk of envenomation, and you're free to eat the lionfish and help put a dent in its proliferation. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: The Zama Beach Club located in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, specializes in serving lionfish tiradito (raw).
4. Elderberries
   While elderberries have historically been used medicinally in homeopathy remedies for treating skin wounds and colds, the leaves, twigs, and seeds of the elderberry fruit contain a cyanide-like chemical, which can cause severe illness and nausea if ingested. Some varieties, when unripe or not cooked properly, can cause diarrhea and seizures. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: The Persimmon Hill on-farm restaurant in Branson, Missouri, serves fresh-pressed and processed elderberry juice.
5. Sannakji
   The Korean raw baby octopus, or Sannakji, is deadly because even after it has been chopped up into small pieces, it will still wiggle. This food would be the equivalent of a toddler choke hazard: Even when the limbs have been removed from the body and smothered in sauces, its suction cups still have gripping power. Imagine the cups latching onto your mouth and throat and causing asphyxiation. Not fun. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul, South Korea.
6. Star Fruit
   Fruit juice is usually a healthy choice, but when drinking 100 mL or more of the star fruit juice, things become deadly. In particular, for those that have kidney problems, since the juice won't be processed quickly and the fruit’s neurotoxins can affect the brain when they stick around the body. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: You can find star fruit at plenty of grocery stores and then put it through a juice press, but watch how much you ingest.
7. Cassava
   Cassava is a food staple in the Caribbean and Central America and the basis of tapioca. The root vegetable contains a high concentration of linamarin, and when consumed raw, the linamarin can decompose into cyanide as it's digested in the human body. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: Bazul Restaurant in Tela, Honduras, offers casaba (cassava bread) at the beginning of meals.
8. Blood Clams
   China’s waters contain a species of clams called blood clams or blood cockles — and if the name didn’t scare you enough, the clams' diet should: Because blood clams live in low-oxygen environments, they ingest a lot of viruses and bacteria, including Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E, among others. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: Blood clams cultivated from Maine and Mexico can be found at Washington D.C.’s Oval Room.
9. Lupini Beans
   These are not your Homestyle Bushes baked beans: Lupini beans are popular in many countries and come with a toxic alkaloid. Preparing them takes a full week to remove the toxic alkaloids, yet you can do so by soaking them in water in an airtight container. Lupini Beans are called tormos in Egypt, altramuz in Spain, chochos in South America, and tremoços in Portugal. They're a high-protein, high fiber snack — but make sure you soak them first. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: Bairro do Avillez in Lisbon, Portugal, offers ceviche of tremoço (lupini bean ceviche). 
10. Pangium Edule
    Pangium edule is a large, brown fruit native to the mangrove swamps of Southeast Asia. The “football fruit” will surely be a touchdown to the emergency room if eaten raw: The fruit contains hydrogen cyanide and should only be consumed after it's de-shelled and boiled, and fermented inside of banana leaves for a month. The hydrogen cyanide is released after the boiling and fermentation. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: PeraMakan in Singapore serves pangium edule in a chicken dish.
11. Hákal
    The rotten-smelling Greenland shark is a staple on the ice-covered, Nordic island. The smell of the Hákarl is not what renders one incapacitated, though. Because the species doesn’t have a urinary tract, all the waste and potentially toxic substances get filtered into the meat of the animal. It takes a six-month process to render the dish safe to eat. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: Try the smelly dish at Reykjavik, Iceland’s Nora Magasin.
12. Echizen
    Kurage Instead of a potentially deadly sting, jellyfish can be deadly in another way. Echizen Kurage, or Nomura's jellyfish, is a Japanese jellyfish delicacy that lives in symbiosis with tuna. The jellyfish has toxic parts that must be removed, and when cooked properly, it can be eaten without risk. Where to Try it Safely Prepared: PiaoSyan serves the delicacy in Ginza, Japan.

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