There are all sorts of things that we eat, that we use, that we are around, that are what I like to refer to as two faced. What I mean by this is that these foods and objects have an evil side and most people are not aware of it. We usually don't have to worry about this in food, because most of the bad stuff has to be processed a certain way before it becomes dangerous. Just look at the lowly castor bean. Castor oil is widely used and with no ill effects. Raw castor beans can be deadly. People get sick and die from them quite frequently. There have been reports of children dying from raw castor beans after eating only 3 or 4 of them. As if this wasn't enough, the waste that is left over after the beans are processed is extremely lethal, maybe you have heard of what is made from it? It is called Ricin and if you were to put enough of this stuff on the head of a pin to cover it, it could kill the people standing around it. It has been used as a terrorist weapon in the past.

Chocolates
Photo Source: FDA

Even food that seems fine to most of us may be deadly to some people. More and more people seem to be developing an allergy to peanuts. I like peanuts and eat peanut butter almost every day, Smuckers of course. To some the simple peanut seems like a poison capsule. It is a little strange when you think about it since the peanut belongs to the 'legumes' family which includes peas, beans and Lentils, among other things. On the face of it, these vegetables seem harmless. We tend to think of peanuts as nuts, but nuts actually belong to a different family. Most of us are not allergic to peanuts and in the US we consume about 700,000,000 pounds of peanut butter a year and 500,000,000 pounds of peanuts. For some unknown reason peanut allergies occur often in young children. The worst part of having a peanut allergy is that even if something doesn't have peanuts in it, it may have been processed on machines that were also used to process peanuts and this will still cause a reaction. Peanuts that one person eats may be deadly to another person.

Some fish that seem ok to eat have a dark side. Fish that live in warm tropical waters can cause Ciguatera poisoning. The fish swims around and sees something that he wants to eat and munches on it. He doesn't realize that what he ate was poisonous. Certain of these poisonous food stay in the fish. Don't believe the old story that cooking a fish will get rid of everything, it is just not true. Certain poisonous food that a fish might eat, do not disappear when the fish is cooked, they remain and then we eat the fish, which is just like eating the poison. On top of this, if you catch a fish and the fish gets too warm, it can give you Scombroid poisoning. This is caused by a histamine that builds up in some fish.

Sometimes something goes wrong with the processing of food and what is usually just a harmless snack, turns out to be deadly . Let me start out by saying that we all know that we have been having a lot of trouble with food and other products from China. It was reported on February 1, 2008, that hundreds of Japanese fell ill after eating dumplings made in China. The problem was so serious that the Japanese called an emergency cabinet meeting over the event. When the dumplings were examined, no chemical residue was found. What ever caused the problem has not been found, but it is another thorn in the side of the Chinese food industry.

Chicken Dinner
Photo Source: Stock.Xching

Sometimes foods that are fine for humans to eat are deadly to our pets. It is hard to believe but things like apple seeds, avocado, chocolate, coffee, grapes, mushrooms, onions, raisins, salt, tea and various types of pits and seeds can not only make your pets sick, they can kill them to. It all depends on the toxicity of each item in relation to your pet and the amounts given.

Soy is very popular in some of the eastern countries. Some say that this is the reason that there are lower incidents of things like heart attacks. Others however claim that soy has evil side effects and may be responsible for things like cancer, thyroid problems, immune and brain malfunctions and much more. I don't thing there is much evidence either way at this point, but it is something to keep in mind.

Recently news is starting to come out that states that there may be a problem with HFCS also known as High Fructose Corn Syrup. The problem is that this stuff is in almost everything. Some food experts are saying that when we consume this stuff we can become overfed and undernourished."Critics say these empty calories are a risk factor for diabetes by placing an excess burden on the insulin-secreting pancreas." I guess we will have to wait a little longer on this one to see what happens.

There is something called Sodium Benzoate, also called Benzoate of soda. What you never heard of it? I bet you have ingested it lately. It comes from berries and is used to prevent mold in some soft drinks. The problem seems to be that when vitamin C is added to a soft drink that has Sodium Benzoate in it, it is said to create benzene, which is a carcinogenic substance. Some say that is can damage your very DNA. It only works when in an acidic condition so it is used in foods that have this condition, such as carbonated drinks, preserves, salad dressings, fruit juices, pickles and some of the Chinese food sauces. Some fireworks use it as fuel.

Mushrooms
Photo Source: Stock.Xching

Japan has a tradition of eating one particular kind of fish and relishing it above all others. The fish is the Blowfish. This fish contains a deadly poison and every time it is consumed, the threat of immediate death hangs over one's head. You are literally placing you life in the hands of the person that prepared this dish and stating that you believe that they know exactly what they are doing. The fish is called fugu in Japan and at different times in Japan's history it was forbidden to be sold in some areas of Japan. Blowfish anyone?

I guess if someone were to ask the average person what food do they have to be careful eating, they might say mushrooms. If one goes out to pick mushrooms, they better know what they are doing because there are deadly variations of mushroom along with Toadstools out there. The mushroom is a fungus. I don't care for mushrooms and the idea of eating a fungus also doesn't appeal to me. I guess I am an exception because mushrooms are very popular and if you are not careful, that burger you ordered will be covered with them. Just an aside, ants actually cultivate and grow mushrooms to feed to the colony.

All trees and fruits in the prune family, which includes cherries, peaches, plums, apples and apricots contain small amounts of cyanide in their seeds and pits. One should never chew or digest these seeds or pits. Small amounts are not usually harmful to us, but why take chances?

We humans eat about 2,000 different types of plants. We also eat all type of meats, including bird meat such as chicken, turkey and others. We also eat fish. Some of the foods that we eat were not around a years ago, or at least some of the ingredients in them weren't. There are people that have the mistaken idea that certain foods have only been around less than 200 years. An example of this is ice cream. This is simply not true. Caesar ate ice cream, but he had to have it shipped from the mountains where ice and snow was used to make it. Runners than had to be able to get it to him before it melted. Some of the food we eat contains parts that are deadly poisons, of course we don't eat these parts. I find it amazing that something that is good for you can also have parts to it that are deadly.