The chemicals used in some decaffeination processes raise health and environmental concerns. There are four major commercial processes used to remove caffeine from coffee. Conventional decaffeination uses the chemical Methylene Chloride, "Natural" decaffeination uses the chemical Ethyl Acetate. Water decaffeination uses water and Carbon Dioxide decaffeination uses, you guessed it, carbon dioxide. Each of these methods does a good job of removing the caffeine from coffee (to sell a coffee as decaffeinated it must be at least 97% caffeine free). However, there are significant differences in the taste of the decaffeinated product, in the residual chemicals remaining in the beans, and in the effect on the environment.

Natural Decaffeination - uses Mdthylene Chloride a solvent. Although Methylene Chloride levels in the coffee bean are reduced to residual levels that are "legally safe" (the FDA has set a maximum allowable level of 10 parts per million), health conscious consumers, skeptical of government infallibility, consider these residues unacceptable.

Ethyl Acetate Decaffeination - Coffee decaffeinated using this process is frequently referred to as "Natural Decaffeinated" because Ethyl Acetate (CH3CO2C2H5) can occur naturally in orange rinds and others fruits. But because of the cost of using natural extract the Ethyl Acetate used in decaffeination, a manufactured chemical is used. There is some question as to whether it is legal in the United States to call Ethyl Acetate decaffeinated coffee "naturally decaffeinated," but currently that is a common practice. The decaffeination process is essentially the same as in conventional Methylene Chloride decaffeination, except Ethyl Acetate replaces Methylene Chloride as the solvent. There are still chemical residues remaining in the coffee beans (10ppm max).

Water Decaffeination - A water process decaffeination plants starts by soaking coffee beans in pure water. The liquid is drained off, and the coffee is thrown away, because it is now flavorless. The liquid solution, however, is full of both coffee flavors and caffeine. (Of course caffeine is water soluble otherwise they couldn't put it in your cola. The liquid is then passed through a carbon filter, which removes the caffeine but not the flavor components. This flavor saturated liquid is then poured onto a new batch of coffee. Because the liquid is already full of coffee flavors, it doesn't extract any additional flavor from the coffee beans. It does, however, extract the caffeine. This cycle of soaking, then filtering out the caffeine, can be repeated indefinitely. No chemicals are used.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Decaffeination - In the CO2 decaffeination process, water soaked coffee beans are placed in a stainless steel container or extractor. The extractor is then sealed and liquid CO2 is injected. The CO2 acts as the solvent to dissolve and draw the caffeine from the coffee beans, leaving the larger-molecule flavor components behind. The caffeine laden CO2 is then transferred to another container. Here the pressure is released and the CO2 returns to its gaseous state, leaving the caffeine behind. The caffeine free CO2 gas is pumped back into a pressurized container for reuse. CO2 decaffeination produces the most flavorful decaffeinated coffee. There are no harmful chemicals or byproducts of the process.

Poison Mushrooms are everywhere. Two type are the Death Cap and Yellow Staining mushroom, but there are more.

Mushrooms anyone ?

The black-eyed pea alone out of the whole pea family absorbs poison, passes it on, and by some unique chemical process later dissipates every trace of the poison. So it is the food of choice for the perfect crime. This is why it's illegal in 34 states to buy black-eyed peas in bulk without a permit from the sheriff.

One of the most common culprits in food-borne botulism is home-canned food, especially vegetables such as asparagus, green beans, and peppers. More than 90 percent of food-borne botulism outbreaks between 1976 and 1985 were due to home-processed foods.

If you home-can products, make sure you use proper equipment, proper containers to can in, and use the up-to-date process. The U.S. Department of Agriculture home canning guidelines are available.

What is domoic acid?
Domoic acid is a naturally occurring toxin produced by microscopic algae, specifically the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia pungens. Shellfish and crabs ingest this algae, where the toxin concentrates. Significant amounts of domoic acid can cause Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) in humans. ASP is transmitted by eating contaminated molluscan shellfish and crab. The poison is not destroyed by cooking or freezing.

Hydrocyanic acid is a dangerous poison (about one twentieth of a gram is considered lethal for an adult), but it is also very volatile and susceptible to hydrolysis at higher temperatures. Therefore, significant amounts of hydrocyanic acid are highly unlikely to accumulate in any dish prepared with bitter almonds. On the other side, incorporation of whole raw bitter almonds is fairly dangerous because, in this case, all of its hydrocyanic acid is formed in one's stomach. Serious poisoning is quite rare with adults, but children may be killed by just a few bitter almonds.

After their pet has eaten a large quantity of chocolate, many pet owners assume their pet is unaffected. However, the signs of sickness may not be seen for several hours, with death following within twenty-four hours.

At first, pets affected by onion poisoning show gastroenteritis with vomiting and diarrhea. They will show no interest in food and will be dull and weak. The red pigment from the burst blood cells appears in an affected animal’s urine and it becomes breathless. The breathlessness occurs because the red blood cells that carry oxygen through the body are reduced in number.

The poisoning occurs a few days after the pet has eaten the onion.