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- Apr 26, 2022
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(2017) Brendan Brogan ended up in the hospital getting treated for cyanide poisoning after he treated himself to a health snack from a Montreal health-food store. The California man was visiting a friend in Montreal when he visited the store and grabbed a $16 bag of Organic Traditions bitter dried apricot kernels, which are the seeds inside apricot pits.
"My friend that I was staying with is deathly allergic to nuts. He walked by and said : 'I hope you're not eating almonds, they'll kill me." I looked at him and I said: 'Nope, don't worry about it Mike. These are apricot kernels. No problem. They're not nuts.' My friend replied: "You better be careful with those - they're poisonous.' I said: 'That can't be. I just bought them, they're healthy. Look, it says "Superfood" on it.' Then he read the warning on the back :
"Caution: Do not consume more than 2-3 kernels per day. Health Canada warns eating too many apricot kernels may cause acute cyanide poisoning."
Brogan started to panic. He had just probably munched down about 40 of them. Brogan and his friend immediately called poison control, who advised him to head to the nearest emergency room. " I learned there that the staff had never heard of apricot poisoning but, when they saw there was a health warning on the bag, they sort of jumped into action right away and admitted me to the hospital and had a doctor check me out probably in 15 minutes. I had to drink a huge glass of charcoal soup, which was like eating seven or eight charcoal bricks from a barbecue, and then they tested my blood every couple hours while keeping me under observation." he said. He was released the next day and said he had a pounding headache akin to a hangover for two days. Brogan got off lucky.
The Health Canada Website says : "Bitter apricot kernels naturally contain a compound called amygdalin, which has the potential to release cyanide when ingested by humans. Small amounts of cyanide are detoxified by the human body but high doses can be lethal." Australia banned sales of the product in 2015 after a man died from cyanide poisoning in Melbourne. Joe Schwarz, the director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society, told the Montreal Gazette that Canada should follow suit. "You don't need a lot of these kernels to do a lot of harm," he said. (Source : 2017 newspaper article from cbc.ca)
QUESTION : ARE APRICOT KERNELS REALLY POTENTIALLY LETHAL? OR IS THIS SOME KIND OF SMEAR CAMPAIGN TO STOP PEOPLE EATING THEM FOR HEALTH BENEFITS?
NOTE : the kernels are jam packed with vitamin B17. The legendary Hunza people who were famous for their longevity and robust health valued these nuts very highly. Some sources suggest they work well as anti-cancer nutrition.
"My friend that I was staying with is deathly allergic to nuts. He walked by and said : 'I hope you're not eating almonds, they'll kill me." I looked at him and I said: 'Nope, don't worry about it Mike. These are apricot kernels. No problem. They're not nuts.' My friend replied: "You better be careful with those - they're poisonous.' I said: 'That can't be. I just bought them, they're healthy. Look, it says "Superfood" on it.' Then he read the warning on the back :
"Caution: Do not consume more than 2-3 kernels per day. Health Canada warns eating too many apricot kernels may cause acute cyanide poisoning."
Brogan started to panic. He had just probably munched down about 40 of them. Brogan and his friend immediately called poison control, who advised him to head to the nearest emergency room. " I learned there that the staff had never heard of apricot poisoning but, when they saw there was a health warning on the bag, they sort of jumped into action right away and admitted me to the hospital and had a doctor check me out probably in 15 minutes. I had to drink a huge glass of charcoal soup, which was like eating seven or eight charcoal bricks from a barbecue, and then they tested my blood every couple hours while keeping me under observation." he said. He was released the next day and said he had a pounding headache akin to a hangover for two days. Brogan got off lucky.
The Health Canada Website says : "Bitter apricot kernels naturally contain a compound called amygdalin, which has the potential to release cyanide when ingested by humans. Small amounts of cyanide are detoxified by the human body but high doses can be lethal." Australia banned sales of the product in 2015 after a man died from cyanide poisoning in Melbourne. Joe Schwarz, the director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society, told the Montreal Gazette that Canada should follow suit. "You don't need a lot of these kernels to do a lot of harm," he said. (Source : 2017 newspaper article from cbc.ca)
QUESTION : ARE APRICOT KERNELS REALLY POTENTIALLY LETHAL? OR IS THIS SOME KIND OF SMEAR CAMPAIGN TO STOP PEOPLE EATING THEM FOR HEALTH BENEFITS?
NOTE : the kernels are jam packed with vitamin B17. The legendary Hunza people who were famous for their longevity and robust health valued these nuts very highly. Some sources suggest they work well as anti-cancer nutrition.
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