We all know we should be super careful with our summer menus and meal preparations—you know, make sure stuff doesn’t sit out too long, baking in the sun; be careful with the grill (fire! fire!); keep an eye on Aunt Edna so she doesn’t sneak celery into the lemon Jell-O again. Shudder.

Now Food & Wine points out, on CNN’s Eatocracy blog, that there are also certain foods that can be quite dangerous. Take rhubarb, for example. Personally, we think the tart, edible stalks taste dangerously icky, but for all the rhubarb pie fans out there—and we share a household with more than a few—be sure none of the plant’s leaves, which contain oxalic acid that renders them poisonous, make it to the plate.

Cherry pits can also be, well, the pits when it comes to health. The magazine notes that if you eat a slew of pits from the yummy fruit (same holds true for the pits of apricots, plums, and peaches), you could find yourself facing a little case of cyanide poisoning. Now why, exactly, would anyone want to eat fruit pits in the first place? Sorry, but the word “fruitcake” keeps springing to mind.

Another food to avoid in huge quantities: Nutmeg. According to Food & Wine, eating at least an entire seed could make you do all sorts of fun stuff such as hallucinate, vomit, convulse, and even experience circulatory collapse.

Talk about a a summer bummer!

What’s weird, wacky and new in the world of food? Check out the latest food news!

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Categories: Food News | Tags: Cherry Pie, Fruit Salad, Jello, Rhubarb, Rhubarb Pie
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