- Many of the foods that you eat regularly
have lots of different varieties,
but eat the wrong one and it could kill you.
(grunting)
- It's biting my lip.
- Even if you've eaten mushrooms,
fish, or even cheese, you've probably noticed
that there are many different varieties of each.
But what you probably didn't know is that
depending on where you are, some places sell those foods
that are actually highly toxic to certain people.
So you might want to pay attention to what's on this list.
Here are 10 foods that can kill you instantly.
Number one are death cap mushrooms.
There's an estimated 10,000 different types
of mushrooms in North America alone.
So unless you're an expert, you may want to rethink
your chances of properly telling apart
the edible ones from the poisonous ones out in the wild.
Amanita phalloides, or death caps, are, as the name implies,
some of the most poisonous mushrooms you can find.
While native to Europe, due to importing wood
and certain nuts, these deadly fungi have found the way
to grow in North America, Australia,
Western Asia, and even some South American countries.
Although they're actually rumored to taste quite pleasant,
they'll also cause severe
gastronomical upset and organ failure.
Poisoning most commonly happens because people who find them
think that they're normal or even hallucinogenic mushrooms,
which was actually the fate of famous composer
Johann Schobert, his wife, his child,
four guests, and his maid, after insisting that
his mushrooms were indeed edible.
Yeah, they weren't, he dead.
Number two is hakarl.
Hakarl is a type of shark that has been a staple food
in Icelandic family homes for centuries.
When faced with limited food resources,
the Icelandic people turned to the abundant
supply of hakarl in their waters.
There was only one problem, of course.
Hakarl is incredibly poisonous to humans.
But thanks to some preparation methods
handed down by the vikings, this nasty,
toxic fish can be made edible.
All you have to do is gut it, chop off its head,
toss it in a shallow hole in the ground,
cover it with rocks and sand, and leave it there for like,
you know, six to 12 weeks while it ferments
in its own seeped out urine.
Ah, delicious.
Then after hand drying it for several months,
you got a meal, but if you skip those steps,
or it's prepared incorrectly, you could easily get poisoned.
Not only is it poisonous if untreated,
but hakarl has the honor of being considered
one of the most revolting foods on the planet.
Bon appetit!
Number three is fugu.
One fish, two fish, blowfish, dead person.
An estimated 30 to 50 people every year
fall victim to one of the most deadly foods in the world.
And basically every one of them is doing so
with full knowledge of the danger that they face.
Fugu, better known as the pufferfish or blowfish,
is considered a delicacy in Japan.
The problem is though, a single fish contains
enough poison to kill 30 adults with no known antidote.
The toxins these things contain are
1,200 times stronger than cyanide.
It paralyzes those who are brave
or foolish enough to consume it
while they stay fully conscious and die from asphyxiation.
Chefs have to undergo at least three years
of specialized training to be qualified
to prepare the fish properly, which involves removing
the creature's most toxic organ, the liver.
Serving fugu liver was banned in Japan back in 1984,
but that hasn't stopped some daredevil diners
demanding to try it, succeeding in being served it,
and then possibly paying the ultimate price.
Number four is belladonna.
Belladonna means beautiful woman in Italian
but sadly, it's also the name of
one of the most poisonous plants on the planet.
Known as the devil's berries or deadly nightshade,
belladonna is found in Europe, North Africa, and West Asia.
Both the leaves and the berries are extremely toxic
and contain tropane alkaloids which
cause hallucinations and delirium.
Fresh berries can be distilled into alcohol
and its toxins are sometimes even used pharmaceutically
as a remedy for gastrointestinal disorders and insomnia.
So it can't all be bad, right?
Well it only takes around 10 tiny berries
from this plant to kill a full grown adult.
And they definitely have.
Belladonna is believed to be responsible
for the poisoning of Roman Emperors Claudius and Augustus,
and used by the Scottish King Duncan I in 1030 AD, who,
legend has it, gave bottles of the drink to the Danish army,
killing them without ever raising his sword.
Number five is sannakji.
You know how people say don't play with your food?
That's wise words but in this case,
you should probably watch out that your food
doesn't start trying to play with you.
The choking octopi is considered a Korean delicacy.
Don't worry, this one won't poison you, no, no, no.
It will instead kill you in
a much faster and far creepier way.
The tentacles of the octopi are served raw
immediately after being cut from the body of the animal and,
like a chicken with its head cut off,
residual nerve activity keeps the tentacles twitching.
And those bad boys don't wanna go down without a fight.
The tentacles' suckers will attach to your lips,
cheeks, tongue, and if you don't chew fast enough
and drink enough water, they'll actually latch on
to your throat on the way down.
This could cause you to very quickly choke to death.
Approximately six people every single year in South Korea
die from this, many of whom are men who believe
that consuming it will actually
boost their strength and sex drive.
That's a fair risk.
Number six is the ackee fruit.
There are very few things better than enjoying
some authentic Caribbean cooking, and not dying, of course.
If you've ever been to Jamaica,
you may have tried their national fruit, ackee.
It's actually one half of their national dish
ackee and salt fish which in September of 2011
actually ranked second in a survey that National Geographic
conducted of the best national dishes.
Now this may have you dying to go out
and pick some ackee apples for yourself,
but hold your horses, because you'll literally be dying.
Ackee contains hypoglycin which causes
blood sugar to drop at fatal levels.
If the unripened or untreated fruit is eaten,
you can fall victim to Jamaica vomiting sickness,
which involves seizures and lethal hypoglycemia.
In 2011, 23 people were confirmed to have died
and another 194 were suspected of having been poisoned
after consuming the ackee fruit.
Number seven are giant Namibian bullfrogs.
If you've ever wanted to try eating a frog,
I recommend you go French style and stick with the legs.
Because when it comes to Namibia's version of them,
any more than that might put you in the hospital
or even worse, in your grave.
Giant bullfrogs are a delicacy in Namibia
and can be upwards of 9 inches long and weigh over a pound.
Since they're virtually indistinguishable
from many more edible frogs, these amphibians pose
a real danger to those who crave frog meat.
They're usually only found on the black market,
not only because they're endangered
but also because they're highly toxic.
The majority of the bullfrog is poisonous to humans,
including its skin, tongue, and most organs,
and eating one can cause kidney failure.
Young adults males who have not yet mated
are considered to be the most dangerous.
That's right, a bullfrog will blue balls is deadly.
Number eight is casu marzu cheese.
When the name for the food you're about to serve
literally means rotting cheese, it might be better
to serve cheddar cubes and crackers instead.
Casu marzu is the Sardinian name for maggot cheese.
Yep, you heard that right, maggot cheese.
This Italian sheep's milk specialty is made
by removing the rind and leaving it outside
so that cheese flies will lay their eggs inside of it.
As many as 500 eggs are added to
this dairy product at any one time.
Once the larvae hatch, they eat, digest,
and excrete the cheese from inside.
It's the acid from this process that
makes the cheese soft and ready to eat.
So basically you're eating maggot poop, mm.
The thing is, you have to eat it
when the maggots are still alive and squirming
because dead ones are highly toxic and yes, can kill you.
What's worse is that if you don't chew them properly,
living maggots will turn your innards
into the new all you can eat buffet.
Two dangers, one cheese, and a whole lot of no.
Number nine is English yew.
Found in Southern parts of Europe,
Southwest Asia, and Northwest Africa,
Taxus baccata, better known as English Yew,
is a coniferous tree with bright red berries.
A popular choice in landscaping designs,
they're useful for creating ornamental
topiaries and formal hedges.
But beyond the wondrous beauty of these evergreen trees
lies a murderous plant ready to sap you of your life.
Every single part of this evergreen is highly toxic
to humans with the strange exception of its berries.
Even with all that we know today,
people still risk their lives and eat them.
The seeds inside these very edible berries
are just as toxic as the rest of the tree,
so they must be prepared properly
with the seeds inside the berries removed.
If you ingest even one seed, you could experience
increased heart rate, convulsions,
muscle tremors, and cardiac arrest before ultimately dying.
Even scarier, you could experience no symptoms at all
and still be dead within a few hours.
Man, those berries were good.
Nope.
And number 10 is water hemlock.
At eight feet tall and a distinctive collection
of white and green umbrella shaped flowers on it,
you'd think that these plants would be easy
to avoid touching altogether, let alone accidentally eating.
But unfortunately nature has a way
of making deadly things look appetizing.
Hemlock is one of the most lethal plants in the world
and is considered to be the most
poisonous plant in North America.
History shows that it was a particular
favorite in Ancient Greece,
most notably being responsible for the death of Socrates.
What makes water hemlock so dangerous
is that the fresh root, the most toxic part of the plant,
strongly resembles a parsnip.
But unlike parsnips, water hemlock contains cicutoxin,
a neurotoxin that overstimulates the central nervous system,
causing nausea, breathing problems, kidney failure,
seizures, and soon after ingestion, death.
See, this is why I stay inside most the time,
man, everything's gonna kill you.
So those were 10 foods that could kill you instantly.
But of course I want to know from you guys.
Have you or would you ever try one of these foods?
Leave your comments below because I'll be reading through
them and I'm going to pin the best one to the top.
Thank you guys so much for coming by today.
Remember to come back tomorrow and every weekday
at exactly 3 PM Eastern Standard Time
because I'll have another video for you.
I'll see you then.