A load of old rhubarb

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I made mention on my home blog that my rhubarb was green and that I was adding elderberries to it to make it look more 'normal'.  I have seen recipes that added strawberries to give colour.  A few people asked if green rhubarb was safe.

Yes, it is.

The green stemmed rhubarb is a fast growing, thick stemmed hybrid.  Quite safe.

The poisonous element in rhubarb is a chemical called Oxalic Acid and it is found at high levels (0.5%) in the leaves, regardless of the stem colour.

Oxalic Acid is also found in many other plants but not at the levels found in rhubarb leaves.  Excessive Oxalic Acid consumption results in kidney stones (Calcium Oxalate).  A lethal dose of rhubarb leaves is about 5kg.
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Stamps. And the perils of licking them.

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Stamp commemorating all that was left standing after the US 'liberated' Iraq?

Xink asks: Is it possible to die from licking stamps? As in the Seinfeld episode when George Costanza's fiance dies after licking cheap stamps for a wedding invitation mail out.

Good grief - we get further and further away from food chemistry!

Partly my own fault: My profile has a question on it: "What's the best time you've ever had licking stamps?" My response was "Ah, Stamps! Such a lovely girl. So many memories; how can I choose?" So I guess I have no-one to blame but myself.

The short answer is that I do not know of anyone dying from licking stamps but the mucilage that was put on stamps to act as the adhesive is a protein based material and, as allergenic reactions are generally a response to proteins, it is not impossible that someone may have a reaction.

◊◊◊

As for the Stamps of my profile. Yes, if her boyfriend found out, that could kill you.

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Potatoes

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When I worked at the Coroner's Court, I remember reading about a guy who had a whole lot of potatoes that had started to shoot and so he broke off all the shoots and stir-fried them.

May he rest in peace.

There is a toxic alkaloid called Solanine that is produced by shooting potatoes. It is very high in the shoots and is also high in the potato when it has a green skin.

This calls into question the ethics of supermarkets who sell potatoes in pink plastic bags, or under pink lighting, as it makes the green potatoes look brown.

Until you get them home.
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Nutmeg

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Most people know of nutmeg, a common spice. Goes well in eggnog and such like.

What most people don't know, and continues my theme that everything is bad for your and laboratory rats at some level, is that nutmeg is toxic. Certainly if you applied to have it approved for use as a new drug you wouldn't get it past the food authorities.

We had a fruitcake submitted due to a complaint that the consumer's lips tingled when she ate the cake. Was it contaminated? No, but it had high levels of nutmeg.

Wikipedia says of nutmeg toxicity:

In low doses, nutmeg produces no noticeable physiological or neurological response.

Large doses can be dangerous (potentially inducing convulsions, palpitations, nausea, eventual dehydration, and generalized body pain).

Users report both negative and positive experiences, involving strong hallucinations, and in some cases quite severe anxiety.

Use of nutmeg as a recreational drug is unpopular due to its unpleasant taste and its possible negative side effects, including dizziness, flushes, dry mouth, accelerated heartbeat, temporary constipation, difficulty in urination, nausea, and panic. In addition, experiences usually last well over 24 hours making recreational use rather impractical.

Good reason to cut back on the nutmeg and up the rum.
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Ah, now I see!

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A Sydney doctor has been studying human retinas since 1976 and says the carrot myth, that eating carrots is good for your eyes, started in World War II, is a "complete fabrication". Dr Beaumont is the director of the Macular Degeneration (MD) Foundation.

"When the English ... were flying at night they used radar but the Germans didn't know that radar existed," Dr Beaumont said from his Sydney clinic. "The English certainly didn't want them to know so they put out a myth saying they were feeding their pilots carrots to improve their night vision and that's why they could fly and see things at night.

Dr Beaumont recommends eating lutein rich foods for eye health. The lutein (found in spinach, corn and egg yolks) helps protect the eye from sight-damaging light that causes MD and blindness, Dr Beaumont explains.

On the flipside, ironically, foods rich in beta carotene - like carrots - can damage the eye's protective shield, doubling your risk of contracting the disease.

So much for old wive's tales.

Related to that, there is at least one recorded case of a person dying from drinking excessive amounts of carrot juice.

While we need Vitamin A (beta carotene is a Vitamin A precursor), it is actually quite toxic.
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