Cyanide poisoning from apricot kernels - fact or fiction?

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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.

 

[Ww42]

Seems like it could be a way to die, but cyanide poisoning is a fairly slow and painful death, so I wouldn't personally go with it. You'll be throwing up, nauseas, intense stomach pain, shakiness, cold sweats, pounding heart and blood pressure. And in the end your SI might take over after feeling all these symptoms leading you to go to the ER where they will have you ingest activated charcoal which is insanely nasty, monitor you for some hours until it's out of your system. You might avoid the psych ward since you can tell them you ate a bunch of apricots, but I'd avoid this method altogether personally

 

[Yuki_03]

Yeah, you could die, 0.6 to 1.5 mg/kg is enough to kill by oral ingest (according to Wiki). But in higher doses it seems to affect more rapidly. I couldn't find many sources about how peaceful it is; but people have definitely tried cyanide methods before. They were used in suicide and also gas chambers in 1942. So it definitely can kill a person; but probably in a pretty bad way. I might try to find more info afterwards.

 

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April 2016, Article from food-safety.com : According to new information released by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the consumption of apricot kernels could result in cyanide poisoning.

" Apricots contain a naturally-occurring compound known as amygdalin. The compound lives inside apricot kernels and converts to cyanide after it enters the human body. The apricot fruit itself does not pose any health risks to consumers, says EFSA. The kernel is the seed from inside the apricot stone. It is obtained by cracking open and removing the hard stone shell and, therefore, has no contact with the fruit. According to EFSA, studies show that 0.5 to 3.5 milligrams (mg) of cyanide per kilogram of body weight can be lethal. For humans, the risk of high cyanide exposure increases by eating either one large apricot kernel, or about three small ones. For toddlers, even one small apricot kernel is a cyanide risk. EFSA's Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain has set a safe level of 20 micrograms per kilogram of body weight--25 times lower than the reported lethal dose. That equates to a safe cyanide level of 370 mg for adults and 60 mg for toddlers, the latter of which is about one-half of a small apricot kernel."

Cyanide poisoning can lead to nausea, fever, headaches, insomnia, lethargy and joint and muscle pains. In extreme cases, cyanide poisoning is fatal. In the European Union, most apricot kernels are believed to be imported from outside the region and are heavily marketed to consumers online. The kernels are promoted as a "cancer-fighting food" with sellers recommending 10 kernels per day for the general population and 60 kernels per day for cancer patients.

 

[Jorms_McGander]

Fact. No longer available in Canada. I surrendered mine to a therapist before I realised how hunted suicidal ideation is. Now my security blanket is a belt and a couple nice sized chestnuts for my carotids.

 

[tomyumgoong]

Looks like I can order them online where I live. I might try it out. Thank you.