FSANZ recall warning: Raw apricot kernels and cyanide fear
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Chief Executive Officer Steve McCutcheon today warned consumers against eating raw apricot kernels following the discovery of high levels of a naturally occurring toxin in some products available in Australia.
There are different types of apricot kernels, some of which contain high levels of the toxin that can release cyanide into the body when eaten.
According to FSANZ, adults eating as few as four of these kernels a day could become very ill – children should not eat any.
Testing of a number of raw apricot kernels by state and territory health authorities found apricot kernels contained high levels of the toxin that can release hydrocyanic acid, a cyanide compound, in the gut.
Mr McCutcheon said that these products are currently being investigated and a recall of ChiTree Apricot Kernels is occurring. The products, packaged in 1kg vacuum-sealed clear plastic bags, have been sold nationally on-line and at some health food stores.
“While some raw apricot kernels are promoted as an alternative therapy for cancer treatment,” Mr McCutcheon said, “the Cancer Council of Australia has published a position statement that cautions consumers about using alternative therapies, including laetrile (apricot kernels).”
FSANZ advised those who have recently purchased the recalled raw apricot kernels to return the product to ChiTree for a refund or dispose of it safely out of the reach of children and pets.
A statement posted on the ChiTree website said, “It is our understanding that a customer presented to hospital with adverse reactions after ingesting a large quantity of apricot kernels and this is why ChiTree is the present focus of this action. It has always been our assumption that our customers, having made the purchase, are educated about apricot kernels and their many applications. Aware of TGA regulations, we have never made claims about or recommendations for consumption.”
Cyanide, believe it or not, is a dietary expectation within biologically rational quantities. Cyanide within the body is transformed into another substance called, ‘thiocyanate’. Sickle cell anemia is a thiocyanate deficiency disease. Do you see what I’m getting at? Hundreds of foods we consume daily contain dietary cyanide. Provided that we don’t overwhelm our natural capacities to process it safely, there is no danger. Cyanide is not an accumulative toxin.
That said, it is totally possible to eat too many apricot kernels and feel quite unwell as a result, but a fatal dose is a very large quantity and highly unlikely. So unlikely, in fact, that it has never been medically reported in a documented, verifiable way. That is a fact that should surprise anyone vaguely familiar with this controversy.
Whether or not apricot kernels work is somewhat irrelevant. What is relevant is that people believe that they work and thousands have reported benefit and cure from their use. Yes, this information is anecdotal… who cares.
When is this cyanide fear going to stop?
Apricot kernels are just as harmless as eating blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. Blackberies, blueberries, strawberries contain cyanide radical (CN) just like Laetrile, but you never hear of anyone getting cyanide poisoning from Vitamin 12 or any of the above-mentioned berries, because they do not. Just like you don’t from Laetrile.
See Philip Binzel, Jr., M.D. comments below:
“A doctor from the U.S. FDA once said that Laetrile contains “free” hydrogen cyanide and, thus, is toxic. I would like to correct that misconception:
There is no “free” hydrogen cyanide in Laetrile. When Laetrile comes in contact with the enzyme beta-glucosidase, the Laetrile is broken down to form two molecules of glucose, one molecule of benzaldehyde and one molecule of hydrogen cyanide (HCN). Within the body, the cancer cell-and only the cancer cell-contains that enzyme. The key word here is that the HCN must be FORMED. It is not floating around freely in the Laetrile and then released. It must be manufactured. The enzyme beta glucosidase, and only that enzyme, is capable of manufacturing the HCN from Laetrile. If there are no cancer cells in the body, there is no beta-glucosidase. If there is no beta-glucosidase, no HCN will be formed from the Laetrile (1).
Laetrile does contain the cyanide radical (CN). This same cyanide radical is contained in Vitamin B12, and in berries such as blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. You never hear of anyone getting cyanide poisoning from 12 or any of the above-mentioned berries, because they do not. The cyanide radical (CW) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) are two completely different compounds, just as pure sodium (Na+) – one of the most toxic substances known to mankind – and sodium chloride (NaCl), which is table salt, are two completely different compounds.
If the above is true, how did the story ever get started that Laetrile contains “free” hydrogen cyanide? It was the Food and Drug Administration.”