I pride myself on trying anything and everything, but here’s something to avoid eating. Maybe I should be more careful about buying food from street vendors too.

Nearly 30 elementary school children in the Philippines have died after eating fried cassava balls obtained from a vendor, a local official told CNN.
…
“Some said they took only two bites because it tasted bitter and the effects were felt 5-10 minutes later,” Dr. Harold Gallego of Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital in the nearby town of Talibon told AP.

The vendor who sold the cassava balls insisted nothing was wrong with them and ate a few to prove the point. Now she, too, is in critical condition.
…
Cassava is a starchy, tuberous root that is a low-cost source of carbohydrates in humid, tropical areas; it is also the source of tapioca.

Cassava contains amino acid-derived cyanogenic glucosides — some more than others — and must be thoroughly cooked to remove toxic levels.

Eaten raw, the human digestive system will convert part of it into cyanide. Two cassava roots contain enough to be fatal.

CNN, March 9, 2005

Food poisoning can happen anywhere. A take-away uni donburi (raw sea urchin on top of rice) I had for dinner once in Japan had a chemical taste and burned my throat. Minutes after finishing my meal, I was violently ill. No wonder it was so inexpensive.

Lesson: Don’t eat anything that doesn’t taste right.

Heads-up from in

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