RUSSIAN ROULETTE

"One man's meat is another man's poison." – Proverb

Russian roulette is a well known “dare”, which can be played by people who get their thrills in all sorts of dangerous and life-threatening ways. This practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one's own head is an activity that is potentially very dangerous and not infrequently (in 16.7% of times, in fact) fatal. But how exciting, how thrilling, how delightful if you survive, say its adherents!

Now for those of you that do not like to play with guns in order to get your thrills, there are other ways and many of them involve food. It is well known that many people who go and gather wild mushrooms (even the experienced ones) may sometimes pick the occasional poisonous one. The other complicating factor is that some people may eat a wild mushroom type with no toxic effects, while others may have violent reactions after consuming the same type. See this link...

For centuries the Japanese have enjoyed the highly prized tasty fish known as fugu. This is the Japanese name for certain species of puffer fish or blowfish (eg: Takifugu rubripes), which, though considered delicacies, contain a poison so toxic it can kill. It is imperative that fugu be cleaned and prepared properly that entire books have been written on the subject. The fish contain lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin in the internal organs, especially the liver and ovaries, but also the skin. In commercial Japanese kitchens, where this fish is used in both sashimi and nabemono preparations, only specially trained and qualified cooks may deal with fugu. Even so, there are several cases of fugu poisoning in Japan annually. See this!

A rather rare but horribly fatal disease associated with consumption of tainted food is known as botulism. This is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Foodborne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin and can be fatal. Foodborne botulism can be especially dangerous because many people can be poisoned by eating a contaminated food. Deaths have resulted after people have simply taken a bite of a contaminated food just to taste it.

Foodborne botulism has often been associated with home-canned foods with low acid content (eg: asparagus, green beans, beets and corn). However, outbreaks of botulism from more unusual sources such as chopped garlic in oil, chilli peppers, tomatoes, improperly handled baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil, and home-canned or fermented fish. Persons who do home canning should follow strict hygienic procedures to reduce contamination of foods. Oils infused with garlic or herbs should be refrigerated. Potatoes which have been baked while wrapped in aluminum foil should be kept hot until served or refrigerated. Because the botulism toxin is destroyed by high temperatures, persons who eat home-canned foods should consider boiling the food for 10 minutes before eating it to ensure safety. Butlism outbreaks have also been linked to improperly sterilised commercially canned foods.

Botulism toxin is the most potent biological toxin known (a single gram of the toxin, if properly distributed, could kill a million people) and is a well-known potential threat in acts of terrorism. A vaccine has been developed against this toxin, but it is not produced in large quantities and mass vaccinations with it are not carried out. All sorts of interesting possibilities for crime/thriller novel plots spring to mind, where the murderer manages to vaccinate himself and invites the victims to dinner serving up some canned asparagus with botulism toxin dressing…

Many people (me included!) love to go out into countryside, the forest or even urban parklands and collect wild herbs and greens that can be used for food. It is amazing how bountiful nature is and how many delicious wild plants, herbs, nuts, berries, fruits and fungi can be used as delicious and wholesome supplements to our diet. The one important proviso of course, is that you have to know what you are doing, as it is easy to pick the wrong plant! For example fiddleheads are the young shoots of the Ostrich fern found growing in clumps in marshland. They are delicious and generally considered safe. But to the uninitiated, the young shoots of bracken fern could look very much the same. To the initiated, however, bracken shoots are seen to grow singly and are spread out over a dry area. Bracken has been found to be carcinogenic and should not be eaten. (Ostrich Ferns are particularly easy to recognize as they have spore bearing dark brown fronds rising out of the clump; the bracken does not).

Some plants are not toxic themselves, but become dangerous only where there is danger of contamination by insecticides, fertilisers, herbicides, traffic fumes, industrial effluent, runoff from farmland. Though thorough washing of the plants is necessary, this will not always get rid of contaminants, so the area where the plants are collected should be studied carefully. Watercress is a good example of a plant easily contaminated and it should not be collected from areas where there is danger of a runoff from farmland, for example.

Some plants contain toxic parts or may need special procedures to render them non-toxic. We can enjoy young rhubarb stalks, but the leaves are poisonous as they contain high concentrations of oxalic acid. Potatoes which have been left exposed to light and turned green also have toxic properties as they accumulate the toxin solanine. The green part should be removed before they are used, or if there is too much greenness, the whole potato should be discarded. Those familiar with Pacific island cuisine, know of the root vegetable taro. In its raw form the plant is toxic due to the presence of calcium oxalate, although the toxin is destroyed by cooking or can be removed by steeping taro roots in cold water overnight.

Much more important and serious, as well as more prevalent of course, as a means of poisoning ourselves with our food is concerned, is the slow toxic effect of an unhealthy diet. Foods rich in cholesterol and saturated fats, low in fibre, highly processed, containing additives are a ticking time bomb and are implicated in many diseases. A diet low in fresh fruit and vegetables, high in red meat, with excessive use of pickles, smoked and salted foods is also unhealthy. Not to mention the even more common problem of overeating and obesity, lack of exercise and a generally sedentary existence…

Eat well, eat little, exercise daily, take care of yourself, do as much good as you can, laugh and smile often, be happy, live well…