10 Foods that can Kill You Instantly

There’s an estimated 10,000 different types of mushrooms in North America alone.
So unless you’re an expert, you may want to rethink your chances of properly telling apart the edible ones from the poisonous ones out in the wild.

The death cap is one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the northern hemisphere. It grows throughout the entire temperate zone of Europe, Asia and North Africa. This amanita is responsible for most mushroom poisonings, and even small doses can be very dangerous.

One’s man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This is perhaps never more than case than with one unforgettable dish in traditional Icelandic cuisine, the decomposed shark carcass known as “hákarl”. Hakarl is incredibly poisonous, but thanks to some preparation methods handed down by the vikings, this nasty, toxic fish can be made edible.

All you have to do is gut it, chop off its head, toss it in a shallow hole in the ground, cover it with rocks and sand, and leave it there for like, six to 12 weeks wile it ferments in its own seeped out urine. Then after a couple of months, you got a meal, but if you skip those steps, or prepared incorrectly, you could easily get poisoned.

An estimated 30 to 50 people every year fall victim to one of the most deadly foods in the world. And basically every one of them is doing so with full knowledge of the danger that they face. Fugu, better known as the pufferfish or blowfish, is considered a delicacy in Japan. The problem is though, a single fish contains enough poison to kill 30 adults with no known antidote.

The toxins contains 1,200 times stronger than cyanide. It paralyzes those who are brave or foolish enough to consume it while they stay fully conscious and die from asphyxiation.

Belladonna means beautiful woman in Italian but sadly, it’s also the name of one of the most poisonous plants on the planet. Known as the devil’s berries or deadly nightshade, belladonna is found in Europe, North Africa and West Asia. Both the leaves and the berries are extremely toxic and contain tropane alkaloids which cause hallucinations and delirium. It only takes about 10 tiny berries to kill a full grown adult.

All parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids. Roots have up to 1.3%, leaves 1.2%, stalks 0.65%, flowers 0.6%, ripe berries 0.7%, and seeds 0.4% tropane alkaloids; leaves reach maximal alkaloid content when the plant is budding and flowering, roots are most poisonous in the end of the plant’s vegetation period.

The choking octopi is considered a Korean delicacy, and could kill an adult in a much faster and creepier way. The tentacles of the octopi are served raw immediately after being cut from the body of the animal and, like a chicken with its head cut off, residual nerve activity keeps the tentacles twitching.

As the suction pads maintain suction after being severed, the challenge is for the customer to chew the tentacles up before they stick to the roof of the mouth. If this is not done successfully, the outcome is far from entertaining.

If you’ve ever been to Jamaica, you may have tried their national fruit, ackee. It’s actually one half of their national dish ackee and salt fish which in September of 2011 actually ranked second in a survey that National Geographic conducted of the best national dishes.

Ackee contains hypoglycin which causes blood sugar to drop at fatal levels. If the unripened or untreated fruit is eatin, you can fall victim to Jamaica vomiting sickness, which involves seizures and lethal hypoglycemia. Once open, the only edible portion is the yellow arilli, which surround always-toxic black seeds. In 2011, 23 people were confirmed to have died and another 194 were suspected of having been poisoned after consuming the ackee fruit.

Giant bullfrogs are a delicacy in Namibia and can be upwards of 9 inches long and weigh over a pound. Since they’re virtually indistinguishable from many more edible frogs, these amphibians pose a real danger to those who crave frog meat. They’re usually only found on the black market, not only because they’re endangered but also because they’re highly toxic.

The majority of the bullfrog is poisonous to humans, including its skin, tongue, and most organs, and eating one can cause kidney failure. Young adults males who have not yet mated are considered to be the most dangerous.

Casu Marzu is the sardinian name for maggot cheese. This Italian sheep’s milk specialty is made by removing the rind and leaving it outside so that cheese flies will lay their eggs inside it. As many as 500 eggs are added to this dairy product at any one time. Once the larvae hatch, they eat, digest, and excrete the cheese from inside.

It’s the acid from this process that makes the cheese soft and ready to eat.

Found in Southern parts of Europe, Southwest Asia, and Northwest Africa, Taxus baccata, or better known as English Yew, is a coniferous tree with bright red berries. A popular choice in landscaping designs, they’re useful for creating ornamental topiaries and formal hedges.

But beyond the wondrous beauty of these evergreen trees lies a murderous plant ready to sap you of your life. Every single part of this evergreen is highly toxic to humans with the strange exception of its berries. Even with all that we know today, people still risk their lives and eat them. The seeds inside these very edible berries are just as toxic as the rest of the tree, so they must be prepared properly with the seeds inside the berrie removed.

Hemlock is the one of the most lethal plants in the world and is considered to be the most poisonous plant in North America. History shows that it was a particular favorite in Ancient Greece, most notably being responsible for the death of Socrates.

A perennial plant that grows to a height of 3 to 7 feet tall. The leaves are up to 15 inches long, alternately-arranged, and tri-pinnately-compound with numerous 2 to 5 inch ovate leaflets. They are also sharply toothed. The leaf veins terminate at the bottom of leaf serrations and not at the tips, which helps to identify this plant. What makes water hemlock so dangerous is that the fresh root, the most toxic part of the plant, strongly resembles a parsnip.