FYI: Toxic Squash Syndrome

[KQ]

Yeah, it's real and it sucks. In my case it was a Butternut. It didn't taste bitter but it wasn't the best tasting butternut I'd ever had. It did make my hands burn when I cut it but that is normal for a fresh squash.



Toxic squash syndrome, honey intoxication and fish poisoning in Washington state

Just when there’s a lull in major foodborne illness reports, and you feel like it’s safe to eat, along come toxic squash syndrome, honey intoxication and scombroid fish poisoning, according to the Seattle Times.

Public health and poison-control experts have identified three cases in which eaters were temporarily felled by unusual foodborne toxins in King County over the past few months. All the victims recovered from the toxins, which are rare, but weird and interesting.

The suspected case of what health officials termed toxic squash syndrome began after a woman who ate a tiny amount of cooked acorn squash — butter and brown sugar, usually yum — developed severe intestinal discomfort.

The squash tasted very bitter, which stopped her from eating more. The bitter taste, in fact, was the telltale clue: Plants in the family Cucurbitaceae (squash, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, melons and gourds) produce a bitter toxin — cucurbitacin — as a defense mechanism against insects, said Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett in the latest issue of “Epi-Log,” a communicable disease and epidemiology newsletter produced by Public Health — Seattle & King County.

Sometimes, for various reasons, a few squashes or other plants will overproduce cucurbitacin. In this case, the offending squash was traced to a local farm, wrote Kwan-Gett, but no other complaints about it came in to health officials, the Washington Department of Agriculture, the Washington Poison Center or the grocery store where the squash made its way into the woman’s shopping cart.

(follow link to read about the Honey and Fish issues)

[JimmyCarter]

So..umm..did you leave it in too long?

[Vt-Freeheel]

Ouch!

[iceman]

There's a bunch of vegetables that produce toxins to protect themselves against being eaten. Research on the subject is pretty weak but these vegetables don't want to be eaten, they'd rather kill the eater than die themselves, that much is clear.

Cows don't do that, they're fine with the whole deal.

[neufox47]

Vibes. I’ll never eat a bitter veggie now, thanks for the advice.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[MakersTeleMark]

I'm curling up with radicchio and radishes, feeling quite stimulated.

Thank you, KQ!

[SB]

Dang, I luv me sum squash.

Especially the butternut.

[SLCMunchie]

Definitely got the scombroid from Market Street Grill here in salt lake city a few years ago. had an ahi tuna burger, about an hour later, almost passed out, my body had a huge red rash and i felt like crap. was too afraid to drive home from work so i took a benedryl and toughed it out. about 2 hours later, felt totally fine other than the explosive diarrhea. Fucking Market Street. Definitely the most over rated restaurant chain in Utah.

[Kinnikinnick]

Whoa. Love some squash but will have to loom sour for the bitterness


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Game Over]

There's a bunch of vegetables that produce toxins to protect themselves against being eaten. Research on the subject is pretty weak but these vegetables don't want to be eaten, they'd rather kill the eater than die themselves, that much is clear.

Cows don't do that, they're fine with the whole deal.

^yup.

There are few papers on it. But they are very interesting. I'll have to reactivate Facebook to find them.

FWIR 99% of all pesticides we ingest are produced by the plant. Some much more toxic than any synthetics we use.

[Game Over]

https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/06/13...emselves-11415

99.99% Of Pesticides We Eat Are Produced By Plants Themselves

The word pesticide is misunderstood, nearly to the same extent as the word chemical. People have been led to believe, largely by the organic food industry and environmental activists, that pesticides are unnatural, dangerous, and do not belong in the food supply. But this defies a basic understanding of biology.

A pesticide is any chemical, natural or human-made, that is designed to kill another organism.

Using that broad definition, there are probably hundreds of thousands of pesticides in the natural environment. As it turns out, biological warfare was invented and perfected by Mother Nature.

For example, some bacteria and fungi produce antibiotics to kill other microbes. We don’t call these antibiotics “pesticides,” but that’s exactly what they are. To a bacterial cell, a microbe of a different species is often nothing more than a competitive pest that should die. So, it produces chemicals with the intention of killing it. That’s a pesticide.

Plants do the same thing. From a plant’s point of view, many insects are nothing more than dangerous, leaf-eating parasites that should die. So plants produce insecticides, like caffeine and nicotine, to keep those obnoxious, six-legged vegetarians away. (They also produce pesticides to keep the furry, four-legged vegetarians away, too.)

And guess what? When we eat plants, we’re eating those pesticides, too. A paper co-authored in 1990 by the venerable Bruce Ames found that 99.99% of the pesticides we consume in our diet are produced by the plants themselves. Given the popularity of organic food and the unscientific mythology underlying it, his findings are more relevant now than ever.

The Natural Pesticides in Your Food

According to Dr. Ames’s team, every plant produces roughly a few dozen toxins, some of which (at a high enough dose) would be toxic to humans. Cabbage produces at least 49 known pesticides. Given the ubiquity of natural pesticides, Dr. Ames estimates that “Americans eat about 1.5 g of natural pesticides per person per day, which is about 10,000 times more than they eat of synthetic pesticide residues.”

Furthermore, Dr. Ames estimates that we consume 5,000 to 10,000 different natural pesticides every day, many of which cause cancer when tested in lab animals. Dr. Ames then pens quite possibly the best paragraph ever written in the scientific literature:

"[R]odent carcinogens are present in the following foods: anise, apple, apricot, banana, basil, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, caraway, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cherries, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, coffee, collard greens, comfrey herb tea, currants, dill, eggplant, endive, fennel, grapefruit juice, grapes, guava, honey, honeydew melon, horseradish, kale, lentils, lettuce, mango, mushrooms, mustard, nutmeg, orange juice, parsley, parsnip, peach, pear, peas, black pepper, pineapple, plum, potato, radish, raspberries, rosemary, sesame seeds, tarragon, tea, tomato, and turnip. Thus, it is probable that almost every fruit and vegetable in the supermarket contains natural plant pesticides that are rodent carcinogens. The levels of these... rodent carcinogens in the above plants are commonly thousands of times higher than the levels of synthetic pesticides." [Emphasis added]
Do you cook your food? That produces cancer-causing toxins, too. Do you like coffee? That’s a boiling hot cup of rodent carcinogens. It must be kept in mind that for every scary synthetic pesticide man has created, Mother Nature has created something worse. And you probably eat it regularly.

However, if you still insist on eliminating all pesticides from your diet, there is one thing you can do: Stop eating.

Source: Bruce Ames, Margie Profet, Lois Gold. “Dietary pesticides (99.99% all natural).” PNAS 87: 7777-81. Published: October 1990.

[TahoeJ]

Butternut Squash enchiladas... yum... I'll take my chances.

[KQ]

Butternut Squash enchiladas... yum... I'll take my chances.

I don't plan to stop eating it either. Just letting people know to stop eating any that are bitter.

Here's a great Butternut squash risotto recipe. A bit of work but well worth it:

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO WITH SPINACH AND TOASTED PINE NUTS

Serves 4 as a main course or 6 as a first course.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
To perfect our butternut squash risotto recipe, we concentrated on developing the squash flavor. First, we diced and sautéed the squash to bring out its flavor. Next, we found that adding the squash in two stages, half with the toasted rice and half just before serving, gave us great squash flavor and preserved its delicate texture. Finally, we sautéed the flavorful squash seeds and fibers in the pan, then steeped them in chicken broth before straining the liquid to use for cooking the rice in our butternut squash risotto recipe.

Infusing the chicken broth with the squash's seeds and fibers helps to reinforce the earthy squash flavor. We found that a 2-pound squash consistently yields a cup or so more than the 3 1/2 cups in step 1; this can be added to the skillet along with the squash scrapings in step 2. To make this dish vegetarian, vegetable broth can be used instead of chicken broth, but the resulting risotto will have more pronounced sweetness.


INGREDIENTS
• 2tablespoons olive oil , plus 1 teaspoon
• 1butternut squash (medium, about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded (fibers and seeds reserved), and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 3/4teaspoon table salt
• 3/4teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1cup water
• 4ounces baby spinach
• 4tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2small onions , chopped very fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 2cups Arborio rice
• 1 1/2cups dry white wine
• 1 1/2ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 3/4 cup)
• 2tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves
• 1/4teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/4cup pine nuts , toasted in small, dry skillet over medium heat until golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add about 3 1/2 cups squash in even layer and cook without stirring until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes; stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender and browned, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer squash to bowl and set aside.

2. Return skillet to medium heat; add reserved squash fibers and seeds and any leftover diced squash. Cook, stirring frequently to break up fibers, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer to large saucepan and add chicken broth and water; cover saucepan and bring mixture to simmer over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain bare simmer.

3. While broth mixture is simmering, add 1 teaspoon olive oil to now-empty skillet and swirl to coat. Add 4 ounces baby spinach and cook, covered, over medium heat, until leaves begin to wilt, about 2 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring constantly, until fully wilted, about 30 seconds. Transfer spinach to mesh strainer; set aside.

4. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in now-empty skillet over medium heat; when foaming subsides, add onions, garlic, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add rice to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until grains are translucent around edges, about 3 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring frequently, until fully absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, strain hot broth through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Return strained broth to saucepan and discard solids in strainer; cover saucepan and set over low heat to keep broth hot.

6. When wine is fully absorbed, add 3 cups hot broth and half of reserved squash to rice. Simmer, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and bottom of pan is almost dry, about 12 minutes.

7. Stir in about 1/2 cup hot broth and cook, stirring constantly, until absorbed, about 3 minutes; repeat with additional broth 2 or 3 more times, until rice is al dente. Off heat, stir in remaining 1 tablespoon butter, Parmesan, sage, and nutmeg; drain excess liquid from spinach and gently fold in spinach and remaining cooked squash. If desired, add up to 1/4 cup additional hot broth to loosen texture of risotto. Top individual servings of risotto with toasted pine nuts; serve immediately.

[KQ]

This is good too (and a lot easier to make):

Butternut Squash with Quinoa, Spinach and Walnuts

Total: 45 min
Active: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Level: Easy



Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium leek, white and light green parts only,
cleaned and thinly sliced
2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
2 cups peeled and diced butternut squash
1 cup quinoa
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoons toasted chopped walnuts

Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over mediumhigh
heat.
Add the garlic and leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5
minutes.
Add the broth, squash, quinoa and raisins and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and
simmer, covered, until the liquid is absorbed and the squash and quinoa are tender, 15 to 20
minutes.
Gently stir in the spinach and cook until it just begins to wilt, 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat.
Sprinkle with the walnuts.

[Game Over]

I think you (kumquat) suggested a grape and squash recipe that was awesome!!!

[Tippster]

Am I the only one intrigued by this "honey intoxication?"

[MakersTeleMark]

Am I the only one intrigued by this "honey intoxication?"

It is (honey) pi day.

[The AD]

His symptoms led to the conclusion that his troubles were likely caused by grayanotoxin poisoning, also known as rhododendron poisoning and “mad honey intoxication.”

[RShea]

Enough for me to continue my "I'll never eat another butternut or acorn squash in my lifetime stance." Not worth it if it will make you sick...

[KQ]

I think you (kumquat) suggested a grape and squash recipe that was awesome!!!

That's the one I ate the other night when I got sick! Of course it wasn't the recipe's fault... just the evil squash.

Enough for me to continue my "I'll never eat another butternut or acorn squash in my lifetime stance." Not worth it if it will make you sick...

LOL!! I can hear you now pontificating on "Toxic Squash Syndrome" at the next dinner party you attend where squash is served.

[Game Over]

^^well that sucks! Thanks for the recommendation BTW!

[billyk]

So squash object to being eaten??? Who knew?

#squashlivesmatter

[skaredshtles]

Enough for me to continue my "I'll never eat another butternut or acorn squash in my lifetime stance." Not worth it if it will make you sick...

Everything you eat has the capacity to make you sick...

[hutash]

Maybe you should stop watering your garden with the run off from Hanford.

[iceman]

Everything you eat has the capacity to make you sick...

well sure if my wife cooks it.