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FIGURE 29 -
NATURALLY OCCURRING SUBSTANCES IN FOOD THAT MAY
BE HAZARDOUS TO HEALTH IN EXCESSIVE QUANTITIES
| SUBSTANCE OR
DISORDER |
FOOD |
POSSIBLE HAZARD
OR POTENTIAL HAZARD |
 |
| Aflatoxin |
Peanuts, peanut products, corn, wheat,
rice, that are grown or stored under conditions that favour mould
growth |
Liver damage, possibility of liver
cancer |
| Allergens |
Cereals (rice, wheat, barley, etc.),
peanuts, peas, lentils, soya beans, strawberries, bananas, mangoes,
pineapples, sesame, poppy and caraway seeds, tea, chocolate, coffee,
yeasts, alcoholic beverages, honev and other foods likely to contain
pollen |
Eczema, hives, hay fever, asthma, headaches,
abdominal distress, behavioural abnormalities |
| Caffeine |
Tea, coffee, cola-type soft drinks |
Increased urination, nervousness, upset
stomach: tremors, irritability, possibility of birth defects, possibility
of behavioural change |
| Cyanide |
Apricot kernels, peach kernels, apple
seeds, cassava, young bamboo shoots, bitter almonds, coloured varieties
of lima beans |
Abdominal pain, vomiting, mental confusion,
sensory loss, respiratory distress, spastic weakness |
| Favism |
Broad beans |
Anaemia due to an inborn error of metabolism;
the disease has an ethnic distribution around the Mediterranean and
some other areas |
| Goitrogens |
Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli,
kale, turnips, swedes, mustard seeds, horseradish |
Goitre, particularly in areas where
the iodine content of food is low |
| Haemagglutinins |
Uncooked legumes (castor beans, kidney
beans, lima beans, soya beans, lentils, peas) |
Retarded growth, diarrhoea |
| Lathyrogens |
Chickpeas |
Spastic paralysis of the legs, skeletal
abnormalities |
| Mycotoxins:
Ergotism, Alimentary toxic aleukia
|
Mouldy rice, mouldy grain |
Vomiting, damage to bone marrow, convulsions,
psychotic behaviour |
| Oxalic acid |
Spinach, rhubarb |
Fatal poisoning is probably mythical;
there is little danger from eating normal amounts of oxalic-acid containing
plants |
| Nitrates and nitrites |
Celery, lettuce, spinach, cabbage,
cured meats |
Decreased oxygen-carrying ability of
blood in infants with gastro-enteritis; possible risk of gastric cancer |
| Pyrrolizidine
alkaloids |
Comfrey, some 'herbal' teas |
Possibility of liver disease and liver
cancer |
| Solanine |
Sprouted and 'greening' potatoes |
Vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain,
headache, throat irritation |
|
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