NEW YORK, Dec 09 (Reuters Health) -- Apricot kernels, marketed as a "health food," can cause potentially fatal cyanide poisoning, according to a report in the December issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
The report describes the case of a 41-year-old woman who began to have difficulty breathing shortly after chewing about 30 apricot kernels. After being rushed to the emergency room and diagnosed with cyanide poisoning, the woman was treated with cyanide antidote and other medications, and recovered.
"This is the first reported case of cyanide toxicity from apricot kernel ingestion in the United States since 1979," Dr. Jeffrey R. Suchard and colleagues at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, state.
There were five cases of cyanide poisoning from apricot kernels in the US in the 1970s, the researchers note. At the time, advocates of alternative remedies were touting the drug laetrile as a cancer treatment. Reports that apricot kernels contained an active ingredient in laetrile probably led to the five poisonings, Suchard and colleagues suggest.
"The continuing sale of apricot kernels as health food is troubling," they add. "We believe this to be a remnant of 'magical thinking' related to the inappropriate use of laetrile as a cancer treatment."
"Apricot kernels have been described as 'little cyanide pellets,'" the researchers add. While the kernels do not release much cyanide when swallowed whole, chewing or grinding increases their toxicity.
From estimates of average cyanide concentrations in apricot kernels and the average lethal dose of the poison, the researchers estimate that "the 8-ounce bag of apricot kernels purchased by the patient could kill up to 6 adults if consumed at one sitting."
Given the popularity of natural remedies, Suchard and colleagues suggest that "regulatory action be taken" to prevent similar poisonings in the future.
SOURCE: Annals of Emergency Medicine 1998;32:742-744.
