To avoid cyanide intoxication, consume apricot kernels in moderation

They are put in jam, snack on snacks, they are taken as food supplements … The bitter almonds of apricots are however not so innocuous as that. They contain a large amount of amygdalin, a molecule that releases cyanide in our body during digestion. Highly toxic, cyanide is a poison whose ingestion of a dose between 0.5 and 3.5 mg per kilogram can be fatal, between 0.03 and 0.2 grams per person weighing 60 kilograms. A report from the French Health and Safety Agency (ANSES) reports that 154 cases of bitter apricot almond poisoning occurred between 2012 and 2017, including 33 people who had symptoms and 121 who were asymptomatic.

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"In low doses, cyanide intoxication can cause symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, insomnia, lethargy, joint and muscle pain, falling blood pressure, reminds ANSES. In high doses, intoxication can lead to convulsions, respiratory problems, a decrease in heart rate, a loss of consciousness or even coma. Fortunately, serious cases of intoxication due to bitter apricot kernels are rare: in 5 years, among the 154 cases listed, only 33 were symptomatic. Indeed, the study was made on calls to the French Antipoison Centers, as explained by Dr. Jerome Langrand, toxicologist doctor at the Antipoison Center of Paris, who conducted the study in collaboration with ANSES: " this concerns either people who have eaten almonds and who have symptoms, or people who have called worried after eating almonds and then read about cyanide on the Internet ", which explains the many asymptomatic cases.

False anti-cancer properties

"In 12% of cases, almonds were consumed with anti-cancer targets. Either by sufferers

of a cancer, either for preventive purpose ", Points the ANSES. Indeed, the alleged anti-cancer properties of bitter apricot almonds are not new, says Dr. Jerome Langrand: "in the 50s, a man called amygdalin" vitamin B17 ". But it's just a smart marketing name because amygdalin is not a vitamin, "he says. This doctor, Dr. Krebs, invents a kind of amygdalin extract that he names Laetrile and sells to treat cancer. "Its anti cancer use is based on absolutely nothing serious," says the doctor toxicologist. "Moreover, a study of the prestigious Cochrane review has taken up all of these supposed data on Laetrile and considered that the scientific level was too low," he continues.

Attention to high doses

Yet, on the Internet, sites claiming "organic" are still advertising these almonds, one of them promising for example that "taken at high doses, cancer tumors are reduced." In addition, some encourage a high consumption, "ranging from 10 almonds per day prevention to 60 almonds for people with cancer," notes ANSES. Beware of this high dose: the agency of the drug observes that the more almonds are eaten at once, the more cases there are symptomatic. "We did not find very serious cases," recalls Dr. Jerome Langrand, but two of them presented marked symptoms: hypotension requiring hospitalization in a 54-year-old woman who consumed 50 almonds in one day , and cardiac malaise in an 87-year-old man after ingesting 40 almonds in one day.

So, certainly, lovers of bitter almonds should not deprive themselves of a small culinary use by not exceeding the European recommendation. "But gorging yourself on this to get effects that are not there, it puts you at risk of cyanide poisoning," says Dr. Langrand. The European Food Safety Agency estimates that it should not exceed 1 to 3 almonds per day for adults and half a small almond per day for a child.

As for the consumption of apricots, it is without fear: indeed, the kernel is inside the apricot kernel. To reach it, it is necessary to break the hard shell of the nucleus and, consequently, the almond does not come into contact with the fruit itself, explains the Efsa. Normal consumption of apricots therefore poses no risk to the health of consumers. "