Naturally occurring toxin

Natural constituents of foods from fungi, plants and occasionally animals may be hazardous under some circumstances of exposure.

Of course, some fungi, plants and animals should not be consumed as food because of their inherent hazards but are accidentally or intentionally consumed on occasion resulting in foodborne illness.

However, some naturally occurring toxins occur in plant products but are not toxic at concentrations normally consumed. Glycoalkaloids in specific potato cultivars are notable example.

Other examples include solanine and chaconine in potatoes, oxalates in spinach and rhubarb, furan compounds in mold-damaged sweet potatoes and cyanogenic glycosides in lima beans, cassava and many fruit pits.

Nutmeg contains myristin, a hallucinogen that is not toxic in small amounts but can cause death when take in excess. Thus, the children may be at risk where nutmegs are widely available as a cooking additive, or in the course so its use in traditional medicine of overdoes occurs.

A large number of naturally occurring compounds frequently found in foods appear to be mutagens and possible carcinogens. For example, of the 826 volatile compounds contained in coffee only 21 have been tested for chronic effects and 16 of them were found to be carcinogenic in rodents.
Naturally occurring toxin