Foods Widely Called Toxic That Are Not: The Honest List
Merck’s food hazards article names seven items. Everything else on the internet’s toxic list is somewhere else, and knowing which is which is worth something.
Toxic Foods Reference
Mouldy Food, Bin Raids and Compost: The Tremor Risk
Merck names compost as a source of tremorgenic mycotoxins, and tremors and seizures as what they do. A bin raid is not a stomach-upset story.
Cooked Bones and Fat Trimmings: Two Different Problems
The bone is a mechanical risk and the fat is a metabolic one, and the Sunday roast delivers both at once. What your grandmother’s dogs actually faced.
Sugar-Free Everything: Which Sweetener Is the Dangerous One
Not every sugar-free product is a xylitol product, and the label is the only way to tell. Here is how the common sweeteners differ and what to read for.
Salt, Play Dough and Decorative Salt Objects
Merck names dough-salt mixtures and rock salt among the exposures, and says water access is what decides it. The rehydration warning is the part nobody quotes.
Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Baking Spices: What Actually Matters
Pet Poison Helpline separates the recipe amount from the jar amount, and separates the powder from the essential oil. Those two splits are the whole subject.
Avocado: Separating the Real Risk From the Internet Version
Merck says all parts of the avocado can cause poisoning in animals, and that the heart damage is documented in mammals and birds. Species is the whole answer.
Caffeine in the Kitchen: Coffee, Tea, Energy Drinks and Pills
Merck names caffeine as one of the two toxic principles in chocolate. The same compound is in the bin, the mug and the supplement drawer, in purer form.
Raw Bread Dough: Two Separate Dangers in One Food
Merck says death from bread dough is usually the alcohol, not the swelling. Most pages get that backwards. Here is what each half of the problem does.
Alcohol and Fermenting Foods: More Sources Than You Think
Merck names alcoholic drinks, some rubbing alcohols, drug elixirs and fermenting bread dough as ethanol sources. The drink is the one people notice.