[freepatriot32]

the children that are still in critical condition and thier familys need our prayers.This is a huge tragedy.

[7.62 x 51mm]

Ricin mixed into the flour? Cyanide? Hard to believe that simple cassava flour did this alone.

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~mathewsc/Cassava.html

[coydog]

These poor kids...

[DB]

I have to believe this is much more than simple food poisoning. Bacteria doesn't make you sick right after you eat it unless it's a poison like botulism.

[NRA2BFree]

How incredibly sad. Those poor little kids. May God heal those who are sick and may He comfort the families who have lost their children.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

No question in my mind that we should conform our food quality and inspection standards to those of South America, this to be politically correct.

[BlessedBeGod]

Prayers on the way.

[MEG33]

Prayers for the victims and those who mourn.

[fishtank]

Tragedy.

However, a remark to the nuts who advocate a raw food diet (i.e the Hallelujah Diet) --- COOKING IS NOT EVIL!!!!

[aruanan]

Cassava, also known as yucca in the Latin food markets, has naturally-occurring levels of cyanogenic glycosides that can release hydrogen cyanide. Folks from Ivory Coast and Liberia make a dish that uses cassava leaves in a sauce for rice, but apparently it's the tubers that contain most of the cyanide.

SUMMARY

Cassava and bamboo shoots, grown primarily in the tropics, contain potentially toxic compounds called cyanogenic glycosides, linamarin and taxiphillin respectively, which break down upon disruption of the plant cells to form hydrogen cyanide. The toxicity of cyanogenic glycosides can be reduced by appropriate preparation of the plant material prior to consumption as food. Traditional uses of cassava and bamboo shoots as food are dependent on adequate processing prior to human consumption. If either cassava or bamboo shoots are eaten either raw or after inadequate processing, evidence of toxicity may be observed.

For cassava, peeling and slicing disrupts the cell structure of the plant, with subsequent liberation of hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide can be removed by further processing such as cooking (baking, boiling, or roasting) or fermentation. For bamboo shoots, slicing into thin strips liberates hydrogen cyanide, which is removed by boiling.

Cyanogenic glycoside content of cassava and bamboo shoots There are a number of varieties of cassava, each of which has a different cyanide level. Values from 15-400 mg/kg fresh weight of hydrogen cyanide in cassava roots have been reported in the literature. Sweet varieties of cassava (low cyanide content) will typically contain approximately 15-50 mg/kg hydrogen cyanide on a fresh weight basis. Sweet varieties of cassava can be processed adequately by peeling and cooking (e.g. roasting, baking or boiling), whereas bitter varieties of cassava (high cyanide content) require more extensive processing, involving techniques such as heap fermentation which take several days. Bitter varieties are not normally commercially traded.

There are approximately 1200 species of bamboo, although only a small number are used as food. Bamboo shoots may contain as much as 1000 mg/kg hydrogen cyanide, significantly higher than the amounts detected in cassava tubers, however, the cyanide content is reported to decrease substantially following harvesting. The bamboo shoots sold commercially as food can be processed adequately by boiling before consumption. The process of canning bamboo shoots liberates and adequately removes hydrogen cyanide.