FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - POISON: Trader Joe's "Fig Cake w/Apricot Kernels"

zxcvbob

> wrote in
> ups.com:
>
>> Yesterday, I purchased Trader Joe's "Fig Cake w/Apricot Kernels" (in a
>> 9-ounce round, plastic container), at their store in San Francisco (555
>> 9th St.). When I got home, something bothered me about the apricot
>> kernels (listed as "raw" on the label)...didn't I read somewhere that
>> they contain toxic levels of cyanide (like peach pits)?
>>

IMO, they are using apricot kernels to get around the US ban on bitter
almonds. (Clever, in my opinion) Bitter almonds are an essential
flavoring in some ethnic sweets -- I don't recall where; Eastern Europe,
I think. Apricot kernels are basically the same thing. They are
poisonous in large quantities. In small quantities, they might even be
good for you.

Best regards,
Bob