Are apricot seeds poisonous?
Dear Cecil: I’m afraid for my life. All these years I’ve been eating the seeds of fruit, such as apples, oranges, apricots, peaches, plums, etc. I started when I began living with my grandfather, a dentist, about 10 years ago. He said they were good for the teeth because of the minerals they contained. Over the years I’ve cultivated a taste for them, and was extremely delighted when I found I could buy them in quantities of a pound or more at health food stores. Recently, however, a friend told me that all fruit seeds contained cyanide, and that he had read an item in a newspaper once about someone who had died from eating apple seeds! I am especially concerned about apricot kernels, my favorite. What’s a lethal dose? Can any be eaten safely? If so, about how many? I really like them and would be loath to give them up, but on the other hand I really don’t want to be slowly poisoning myself and my guests and roommates. — John T., Phoenix Cecil replies: You’ve got good reason to be afrai
