Cyanide in cookies?

[Valeria]

I've been intrigued by the idea of using apricot kernels in baking and I'm very fond of soft amaretti cookies and Italian almond pastries of different kinds which use it as an ingredient.

What has deterred me is that I'm aware that apricot kernels contain amygdalin which converts into cyanide when digested. I cannot find any information regarding if this concerns only raw kernels or if there is a 'safe' amount to use / consume.
Does baking break down the amygdalin? are the commercial cookies processed in anyway to break down the substance?

If not - does it mean that a large amount of amaretti cookies can cause poisoning?

I would be very exited if anyone knows more about this as it has been bothering me for a very long time!

 

[Becky]

Both the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the European FSA have advised against eating apricot kernels unfortunately - I'd steer clear if I were you!

https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/160427

However, as I understand it Amaretto is safe as cyanide is eliminated as a result of the alcohol infusion.

 

[ChesterV]

There are many ingredients out there that are standard edible ingredients in many different kinds of foods that if altered, can be used as chemical weapons, drugs, or medicinal uses. The most commonly used are poppy "seeds" (which are actually the unbloomed pods of the flower) and mustard seeds.

The actual poppy seed that you can bake with also contains the same chemicals as the pods, but it is a labor intensive method to get the chemicals from these dried seeds. It has been noted that eating poppy seeds can lead to a false reading in a drug test.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium


If you do some indepth research, you will find a lot of chemicals, seeds, pods, and plants that are used for foods, are also used for other things.


Try this on for size.......
http://twinkiesarewonderful.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-are-twinkies.html

Most of what is listed in the ingredients in Twinkies is pretty much in all factory produced foods, especially baked goods.

 

[Corzhens]

Cyanide is also present in cassava. In another thread, I have posted about our cassava cake which is a hit among our circle. But since we know the proper way of preparing the cassava as ingredient so there is no risk at all regarding the cyanide. All we need to do is to peel the cassava and rinse it in running water. If you are not sure then you can soak it in water for 5 minutes and rinse. For sure, there is no more cyanide. Maybe they also have a way of removing the poisonous traces in apricot.

 

[rz3300]

Well I really had no idea about these warnings and the fact that they turn into cyanide when digested...that is alarming. I am glad to see that the regulators have come out and warned against eating the apricot kernels, and I would like to think that if it were really serious they would move to ban them, but I am not sure if it has reached that point. It is certainly interesting, and opens my eyes a little bit, and for that thank you for sharing.