Poison Ivy and Your Food
Bitter Living Through Chemistry
You're Kidding! In My Food?
Not exactly. No commercial cannery is inclined to add poison ivy to your list of vegetables, nor are they anxious to use the poison herb as an ingredient in their products. However, urushiol is not found only in poison ivy. Nor it is limited, additionally, to poison sumac or to poison oak-in both of which urushiol may be found. In fact, urushiol is found in certain food substances, including cashews, pistachios, and mangos. Surprised? You're unlikely to have experienced any difficulties with either of these foods unless you are among those special allergic cases that many foods are associated with. In part, this is due to a considerably lesser concentration; but that is not totally the case.
Cashews, Pistachios, Mangoes
Mangoes do have a lesser concentration of urushiol, mostly to be found in the sap and the peeling. Most people may, with impunity, eat the fruit. There will be no resultant rash. However, one of nearly everyone's favorite nuts, the cashew, is different. These are never eaten entirely raw. Even those cashews designated for raw consumption, aren't truly raw. Rather, they are processed by steaming or in some other fashion so as to remove the offending urushiol.
References & Resources:
In mango sap and peel: Healthy Cooking: Mango
In untreated cashews: Dave's Garden - "Unbelievable! Cashews and Poison Ivy"
Allergy Advisor - Various Food Allergens
Published by Vincent Summers
My secular expertise includes 23 years of experience at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, with a share in NASA's extended Voyager 2 effort. I formerly wrote for Demand Studios, Bukisa, Suite 101, Exa... View profile
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26 Comments
Post a CommentEach article I read by you, I learn something new! This is really pretty interesting to me. I never could understand why my stepmom had such a bad reaction to mangoes, maybe it is the chemical?
I'm certain it is. Some substances are very heat sensitive. It's also why some nutrients are lost when certain foods are cooked.
Nettles lose their sting when cooked. Don't know if that's a related process?
Good to know!!
Interesting, I love cashews. I have caught poisen ivy in Feb off roots and catch it all the time from the dog and cat after they walk through it, jeeze....nasty stuff. I find an warm oatmeal paste is the very best rememdy, although messy.
PV love, getting caught up.
Poison ivy sensitizes. Also, at least in my case, but I feel sure in that of others, it depends upon the part of skin exposed. If the skin is calloused, it takes more to cause difficulty. If I so much as glancingly touch a leaf of the stuff with my wrist, I am doomed!
Maybe Jan's desk was varnished with lacquer from the Japanese lacquer tree. I think it contains urushiol. This was a very interesting article. I used to wade through a patch of poison ivy to get foul balls and never had a reaction. Last year I pulled a bunch of weeds at my daughter's new house and got into something that gave me a bad rash and itch. Vaguely looked like poison ivy, but not exactly. Must have been a cousin?
Denise -- I have no doubt someone may have written or said this, but I have very serious doubt this would work. One can develop immunity to diseases, but to chemicals? I don't think so. Urushiol is a chemical.
Very interesting and informative article. Mangoes are one of my favorite fruits-- but as you said, I wouldn't want to have to deal with the source-- contact with mango trees can have some nasty results. And not an ideal firewood.