New Attack on Natural Anti-Cancer Food

Some apricot kernels recalled in Canada
Published: June 16, 2009

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a warning about consuming Our Father's Farm-brand apricot kernels in excessive amounts.

The CFIA said Our Father's Farm Ultra Bitter Apricot Kernels contain a natural toxin called amygdalin, which might cause acute cyanide poisoning.

The federal agency said the product has been distributed in Ontario and might have been sold nationally.

"Bitter apricot kernels naturally contain a compound called amygdalin, which has the potential to release cyanide when the kernels are ingested," the CFIA said. "Small amounts of cyanide can be detoxified by the human body, but high amounts may be lethal."

Symptoms of acute exposure to high levels of cyanide can include headache, dizziness, mental confusion, weakness, difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, seizures and coma.

The CFIA said it is working with the manufacturer to recall the product from the market place.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

B17 is naturally found in seeded fruits and berries. This compound is used to protect the seeds from attack by bacteria and viruses. In humans it has been found to attack cancer cells but not normal cells.

Where is Vitamin B-17 found?

In the seeds of fruit from the Prunus Armeniaca family: bitter almonds, apricots, blackthorns, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, all members of the raspberry family, macademia nuts, bamboo shoots.
In grains: maize, sorghum, millet, buckwheat
Other: cassava, linseed, apple seeds, white clover, and over 1200 edible plants found throughout the world.
Many of these ingredients have been removed from the menus of modern civilization.
Vitamin B-17 is one of the main sources of food in cultures such as the Navajo Indians, the Hunzas, the Abkasians, the Eskimos and many more. Within these tribes, as they consume their local diet, there has never been a reported case of cancer.

Perhaps it is Health Canada's allegiance to Big Pharma that is more at issue here.

From PUBMED re colon cancer.
Amygdalin inhibits genes related to cell cycle in SNU-C4 human colon cancer cells.