FOUL FERNS
"Just as undercooked meat or fowl can make a meal sickening, so, too,
raw or lightly cooked ostrich fern may cause nausea, vomiting, and
diarrhea. Though harvested commercially for years in the northeastern
United States and in western Canada as a seasonal delicacy,
_Matteucia struthiopteris_ seems to be the common element in several
outbreaks of food poisoning this past May, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
"At one time time, native Americans in eastern North America
considered this fern a spring vegetable, one adopted by Canadian
settlers in the 1700s, the CDC notes.
"Nevertheless, in New York, one restaurant received complaints from 40
people who ate fiddleheads sauteed for 2 minutes, while no one who ate
similarly harvested ferns cooked 10 minutes at another eatery
experienced symptoms.Likewise three outbreaks occurred in western
Canada, two at restaurants that also cooked the ferns just briefly."
"Health department officials tested uncooked ferns for bacterial and
pesticide contamination but found neither. Nor did they track any
other possible causes, the CDC reports in the Step 23 Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report.They conclude that the ferns may contain a
toxin that adequate cooking--steaming for 10 minutes or boiling for
15 minutes-- destroys."
From an article in the October 8, 1994 (vol. 146, no. 15) _Science
News_. From: bmailman@eyecon.com in rec.food.cooking. Formatted by
Cathy Harned.
