Fresh beans are delicious and can be harvested fresh from the garden in summer. Can you nibble on the beans a little while harvesting or are the green beans poisonous? Find out more here.
Are green beans poisonous?
Raw beans contain the toxic protein phasin and are therefore poisonous. To destroy phasin, beans should be boiled for at least 10 minutes. Consuming raw beans can cause serious symptoms of poisoning, especially in children.
Never eat green beans raw
Fresh beans, like other common beans such as bush beans or runner beans, contain the protein compound phasin, which is toxic to humans. Like all proteins, phasin is sensitive to heat and is therefore destroyed during cooking. To be on the safe side, the beans should cook for at least 10 minutes.
What happens if you eat green beans raw?
Fresh beans are highly poisonous when raw. Just five beans are enough to cause severe symptoms of poisoning in an adult. Since phasin impairs oxygen transport in the blood, the following symptoms occur after two to three hours:
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Stomachache
- chills
- seizures
- Shock
Eating more than ten beans can even result in death. Green beans are particularly dangerous for children. Due to their low body weight, just five beans are enough to cause fatal poisoning in children.
What should you do in case of poisoning?
If only one bean has been eaten, poisoning can be counteracted with sufficient fluid intake. However, if bean poisoning is suspected, you should immediately go to a hospital where the poison will be removed.
Prevent poisoning
If you have small children and pets, it is advisable to fence the green beans. When harvesting, you should also make sure that the beans do not fall into the wrong hands. Always cook your green beans thoroughly and throw away any trimmings.
Tip
Don't panic and remove your beans from your garden. Raw beans don't taste particularly appealing, so it's extremely unlikely that a child would eat them.
