Are traditional foods necessarily safe?

Safety is a relative concept, and even traditional foods that are regularly consumed cannot be said to be absolutely safe for anyone under any circumstances.

For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations lists milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans (shrimps, crabs, lobsters), peanuts, soybeans, nuts (apricots, chestnuts, cashews, etc.), and wheat as the eight food groups that are commonly allergic to food because although most people are fine if they eat them, there is still a certain level of risk for some of the people who eat them.

Even things that are essential to the body, such as water, salt and sugar, can be harmful if eaten in excess. For example, too much water can lead to electrolyte imbalance, too much salt can induce high blood pressure, and too much sugar can easily fracture bones and induce some chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

Toxic substances and anti-nutritional factors, such as protease inhibitors, hemolytic agents, and neurotoxic agents, are also produced in edible plants.

In many legumes, high levels of lectins and cyanogenic glycosides are produced, which can cause severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea if they are not soaked in heat before consumption to remove the plant lectins. If beans and cassava are consumed raw, the cyanogenic glycosides may cause chronic neurological disease or even death. There are now about 1,000 known plant toxins, the vast majority of which are secondary plant metabolites.

This article is from: China Agricultural Publishing House, "History of Agricultural and Livestock Science and Technology Development in Tibet."