Foul Ferns

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

"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.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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