Are cashew nut shells toxic? – Toxic truth about cashew poison

Cashew nuts have been known as a nutrious nut with many health benefits. However, not all know about cashew poision in cashew apple, cashew shell,… Therefore, in this post Vihaba will show you the toxic truth about cashew poison.

The toxic nature of cashew nut production

Most of the world’s cashews are painstakingly shelled by hand. In India alone, more than a million workers shell cashews as their full-time job. The average worker will produce 175 pounds (80 kg) of cashew nuts per day. That’s over 52,000 cashews processed by hand, per person, per day.

With so much local and global competition and with slim margins, most cashew production companies can’t afford machines, gloves, or other protective equipment for their workers.

Working conditions are made worse by the fact that cashew nut shells contain potent, caustic, toxic chemicals that begin to burn the flesh on contact. Often entire families, including kids, must endure excruciating pain in their hands and upper body from chronic contact with the cashew shells.

The further process of roasting the cashews off-gasses even more caustic chemicals into the air. Those who work around the roasting process complain of breathing problems, tight lungs, and chronic coughing.

Caustic ingredients in cashew shells

• Anacardic Acid: an acid form of urushiol that causes an allergic skin rash on contact, known as urushiol-induced contact dermatitis.
• Cardol: chemically similar to urushiol.
• Urushiol: a caustic, toxic oil found in poison oak, Chinese lacquer tree, poison ivy, poison sumac, and in the shells of cashews. It causes contact dermatitis characterized by redness, swelling, papules, vesicles, blisters, and streaking. Urushiol-induced rashes are a Type IV hypersensitivity reaction.

Cashew nut shell liquid poisoning

Natural cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) contains a mixture of various alkylated phenols. Anacardic acid (80.9%) is a major constituent followed by Cardol (10–15%) and small amounts of methyl derivatives of Cardiol. It has a phenolic fragrance. Anacardic acid is a derivative of salicylic acid. Even though the compounds have a phenolic structure, the clinical presentation of our patient was different from phenol poisoning. Symptoms of phenol poisoning develop rapidly and include nausea, vomiting, lethargy or coma, hypotension, tachycardia or bradycardia, dysrhythmias, seizures, acidosis, hemolysis, methemoglobinemia, and shock.

 Are cashew nut shells toxic?

Cashew shell is what many people consider to be garbage, but is becoming a new material source and can open a market of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Because cashew nut shell oil is an important material in many industries.

Normally, from 1 ton of dry cashew nuts can be processed 250-300 kg of the kernel and 700-750 kg of seed pods, which can produce about 154 kg of oil. Cashew oil has ingredients used in high-quality adhesive materials, used as a film-forming agent to produce marine paints or pressed materials, heat-resistant, durable chemical industry, industrial applications. electricity and electronics …

Most companies will focus on producing cashew, semi-finished, or high-grade oil rather than Cardanol oil.

Due to the short storage conditions and large investment of Carnadol oil production system and higher risks, most businesses only focus on producing cashew oil.  In addition, FTE also exports cashew shells to fuel and bottom oil residues in the market. Korean school. In particular, bottom oil is used to burn FO oil, although the temperature is lower but has a freezing temperature of -42 degrees Celsius, so it is widely used in cold climates.

How does the cashew poison in the shell affect the user? 

Coming into contact with urushiol commonly results in allergic contact dermatitis, a delayed skin rash in humans that’s similar to the one you might experience after exposure to poison ivy. An urushiol-induced skin rash appears as bumps or patches on the skin that are itchy, inflamed, and may have secretions, potentially even causing an intense burning sensation or localized swelling

If you were to handle or consume cashews in their raw form, you would likely experience a reaction similar to that caused by poison ivy, such as an itchy and inflamed skin rash that may cause a burning sensation. However, even cashews labeled as raw at the grocery store have been shelled and heat-treated to remove any urushiol residue to prevent consumers from having this reaction.

How to take note of cashew poison? 

Raw cashews contain urushiol- the same toxic chemical that is found in poison oak or ivy. Cashew poisoning is rare, but if urushiol is ingested at a high level, it can be deadly. So, when you visit the store to buy “raw cashews”, check that these nuts are not entirely raw and have been steamed. To remove urushiol, a rigorous steaming process is ensured. However, before this process, cashews are green!

During the roasting process, parts of the cashew are handled with much care because it is related to poison ivy that can cause an allergic reaction in people sensitive to the chemical.

Roasting (at high temperatures) the de-shelled cashews destroys toxic oils, which is why commercially prepared cashews are safe for your health.