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A dose of food poisoning is nothing compared to the health horrors these delicacies could give you. From deadly fish to illegal cheese and even the humble garden berry, the world's kitchens are harbouring some seriously deadly foods. Eat them at your peril, for they could leave you paralysed, gasping for air and dead at the dinner table.

Pufferfish or 'Fugu'
The Pufferfish (or Fugu in Japanese) is regarded as the world's deadliest delicacy. A drop of its poison can leave you paralysed, then dead. The Pufferfish's toxin is in its roe, ovaries and liver, meaning any slight error during the removal of these parts before cooking can contaminate the rest of the fish and kill you at the dinner table.

In Japan, where eating it is a delicacy, Fugu chefs must have at least ten years of experience before they are qualified to cook it for the public. There are dozens of reported deaths from Fugu poisoning in Japan each year.

Live octopus or "San Nak Ji"
"San Nak Ji" or live octopus is a popular delicacy in South Korea and Japan. The enjoyment of eating this food is said to come when the still moving octopus's tentacles stick to the roof of the mouth. The challenge, however, is to learn how to munch and swallow the live octopus without choking. There are approximately six reported deaths in South Korea caused by choking on live octopus each year.

Cassava
You'd be forgiven for thinking a shrub used as commonly in cooking as Cassava would be as safe as houses to eat. Despite being one of the world's most popular staple foods (it's the third largest source of carbohydrates in the world), if not properly washed or cooked, cassava leaves and roots can kill. They contain a toxin called cyanide which can be fatal to humans even in small doses.

Giant bullfrog
The giant bullfrog is considered a delicacy in Namibia. Whereas in most cultures only certain body parts of the frog such as the legs are consumed, locals in Namibia eat the entire frog, except for its internal organs. This can prove fatal because most frogs have poisonous skin and poisonous internal organs.

Eat them whole at your peril as a premature bullfrog contains a certain toxin which could lead to temporary kidney failure and a burning sensation in the urethra.

Ackee
The Ackee fruit is widely used in Jamaican cuisine, served alongside saltfish. When it's ripe, the fruit is perfectly harmless, but it must be picked after it has opened up and displayed its seeds, and even then it is only the fleshy part around the seeds that is edible.

The rest of the fruit, particularly if it is forced open, immature or overripe, contains a toxin inside which can prove fatal.

Silver-stripe Blaasop
The Silver-stripe Blaasop fish is a delicacy among the locals who live in some parts of the Indian Ocean. The locals are experts in removing the toxic parts of the fish before cooking but if it gets into inexperienced hands, the Blassop can cause death. Its poison is concentrated in the liver, reproductive organs and the skin and can cause paralysis and breathing problems if consumed by humans.

Somehow, the Blaasop has made its way from the Indian Ocean to the eastern Mediterranean waters, meaning it is being cooked and eaten by un-trained hands. Because of this, in early 2007 there were ten reported deaths from Silver-stripe Blaasop poisoning, eight in Egypt and two in Israel.



Echizen Jellyfish
The giant Echizen jellyfish is a huge, poisonous jellyfish which moves in swarms in waters around Japan. Like 'Fugu', whether you die whilst eating it or not lies in the hands of the chef.

The poisonous parts of this jellyfish lie inside its organs and a good chef will succeed in removing them before serving the dish in a restaurant. A lazy chef who fails to do so properly could well be responsible for your death.

Elderberries
Another wolf in sheep's clothing, elderberries can be deadly poisonous if eaten when they aren't ripe because the bark, roots and leaves of the plant contain cyanide. Thankfully, cases of death by elderberry jam are extremely rare.

Inky Cap mushrooms
While the Inky Cap mushroom isn't dangerous when eaten on its own, the second you mix it with so much as a drop of alcohol you could be done for. The mushroom contains a poison which, if mixed with booze, can cause extreme violent illness.

According to some reports, touching alcohol or even taking a whiff of perfume after a meal of Inky Cap mushrooms can set off the effects. And the mushrooms retain their potency for five days after consumption, meaning you're in for the worst and longest hangover of your life.

Stonefish
The stonefish is the most venomous fish in the world with a dorsal fin containing 13 poisonous spines. Human contact with a living stonefish can be potentially fatal; which beggars belief as to why the Japanese eat the thing.

Stonefish meat is served as a high-end sashimi dish called Okoze which is served with the skin still wrapped around it, but without the poisonous dorsal fins, which have to be carefully cut with scissors before the fish is served.

Casu Marzu
Reading about this one is enough to turn your stomach over let alone eating it. Casu Marzu is one of the world's few illegal cheeses and can have disastrous health results if eaten. The cheese, which is a delicacy in Sardinia, is made from rotten goat's milk and is served literally crawling with live maggots.

Even if you survive the nightmare of eating the live maggots, the human body has difficulty processing them, and in extreme cases they will chew their way through the small intestine, causing bleeding, vomiting and other hideous side effects.

Unripe Peaches
King John died of dysentery in 1216, allegedly caused from eating too many peaches. Although you would have to be pretty unlucky to die from eating an unripe peach in this day and age (unripe peaches are green in case you were wondering), a severe dose of dysentery is not out of the question.

Raw eggs
Thanks to the legend of Edwina Currie and her quest to bring salmonella to the forefront of the British publics mind in the 90s, we all know about the dangers of salmonella, which can be caused by eating raw eggs.

However, due to the popularity of protein shakes these days, some of which contain raw eggs, salmonella is proving a risk once more. Runny egg yolks or unbaked cake mixture can also put you in hospital with a dose of sam and ella.

Unpasteurized milk
Pasteurization rids milk and dairy products of pathogens, including Salmonella, Escherichia and Brucella, so by gorging on raw milk, or any butter or ice cream made with unpasteurized milk, you could be putting yourself at risk.

Health experts liken drinking raw, unpasteurized milk and its by-products to playing Russian roulette with your health.

Raw seafood
Eating raw seafood, especially shellfish like oysters, clams and mussels, means taking a serious risk with your health. Raw shellfish harbor bacteria and viruses, but raw finfish, like cod, mackerel or sea bass, also can be full of worms. Still fancy that sushi?

Another problem with seafood is toxic metals; some deepwater fish such as tuna and king mackerel contain high levels of mercury which, if it gets to your brain, can send you stark raving bonkers. To be safe, cook all fish before eating and know where your fish is from.