Cherry Pits: Are They Safe To Eat
The safest way to enjoy cherries is to remove their pits before eating them, especially when preparing to blend them, as pits are more likely to be damaged this way. You can opt to buy already pitted cherries or remove the cherry pits yourself, either manually or using a specially designed tool. Cherry pitter tools that easily and safely remove the pits of your cherries while preserving their delicate flesh can be found at most grocery stores or kitchen stores.
Are Cherry Pits Really Poisonous?
The pits of stone fruits like cherries naturally contain a cyanide-producing chemical. Small, unintentional ingestions of intact stone fruit pits generally do not cause harm. Crushing or chewing pits before swallowing can result in the release of cyanide. The use of stone fruit pits as complementary or alternative medicine is unsupported by scientific evidence.
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What happens if you swallow a cherry pit?
Most of the time, nothing happens when you swallow a cherry pit. A cherry is a stone fruit. This means in the center of the fleshy, edible part of the fruit is a hard, stone-like shell (known as a pit). People often think that the pit is the fruit’s seed, but this is incorrect. The seed is encapsulated within the shell and is sometimes called the kernel. If the cherry pit has not been chewed or broken open, it should pass intact through the digestive tract. Because of their widespread availability and the ease with which a cherry pit can be accidentally swallowed, cherry pit ingestions are a common reason people contact Poison Control.
Are cherry pits toxic?
The dangerous chemical found in the seeds of stone fruits is called amygdalin. Poisoning can occur when the seeds are crushed or chewed before swallowing, releasing the amygdalin. Amygdalin is then converted by the body to cyanide. Many other types of plants found in the US, both edible and non-edible, also naturally contain cyanide compounds.
What is cyanide? Is it poisonous?
Cyanide’s reputation for being deadly is well-deserved. Cyanide poisons the most basic and fundamental units of life—the cells—by depriving them of the oxygen needed for life. Even small amounts of cyanide can quickly lead to loss of consciousness, seizures, sudden loss of blood flow to vital organs, and death.
What other stone fruit pits are dangerous?
Apricots, plums, peaches, apples, mangoes, and nectarines are other examples of stone fruits. The amount of amygdalin in the pits of stone fruits varies widely, both between different types of stone fruits (such as cherries vs. plums) and even within the same type of fruit (such as cherries grown in one region vs. cherries grown in another region).
In general, unintentional ingestions do not lead to poisoning because it is unlikely that someone would chew or crush the pits prior to swallowing them, and because unintentional ingestions tend to be of small amounts.
Does amygdalin have any health benefits?
A drug called Laetrile, a chemical that comes from amygdalin found in stone fruit seeds, gained popularity in the 1970s as a treatment for cancer despite no evidence to support this claim. It was even marketed as a new vitamin, “vitamin B17.” Health-food stores began to sell apricot kernels for their natural amygdalin content and its claimed anticancer benefits. As a result, several cyanide poisonings from the ingestion of large amounts of apricot kernels occurred. Scientific studies have shown that Laetrile has no anti-cancer activity in humans, and it has since lost much of its popularity. However, there are still some apricot kernel products being sold, especially on the internet, with the same claims about the benefits of “vitamin B17.”
I swallowed a stone fruit pit. What should I do?
If someone swallows a stone fruit pit or if you have a question about stone fruit pit safety, help from experts is available through the webPOISONCONTROL online tool and by phone at 1-800-222-1222. Poison Control’s expert guidance is always free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day.
Serkalem Mekonnen, RN, BSN, MPH
Certified Specialist in Poison Information
Revised William G. Troutman, PharmD
Professor of Pharmacy Emeritus
Poison Control Media Information
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Prevention Tips
- Avoid swallowing stone fruit pits, kernels, or seeds. Teach children to spit them out.
- Do not chew or crush stone fruit pits, kernels, or seeds prior to consumption.
- Remove the pits of stone fruits before placing the fruit in a blender.
- Do not consume stone fruit pits, kernels, or seeds for their claimed health benefits.
This Really Happened
Case 1: A 56-year-old woman in Italy ate about 300 g of chokecherries that had been sitting in alcohol as the base for a popular homemade spirit. She developed a severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and difficulty breathing. By the time she was treated in an ER, she was comatose and was having changes in her heart rhythm. She awoke the next day, but was confused, disoriented, and having hallucinations for 14 days. She never fully recovered and had permanent parkinsonism. A laboratory analysis showed that both the chokecherries and the alcoholic liquid had high concentrations of cyanide (from Pentore et al., 1996).
Case 2: A 41-year-old woman purchased apricot kernels from a health food store. She then chewed and swallowed up to 30 of them. Within minutes, she became gravely ill. She felt weak, short of breath, numb, and had difficulty swallowing. A friend called 911. When the ambulance arrived, EMTs found her on the bathroom floor moaning, sweaty, and barely responsive. Her skin was pale, and her blood pressure was low. They treated her with oxygen and an intravenous medication to increase her blood pressure and transported her to a hospital. After hearing that the woman had chewed and swallowed a large quantity of apricot kernels, the ER physician immediately began treating her with the antidote for cyanide. She improved after 24 hours of treatment in the intensive care unit and was able to go home without any complications a day later (from Suchard et al., 1998).
Case 3: A 14-year-old boy made a smoothie with about 10 whole cherries, including the pits, which were ground up in the blender. A few hours after drinking the smoothie, he had a headache and was pale, sweaty, shaky, and nauseated. He was evaluated and had lab work drawn in the ED. He recovered within 19 hours after the ingestion and had no further problems.
Cherry Pits: Are They Safe To Eat?
When you were a little kid, you may have heard the old wives’ tale to not swallow a cherry pit, or a cherry tree could grow in your belly. Like most warning tales, there was only a hint of truth to the story. You definitely shouldn’t swallow cherry pits, not because a cherry tree will grow in your stomach, but because cherry pits can potentially become toxic.
According to Healthline, cherry pits contain amygdalin — a type of compound called cyanogenic glycoside — that, when crushed, can react with enzymes in our bodies to produce a small amount of toxic hydrogen cyanide. However, this deadly chemical is only released if the cherry pit is broken open. So, for example, if you chew on a cherry pit you could potentially put yourself at risk.
But this doesn’t mean you have to stop eating fresh cherries forever. As the Missouri Poison Center notes, it’s typically quite difficult to break open a hard cherry pit. Still, understanding what the risks are should you accidentally ingest one can offer you peace of mind and a game plan of what to do should you find yourself in this situation. Swallowing one, or even two, cherry pits is not a major cause for concern, according to Healthline, but, as with other potentially toxic substances, using the utmost caution is always the safest route.
Are cherry pits poisonous?
Sergey Nazarov/Getty Images
Cherry pits only become poisonous in the right context. Still, it’s best to avoid swallowing them or having them in your mouth when possible. According to Healthline, if the cherry pit’s naturally occurring amygdalin mixes with our bodies’ enzymes — which typically only happens when the pit’s hard outer shell is crushed or damaged — it reacts to become a small amount of the deadly poison hydrogen cyanide.
Different types of cherries produce different amounts of cyanide based on how much amygdalin is present in their pits. Black cherry pits contain 2.7 milligrams per gram, for example, while red cherry pits contain 3.9 milligrams per gram. Morello cherry pits, meanwhile, contain significantly more at 65 milligrams per gram. Depending on the amount of amygdalin present, cherry pits can release between 0.01 milligrams and 1.1 milligrams of cyanide. As Healthline notes, it takes around 0.2 to 1.6 milligrams of cyanide per pound of body weight to start experiencing signs of cyanide toxicity. Or, in more practical terms, around three to four crushed pits of a Morello cherry, or seven to nine pits of the red or black cherries.
The effects of cyanide will impact children more, and pits can also pose a choking hazard. If your child has ingested cherry pits, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or use the Poison Control Centers’ web tool for further instruction. These numbers only apply to the situation of if you were to chew, bruise, or otherwise damage the exterior of a cherry pit and then swallow it. It takes considerable force to break a cherry pit, but the easiest way to avoid any potential poison is to de-pit your cherries before eating them or simply spit the pit out.
What to do if you swallow a cherry pit
As Healthline notes, ingesting one or two cherry pits typically isn’t cause for concern. But, if you believe that three or more pits could have been swallowed, it’s important to monitor symptoms and contact Poison Control for further help.
According to the Missouri Poison Center, symptoms of potential cyanide poisoning can include dizziness, headache, heightened anxiety, nausea, and throwing up. If you experience these symptoms call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 for medical guidance. But if you experience difficulty breathing, increased heart rate, kidney failure, or seizures, seek immediate medical help and call 911, as these are signs of serious cyanide poisoning.
Steps to follow if you or someone around you has swallowed a cherry pit:
- Immediately rinse the mouth out with water and wipe the mouth out as well. Also, drink plenty of water.
- Assess how many cherry pits were swallowed. If you believe that three or more cherry pits were ingested, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 and seek medical attention.
How to easily remove cherry pits
The safest way to enjoy cherries is to remove their pits before eating them, especially when preparing to blend them, as pits are more likely to be damaged this way. You can opt to buy already pitted cherries or remove the cherry pits yourself, either manually or using a specially designed tool. Cherry pitter tools that easily and safely remove the pits of your cherries while preserving their delicate flesh can be found at most grocery stores or kitchen stores.
One of the easiest ways to pit a cherry is to use a plastic or metal straw and poke it through the center of the fruit, pushing the pit out. Wooden or metal kebab stakes are another easy at-home tool you can use to pit cherries. You can even use piping tips to poke cherry pits out. If you don’t have anything long or thin enough, you can also use a sharp kitchen knife. Simply slice the cherry open and use your knife to remove the pit. Be sure to dispose of all pits carefully to prevent children, pets, or wild animals from accessing and swallowing them.
