Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★
People die from their own choices every year, an annual occurrence that includes suicide, swimming, and mushroom foraging. Foraging for mushrooms in the wild for picnics and cooking seems to have become a hobby for many gourmands, and as a result, cases of mushroom poisoning occur every year. Perhaps the poison of the more than 100 types of poisonous mushrooms in the world cannot compare to the charm of the more than 300 types of edible mushrooms that are antiviral, delicious, nourishing, and unique. People are not afraid of death! The Japanese youth are even crazier. A drug called "magic mushrooms," made from several types of mushrooms containing anesthetic components and described as "non-addictive but hallucinogenic," has rapidly become popular in recent years as their psychedelic drug. Foie Gras:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
It is a noble delicacy with a fragrant and mellow texture, and paired with a 1870s red wine, it becomes a sumptuous floating banquet. Little do people know that this fatty delicacy is the liver of a goose that has liver disease. Our time-honored traditional cuisine does not include foie gras, but the French came up with the method of force-feeding geese for four weeks with a mixture of wheat, corn, fat, and salt to induce "liver disease." A large size, heavy weight, and pure color are considered top quality. Besides its maddening tenderness and rich aroma, it is also rich in lecithin. Shark Fin:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
Sharks are now hunted worldwide, largely because some "bad scientist" discovered: "Of all animals in the world, the shark is the only one that does not get cancer." In our daily worries about whether our bodies have developed cancer, sharks have become a life-saving straw on a dangerous dining table. Shark liver oil is made into expensive health supplements in Norway; shark fin at banquets represents a form of show-off in China. There are hundreds of shark attacks on humans every year, making headlines in newspapers, but humans eat sharks every day, with humans consuming 800,000 tons of sharks annually. Another study says that taking large doses of shark liver oil for a long time can lead to poisoning. Pufferfish:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★★
1 gram of tetrodotoxin can kill 500 people, but "the more poisonous, the more delicious." The exquisite taste of pufferfish has become the "Diaochan" of the Chinese culinary world; the more dangerous, the more coveted it is. The Song Dynasty poet Mei Yaochen wrote in his poem "Pufferfish": "In spring, green reeds sprout, and poplar flowers fly. When it's time for pufferfish, its value is beyond that of fish and shrimp." Pufferfish diners thus add a "heroic spirit" as if at the Yi River, but before they pick up their chopsticks, they always ask the waiter to taste it first. Only when the waiter doesn't fall do they indulge. The Eastern diners also have this spirit; they have figured out safe ways to eat pufferfish. The Chinese folk method is pufferfish meat plus radish. Every spring, several people always fall ill, but in China, there will always be successors. American Beef
Deliciousness Index: ★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★★
To date, more than 100 people worldwide have died from eating beef infected with mad cow disease, and it is estimated that more than 2 million people have been infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (the human form of mad cow disease). The incubation period for this disease is 10-30 years, and the danger still lurks in the body. "If a person eats the meat, brain, or blood of a cow with mad cow disease, they may contract the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The human brain will also become spongy like a cow's brain, eventually leading to neurological disorders and death." Such a description is certainly terrifying. Fortunately, although Western food is becoming more popular, the Chinese are still not a nation that loves beef. So, we are more worried about a "mad chicken disease" happening one day. Salmon:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
Its lovely pink color originally comes from colorings in the feed, its rich and thick texture comes from antibiotics added during artificial farming, and the residual chemical toxins in its body are now sufficient to destroy the human immune and reproductive systems. Of course, its delicate and delicious taste still makes it the most popular fish for sashimi. It is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for the brain, retina, and nervous system, and can enhance brain function, prevent stroke, prevent heart disease, and prevent vision loss. It is truly a "treasure in the water," and given the current level of pollution, it is not enough to make everyone give up eating it. Civet Cat:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★★
As a representative dish of the wild food faction, the deliciousness of civet cat is fading from the taste buds of the Chinese people, although it is still a terrestrial wild animal with mature breeding technology and is allowed on the people's tables. But "coincidentally," the SARS-like virus found on civet cats is remarkably similar to the SARS virus that infects humans. It is also rumored that among the first group of people infected with SARS in China, one was a chef from a wild game restaurant. The panic of SARS enveloped the country for more than a year, and civet cats had to temporarily withdraw from the scene. But the Chinese people's interest in wild game has not changed; without civet cats, they just look for "civet foxes." Dog Meat:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
Humans cannot outrun dogs—unless they poison them. As the smartest animal around humans, dogs never expected that the Chinese would not abide by the rules of fair play and would use cyanide to hunt and slaughter them. South Koreans were once boycotted by foreigners for their practice of eating dog meat when hosting the 2002 World Cup. "Dog meat boiled three times, even immortals can't stand it," but the Chinese, who are not immortals, hide behind their own doors, daring to defy dog lovers, risking nosebleeds, and risking the chance of toxic cyanide, all driven by their inner desire that dog meat is an aphrodisiac. Oysters:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
The aphrodisiac oyster is also the lifelong love of the great lover Casanova. His secret for being able to be with a dozen beauties a day may be attributed to swallowing 40 raw oysters daily. The beauty of oysters lies in their freshness, so the advice to "cook for at least 5 minutes before eating" is basically an impractical "safety fallacy" that doesn't understand true deliciousness. The best oysters in the world come from Europe, North America, and Japan. If you don't have enough money to eat in these reliable and hygienic places, you will have to suffer from diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. There is no other reason; our farming environment and oceans are suffering from industrial pollution, and the oyster, like its body, is a **recycling station. Crab:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
The first person in China to eat a crab has long been gone. In the golden autumn season, holding a crab and drinking wine is one of the great joys of life for the Chinese people. But this scavenger is also a diarrhea-causing agent that harms the digestive system. Especially, it cannot be eaten with persimmons; the two together cause immediate food poisoning. Other foods that have similar reactions include: pears, peanuts, eggplant, muskmelons, and even ice and tea. To eat one crab, you have to avoid so many things, but can you really avoid them all? You will eventually get caught. In addition, there are rumors of hormones used in crab farming, the severity of "red tides," and the trick of feeding birth control pills to crabs during their spawning season. As a signature dish in numerous seafood restaurants across the country, crab has inevitably become a high-risk dish. Soft-shelled Turtle:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★
"A soft-shelled turtle eats a soft-shelled turtle—it recognizes no kin" is a proverb that may speak to the absurdity of the turtle, but it is indeed delicious. However, the problem is: if it is a wild soft-shelled turtle, it is a multi-year animal, and the large number of parasites in its body must be guarded against. If it is farm-raised, it has been revealed that it is grown with sex hormones, a growth period of 7 years is super-concentrated into 7 months. Is its meat light or a trigger for illness? It's terrifying. Doctors also warn: "Patients with hepatitis should not eat soft-shelled turtles. Its rich protein will increase the burden on the liver, and in severe cases, it can rapidly worsen the condition, induce hepatic coma, and even lead to death." French Fries:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★
This was a sensational discovery two years ago when Swedes found that "some starch-rich foods produce varying amounts of acrylamide after being processed at high temperatures such as frying, baking, etc." Among them, french fries or potato chips made from potatoes contain the most acrylamide. And acrylamide is a carcinogen. According to the standards set by the World Health Organization, the amount of acrylamide an adult should absorb from drinking water daily should not exceed 1 microgram, while an average of 1000 micrograms of acrylamide is found per kilogram of french fries. But now french fries and potato chips are still the favorite snack for many people. They are crispy, high in calories, and convenient to eat. Cured Meats:
Deliciousness Index: ★★★★
Danger Index: ★★★★
In the old days when logistics were poor, people had to worry unnecessarily, so they used various methods to dry meats into cured meats, sausages, and other preserved foods. But in today's world with smooth logistics, eating cured meats has become a matter of taste habit. They have a concentrated flavor of five-spice and a nostalgic memory of experiencing the autumn wind. So, we risk eating them, knowing they may contain color fixatives, stabilizers, preservatives, and other potential carcinogens, and we are willing to take the "unfounded" chance of getting esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, or even intestinal cancer. As for whether they are made from dead sow meat next to a ditch, we don't care at all. If there's anyone to blame, blame the "autumn wind."