On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 20:26:46 +0000 (UTC), "Robert" wrote:
You're not supposed to eat them without boiling them first

I did some googling ( because I am growing various beans both for
green beans and for seed) :---

Phytohaemagglutinin
Red Kidney Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) Poisoning,
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap43.html

Sounds frightening !
but section 6 of that page seems to suggest that it is not common,
and 9 suggests that it may not have been due to the beans anyway !