Davy wrote:
Now done a bit of online research.......

It seems that runner beans contain the same toxin as kidney beans but
to a much lesser extent. The toxin, in the levels found in kidney
beans, causes about 24 hours of vomiting and diarrhoea - but no
lasting harm. Soaking the beans in water for about 5 hours,
discarding the water, boiling for at least 10 mins reduces the toxin
to safe levels. The soaking also leaches out the sugar that causes
flatulence after eating beans. So if you don't take these
precautions then you may suffer both diarrhoea and flatulence - best
not to think about it.

Because in Britain kidney beans are only available as dried beans and
therefore have to be boiled to make them edible, there are few
recorded cases of red kidney bean poisoning - mostly due to people
adding the beans to slow casserole cookers which don't boil the
beans. I could find no reported cases of poisoning from runner beans.


The first time I "cooked" kidney beans 30 years ago I just slow-cooked them,
as I didn't know any better. A night of vomiting resulted - nearly blamed
the butcher for bad mince! Since then I have always "rolling boiled" them
for at least 20 minutes without problem.

Such a shame since I thought the raw runner beans tasted superb.

Agreed - often as good as snow peas. I and other family members often ate
them raw without any ill effect. I must add that it was only ever a few
beans at most.

It is quite interesting that the pea family provides us with some of the
most delicious and nutritious seeds, and some of the most dangerous
(Ricinus, Abrus).


--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)