How sick are we going to be? Eaten undercooked kidney beans

[Noeffinway]

So, the whole family has eaten undercooked kidney beans. It was only at the end of the meal that the niggling at the back of my brain became a clear memory of reading that uncooked kidney beans are toxic. We've had about a can's worth between three of us. What should we expect?

I'm an idiot, I know!

I soaked overnight then cooked some (out of date) kidney beans in my pressure cooker yesterday. They were still a bit hard in the middle, I ate a good handful.

TBH I’d forgotten they could be toxic if undercooked. I was fine. However, I think I’ll dump the rest and go with canned from now on, so much easier.

I eat kidney beans out of the tin. It's uncooked that are harmful

Read all the posts. The beans were dry and then soaked not canned beans

It's just taken me 20 mins to post that. So I gave up. There were only a handful of replies when I posted.

Are you still alive?

Toxic is exactly the right word. Raw kidney beans are poisonous. I am not going to freak out OP by posting links but there are plenty if you Google. Luckily by soaking the beans and then simmering them (although a rolling boil would be better) OP will have ensured her beans are not dangerous. Hope you are feeling OK this morning, OP.

I'm pretty sure you were fine OP but waiting with bated breath.....

I hope you were all ok overnight. I also thought they needed 10 minutes on a rolling boil. Please let us know how you are.

They ARE toxic. People have died from eating kidney beans that haven't been cooked thoroughly. My SIL was admitted to hospital after doing so, though thankfully recovered.

Why on earth are you posting so confidently from no knowledge whatsoever?

10 minutes boiling is what I have always understood.
So you should be fine OP

there is a difference between killing toxin (10 minutes bioling) and softening them to taste delicious (longer boiling)

My boyfriend did this at uni - we were fine .. he's actually my DH now lol 28 years later we're both still alive.
I NEVER buy dried beans anymore as my DH can't be trusted! 🤣

Were you all ok OP?

My DD ate some homegrown runner beans I gave her last year raw and was quite ill. Goodness knows why, I've never eaten them raw.

There’s this. The things I remember that I read once

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/beware-of-the-beans-how-beans-can-be-a-surprising-source-of-food-poisoning-931862.html

green runner beans are delicious raw and not a source of toxins.

(unless they are so old as to be inedible, so that the beans inside are thick and hard.)

A slow simmer is not enough to destroy lectin. They need to be hard boiled for 10 minutes before turning down the heat.

You'll probably be fine though, maybe a bit of stomach cramps.

They contain a toxin, lectin. Toxic is exactly the right word.

Stepmum

They weren't old. I read up on it and there are low levels of toxin in them that cooking destroys (thankfully they don't need to be boiled for 2o minutes!) DD must be particularly sensitive to it.

@Soporalt I didn't know that about runner beans. Thanks for pointing it out.

I’m sure by now you’ve either been ill or been ok but it’s not recommended to cook beans on low heat (for next time)

Hopefully op is OK and can update us

I'm alive!

Sorry for the late update. And thank you all for the concern. I didn't intend to leave you hanging but we're a bit busy and this is the first chance I've had to Mumsnet.

I think there should have been some sort of record broken for the farting last night though. I woke myself up several times.

Everyone was OK this morning apart from a few tummy grumbles. One child did try to swing a day off of school, but when the idea was not entertained went in quite happily as normal.

Lesson learned. I will make sure to boil legumes for at least ten minutes before feeding them to the family in future.

I made myself extremely unwell years ago after not cooking kidney beans properly, extreme sickness and diarrhoea and feeling really “ fluey”.

Thanks for the update, I have been wondering all day! I really don't think red kidney beans are worth it, I won't have them in the house 😉

I had tinned ones in a spaghetti bolognaise that I made they felt crunchy I did have diarrhoea. Wrote to the manufacturer they took it very seriously.