Westministenders: Don't forget to stockpile. Again.

[RedToothBrush]

The government is telling pharmacists and drug manufactures to stockpile drugs ahead of the end of transition on 31st December.

In the middle of a pandemic.

What could go wrong?

@BigChocFrenzy

Thank fuck I only have to prep for a possible 2nd wave winter ripples ..... UK Westministenders get a kick in the teeth from their own government, just when you may be on your knees with recession and pandemic

This. I'm so angry, the slimy, lying bastards. And I'm a lucky one who can afford extra food and has a secure family income in our own home. I shudder to think how terrified I'd be without those safety nets.

I went to the post office last week. Small parade of local shops. Everyone was wearing a mask. Even people pulling up were popping them on before getting out their cars.

Erm, OK, feeling like a bit of an idiot here. I've just had about 7 crackers with brie and about 1 tsp of elderberry chutney on each and then went to read the health benefits...to find that the seeds contain cyanide if not "cooked". So, how long is cooked? I did about 5mins as I bake the sugar.

Please tell me I don't need to go to A&E?

Oh blimey I've no clue jesuis

If you've got any charcoal tablets take a couple

You know when you think "This will be on my headstone godammit!" I'm "hoping" I just get nausea or sickness.

You'd think they'd have said that on the site that told me the twigs were toxic too!

Nope. No tablets. I just found somewhere you are meant to cook them for 40 minutes!? Who the hell cooks jam for that long

I think the worst you can expect is a bit of an upset stomach www.elderberryedgefarm.com/pages/are-elderberries-toxic-a-personal-experience

@JeSuisPoulet I don’t think you’ll have eaten enough for them to be toxic. Apple pips also contain cyanide, I ate loads when I was small and I’m still here. I think you need to eat several kg for the toxin to have any effect.

A long winded placemark

I greatly doubt you’ll be ill from such a small amount. A fatal dose of elderberries is something like 3kg. You might puke.

Hi JeSuis
I'm both a jam maker and a plant nut (with toxicology books on the shelf)

• normally one makes jelly/wine so the seeds are strained out
• the seeds are toxic if you break them open : ie actually bite on them
• if you made chutney they will be well cooked

drink plenty of water
and if you get stomach cramps, get yourself to A&E

Poulet I suggest if possible roughly calculating how many elderberries you ate - e.g. a tbsp or a handful . and then calling NHS helpline

"if you made chutney they will be well cooked"

I thought she said 5 minutes ?

JSP as a child, I ate lots of raw elderberries. Still here, 50 years later.

You'd probably need to eat a whole bushel or something...
love me a biblical weight measurement

Ah Ok, my chutneys stink the house out all day
BUT
many toxic seeds (eg poppy) go straight through so long as you do not actually bite them

Thank you everyone. I called 111 and a rather stroppy lad went through some q's and said someone will call me back. I checked that if I did get any symptoms he said to call them back and not 999 and he huffed and repeated that that was what he had said, so I don't think they are particularly worried. It's scary when you can't find much about it online though! Yeah, I was crunching them and was prob 5-7 heaped teaspoons worth....and I only cooked for 5 mins as they were risking burning What a pillock.

Was that teasps of the seeds, or just the berries ?

• in the latter case, sounds at worst like you should keep your trainers on and stay near the bathroom

My DH says you'd have to eat a ton of elderberries to get sick from the seeds. He said most fruit seeds contain cyanide and we eat them all the time without noticing. Who picks all the seeds off their strawberries? DH is a chemistry professor so I think he knows what he's talking about.

I ate loads of elderberries as a kid and suffered no ill effects. Agree that proximity to a loo might be advisable for the next few hours, though.

Random spelling rant here...I have just skimmed an article about Uribe testing positive for CV on the Grauniad's live feed and seen this horror:

"he was reportedly not displaying any symptoms other than a soar throught."

Yeah I just read that link. So, sleepless night again for me!
Seems I have a couple of hours before the berries hit the fan. I used mainly the juice for the jam and used the berries as the "chutney" (small jar) and thought if I eat it with the cheese this week that would just about do so no need to cook for ages as it wouldn't go off.
This is why I should follow recipes and get more sleep before trying new things... Thank you everyone. No side effects yet!

Islamophobia surges amid lockdown warn civic leaders in north of England

Did the govt's pointed lockdown timing made tension worse than need be ?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/aug/05/islamophobia-surges-amid-lockdown-warn-civic-leaders-in-north-of-england

“White communities are starting to see Covid as a ‘brown problem’.”

The Guardian spoke to civic leaders from across Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire who said they were concerned about a rise in community tension
following the new lockdown measures, announced on the eve of Eid al-Adha last Thursday,

which many said had prompted a surge in online anti-Muslim sentiment.

Anyho, following from the terrible editing pointed out by Auld (thanks also for the reassurance) I noted that Kings College London today posted via their app a study that linked estrogen (or rather lack of it) to more extreme COVID. I saw a few months ago the link to bald men and with a similar conclusion, but this was for post menopausal women.

I also wonder if a sore throat is what many "asymptomatic" people have, as I keep seeing people ask if it is on the symptoms list - of course there are other bugs out there too - but what if we are telling people not to bother getting a test for a sore throat but they are the carriers who don't have the "main" symptoms? Complete conjecture obviously.

How the fuck do you make chutney in 5 mins???!!!

Or Jam?

I'm not a great cook but ive been using lockdown to try and improve. Admittedly chutney and jam have not proved to be my strongest points so far. As DH will testify when he wanted in the house at 11pm to find me having a complete nightmare trying to make courgette chutney. I had managed to nearly destroy our large pan. I eventually finished this bloody jam at 1am.

Anyway elderberries. Yes you need to cook them thoroughly. No that amount wont kill you (being able to post on mn is a bit of a clue to this). I doubt you have had enough to make you even feel ill. Diarrhoea and vomiting would be your two most likely symptoms.

Thought I was being clever as I found a quick way to do jam (so many raspberries I've been doing about 5 jars a week) by baking the sugar for 10-15 mins first and adding it to the berries to save time.

Just had call back from 111 and she said that if I haven't had symptoms by now I prob won't have any. She also said that the heat of the sugar and heating for 5mins will have been enough. We had a laugh though about "death by artisnal jam"