Since January 2023, many flaxseed packages display a message explaining that They should only be used for cooking and baking, not eaten raw.

The reason for the recommendation on seed preparation arises from the new European regulation on the control of hydrogen cyanide in food.

Flax seeds can release cyanide

Hydrogen cyanide or hydrogen cyanide is highly toxic to humans. and, in the worst case, in high doses, it can cause death.

Hydrogen cyanide is found, in the form of cyanogenic glycosides, in some plant foods, such as flax seeds, bitter almonds or apricot seeds.

By chewing or processing the seeds, The glycosides come into contact with enzymes and hydrogen cyanide is released as a result.

Eating ground flax seeds releases more hydrogen cyanide than eating whole seeds. However, it is interesting to crush them to access the healthy components of seeds, such as omega-3 fatty acids, Otherwise they would be excreted without being used.

how to remove cyanide easily

To minimize the risk of hydrogen cyanide poisoning from food, There is a maximum level allowed in the European Union

The EU sets a limit of 150 mg of hydrogen cyanide per kilogram of flaxseed for raw flax seeds, whole, grated, ground, cracked or chopped. But this limit increases to 250 mg if the product carries the warning that flax seeds should not be consumed raw. This is the explanation why some manufacturers have decided to include it.

You don’t need to cook the seeds much. When the flaxseed is heated a little, the hydrogen cyanide evaporates. In fact, it only takes 26ºC for this to happen. Therefore, By leaving the ground seeds for a few seconds in a moderately hot pan we will make the hydrogen cyanide disappear, without altering the omega-3 fatty acids.

How many raw flax seeds can you safely eat?

So you should never eat raw flaxseed? No, As long as you don’t eat too much, you don’t have to worry about possible poisoning. In small doses, the body can deactivate hydrogen cyanide. In fact, no cases of flaxseed poisoning have been recorded.

This may also be because the hydrogen cyanide present in flax seeds has a lower bioavailability than that of apricots. This means that less hydrogen cyanide passes into the blood.

According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), a daily intake of cyanogenic glycosides of up to 20 μg per kilogram of body weight is harmless to health. However, this guideline is of only limited help to consumers as the hydrogen cyanide content may vary.

In 2022, ground flaxseeds from 20 brands were sent to the laboratory in Germany. In seven of them, the hydrogen cyanide content was greater than 150 mg per kilogram, that is, above the limit at which products must carry a warning label from 2023.

Consumer advocates also criticized the fact that many packages lack information on the maximum recommended intake. Young children should not eat raw flaxseed, but testers omitted a note about this on many packages.

A maximum consumption of 15 grams of flaxseed is harmless to health, although the seeds have a high hydrogen cyanide content. That’s about a tablespoon and a half.

However, the presence of a toxic mineral, cadmium, means that the recommended amount should not exceed the 20 grams a day, either raw or slightly heated.