What To Do If You Eat Undercooked Beans

Eating undercooked beans can lead to an unpleasant case of food poisoning. Beans contain a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin that can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea if the beans aren’t properly prepared. While food poisoning from undercooked beans isn’t usually serious, it’s still good to know what to do if you accidentally eat beans that are undercooked.

How To Tell If You Have Food Poisoning From Beans

If you ate beans that tasted overly firm or crunchy, there’s a possibility they were undercooked. The symptoms of food poisoning from undercooked beans may develop within 1-3 hours after eating. These include:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Stomach cramps and abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Fever or chills

The symptoms tend to be relatively mild but uncomfortable If you experience any of these after eating beans, especially if the beans seemed undercooked, you likely have food poisoning

What To Do Right Away

If you realize soon after eating that the beans were likely undercooked, the first thing to do is drink plenty of fluids. Try sipping water, broth, or diluted fruit juices to prevent dehydration from vomiting or diarrhea.

You may also want to take an over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medication like Imodium to help control diarrhea. Be sure to follow dosage recommendations on the label.

Additionally pepto-bismol can help soothe nausea and other gastrointestinal upset. Follow dosage instructions and avoid giving it to children under 12 years old.

Finally, get some rest Food poisoning can leave you feeling rundown Lay down and take it easy until you start to feel better.

Seek Medical Care If Severe

Most cases of food poisoning from undercooked beans are mild and clear up within a day or two. However, dehydration from fluid loss is a concern, especially in vulnerable groups like young children and older adults.

Seek medical care if you experience:

• Frequent vomiting preventing fluid intake
• Blood in vomit or stool
• Signs of dehydration like excessive thirst, dry mouth, dark urine, fast heart rate
• Diarrhea lasting more than 3 days
• High fever over 101°F (38°C)
• Neurological symptoms like blurry vision, muscle weakness, or confusion

Infants with food poisoning from beans should always be evaluated by a doctor as they’re more prone to dehydration.

Prevent Eating Undercooked Beans Again

Once you’ve recovered, it’s understandable to feel cautious about eating beans again. Here are some tips to eat beans safely in the future:

• When cooking dried beans, always soak them overnight first to help remove toxins. Discard soaking water before cooking.

• Bring beans to a boil for at least 10 minutes before cooking to further reduce toxins.

• Cook beans thoroughly until very soft. Cooking times vary so follow package instructions.

• Choose lower-risk beans like cannellini, chickpeas, or lentils over higher-risk kidney beans.

• Opt for canned beans which are pre-cooked and safe to eat. Just heat through before serving.

• If following a slow cooker recipe with beans, bring them to a boil on the stovetop before adding to the slow cooker.

• When dining out, check bean dishes carefully for proper cooking before eating. Send back undercooked beans.

With proper preparation, beans can be a healthy, safe addition to your diet after an episode of bean-related food poisoning. Take some simple precautions in the future and you can enjoy beans again with confidence.

How Undercooked Beans Cause Food Poisoning

Beans contain complex proteins called lectins. One particular lectin, phytohaemagglutinin, can be toxic to humans if consumed in raw or undercooked beans.

The level of phytohaemagglutinin depends on the variety of bean. Red and white kidney beans have the highest concentrations, while other beans like navy, lima, and cannellini have lower amounts.

When someone eats inadequately prepared kidney beans, the phytohaemagglutinin binds to receptors on the cells lining the digestive tract. This disrupts normal function of the gastrointestinal system, leading to the nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain of food poisoning.

Cooking beans properly breaks down phytohaemagglutinin to harmless components. While not usually life-threatening, food poisoning from the lectin is highly unpleasant, so proper bean preparation is crucial.

How To Prepare Beans Safely

Preventing food poisoning means taking steps to destroy the harmful lectins in beans before they reach your plate. Here are some tips for safe bean enjoyment:

• Soak dried beans for at least 5 hours or ideally overnight. Discard soaking water which contains lectins.

• For an extra lectin-removing boost, boil beans for 10 minutes after soaking, before cooking as normal.

• Cook beans thoroughly until very soft and tender. Cooking times vary from 10 minutes for lentils up to over 2 hours for chickpeas.

• Bring beans to a rolling boil for at least 15-20 minutes during cooking to help destroy lectins.

• Use a pressure cooker if possible, as the high heat facilitates lectin breakdown.

• Don’t eat beans that are crunchy, grainy, or hard. Only eat uniformly soft, fully cooked beans.

• Canned beans are pre-cooked and safe to eat. Just avoid recipes using uncooked canned beans.

Follow these tips to remove harmful lectins when cooking dried beans. While a little phytohaemagglutinin may remain, proper preparation should render beans safe for consumption and delicious.

What To Do If Your Beans Are Undercooked

Sometimes even when we aim to cook beans thoroughly, they turn out overly al dente. Undercooked beans are crunchy or grainy in texture rather than soft. Don’t temptation fate by eating undercooked beans! Here’s what to do:

• Remove pot from heat as soon as you realize beans are still hard.

• Check the package for proper cooking time and return beans to stovetop if needed. Add more water if boiled dry.

• Use an immersion blender to partially puree crunchy beans, cooking 10-15 minutes more. The pureed beans will thicken the cooking liquid into a sauce and soften any remaining whole beans.

• Transfer beans to a pressure cooker if possible. Lock lid and bring to high pressure for 10-15 minutes to soften.

• For crockpot beans that didn’t soften overnight, transfer to a pot, add water or broth, and boil for at least 10-15 minutes.

• If beans are part of a stew or soup, simmer up to an hour longer, until beans are knife-tender. Puree if needed.

• If beans don’t soften with extended cooking, do not eat them. Safely discard the dish. Do not serve or consume crunchy, potentially undercooked beans.

With a little patience and extra cooking time, it’s often possible to salvage beans that are initially too firm. But if in doubt, remember it’s better to be safe than sorry – discard beans that refuse to soften.

Can You Eat Slightly Undercooked Beans?

Many people wonder if it’s okay to eat beans that are just a little bit crunchy or not quite fully cooked through. The answer is no – beans should be uniformly and thoroughly soft without any graininess or crunch before eating. Here’s why:

• Even a small amount of the lectin phytohaemagglutinin can cause food poisoning. Eating even one or two undercooked beans is risky.

• Phytohaemagglutinin is not evenly distributed within beans. An occasional crunchy bean could be very high in toxins.

• It’s difficult to tell exactly how undercooked beans are just by taste or texture. Beans may seem just slightly al dente when in fact they are dangerously raw inside.

• Any bean that maintains structure during chewing is almost certainly undercooked and should not be swallowed.

• Once a bean develops a crack or split in the outer skin, the interior starch leaks out during cooking. If the bean remains hard, it is undeniably raw within.

For these reasons, don’t take chances with even a small bite of beans that seem a little too firm. Cook beans until totally soft and homogeneous in texture before serving and eating. It’s simply not worth the risk of food poisoning.

Are All Beans Equally Dangerous Undercooked?

While all raw beans contain some amount of phytohaemagglutinin, some types of beans are considered more dangerous than others if eaten undercooked. Here is how common varieties compare:

Highest Risk

• Red kidney beans – These have the highest lectin content by far. Eating just 4-5 undercooked red kidney beans can cause symptoms.

• Other colored kidney beans – Cannellini, white, and black kidney beans also have high lectin levels though slightly less than red ones.

• Broad beans (fava beans) – Interestingly, broad bean lectins can sometimes cause hemolytic anemia in addition to food poisoning symptoms.

Medium Risk

• Pinto beans
• Navy beans