Nuts have been recalled for Listeria and Salmonella, and you can also encounter a toxic mold on nuts that will make you sick. You should contact the company that packaged the nuts to see if there was a recall.

Are you sure the "food poisoning" WAS food poisoning (a bacteria that turned into a toxin or from a toxic mold), and not just from over-consumption? Food poisoning is the worst kind of flu symptoms you have ever had in your life - TIMES TEN!!! OR, when you eat substantial quantities of raw pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts or other nuts, you can experience some nausea and/or gut issues because of the enzyme inhibitors in seeds. This is especially true if you don't have a "good" digestive system in the first place.

If you are going to consume large quantities of nuts (out of hand or in a vegan/vegetarian dish as a meat substitute), then also take an enzyme supplement to aid digestion. I process most nuts and seeds by soaking them in lightly salted water overnight and then dehydrate them. This method removes those nasty enzyme inhibitors and makes nuts/seeds easier to digest, and also increases the nutrients. The salt in the soaking water activates enzymes that neutralize enzyme inhibitors, so don't leave it out. You can always rinse the nuts after soaking to wash most of the salt off.

This article on the subject may help you out. I used the information from "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon - referenced in this article: http://blog.radiantlifecatalog.com/bid/69542/That-s-Nuts-A-Complete-Guide-to-Soaking-Nuts-and-Seeds

Walnuts contain large amounts of triple unsaturated linolenic acid and are more susceptible to rancidity, and that could also cause the stomach distress. Even when I soak/dehydrate walnuts, I store them in the freezer, or short-term in the refrigerator. This slows down the potential for them to go rancid - it won't prevent rancidity - just slow it down. Other nuts/seeds I process I can store in my basement food storage room (which remains much cooler than room temperature).

-Grainlady

Grainlady, thanks!

i eat about a handful a day. Up till now - no problems. Must have been a single nut or a couple that were bad in that particular handful.

I dare not eat them raw again. Will chopping them and baking them in a cake remove or kill the toxins?

A handful a day isn't excessive consumption - and probably not enough to make you ill or have a digestive issue. I thought you had eaten about 1/2 a bag at one sitting from your original post, not that you had a handful over a number of days until you had consumed about half of the bag over time. I would still suggest you soak and dehydrate nuts (until CRISPY dry) to improve the digestibility and nutrition rather than consuming them raw. They will also be heat-treated to help destroy bacteria contamination.

I'm not completely convinced nuts were the cause. You can consume something several days before it presents symptoms of a foodborne illness, and there are sooooo many things throughout the day that could be the host - food from a refrigerator that is 40°F or warmer, cross-contamination with raw meat, the skin of a baked potato that was wrapped in foil and kept at an unsafe food temperature over a long period of time...... I had a friend contract Salmonella from rubbing his eye after cracking open an egg without first washing his eggy fingers. The warm/moist eye was a perfect place for the bacteria to develop into a toxin.

First you need the microorganism/s present, but then they need the correct conditions (moisture, pH, oxygen, temperature, etc.) in which to grow into a toxin. It's the toxin that makes you ill, not the bacteria. An average person carries more than 150 kinds of bacteria in or on the surface of our body. The bacteria can be spread from non-food items to the food as well - like a knife cutting through unwashed fruit/vegetables where the bacteria travels from the unwashed outside to the inside, cutting board, plate or hand. Even if the nuts were recalled due to Listeria or Salmonella, they would need to be in the "right" conditions to grow into a toxin that would cause food poisoning. Just eating them probably isn't going to do that because the conditions aren't right.

Listeriosis (the disease caused by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes) can cause an illness within 24 hours or up to 12-days. Symptoms persist for 2-7 days and include fever, chills, headache, backache, and occasionally diarrhea and abdominal pain. Sources commonly associated with Listeriosis - unpasteurized milk, certain soft cheeses made with raw milk, undercooked meat, poultry, seafood, contaminated water and raw vegetables fertilized with infected manure.

Salmonellosis (caused by the bacteria Salmonella) is the most common bacterial foodborne infection. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headache, chills, diarrhea and fever. The illness begins 6-48-hours after ingestion of contaminated food. Commonly found in: raw and undercooked foods, unpasteurized dairy products, raw and undercooked poultry, eggs and meat.

Heating the nuts to a temperature of at least 160°F should take care of the bacteria. But you need to remember, a cake baked in a 350°F oven doesn't mean the internal temperature reaches 350°F. In fact, a Bundt Cake is "done" when the internal temperature reaches 212°F, layer cakes when they reach 205-210°F, quick breads when they reach 210°F, and that's how you check for doneness with an instant read thermometer for many baked goods. And IF the bacteria isn't destroyed during baking, it is potentially in a warm/moist environment, especially if left at room temperature, to develop the deadly toxin, depending on the pH. And General Mills just had a giant recall of Gold Medal Flour due to e. coli contamination - although most people don't consume raw flour, it's still a possibility in the "right" conditions to develop a toxin.

-Grainlady

No, baking will not necessarily make them safe. Listeria is famously hard to kill even at high temperatures. Toxins, by the way, are the products of the bacteria, not living cells, so it's not a matter of killing toxins.

Definitely call the company. And call the store. The nuts may not be the problem, but why take the chance? Think about the other things you ate, too.

Thank you Grainlady and Cloudy Christine. I just started eating normal again and now I'm sorely tempted to stop eating altogether. Scary story about the eggy hands salmonella just from rubbing one's eyes.

Can't think of anything other than those walnuts. I haven't been eating out, but packing lunch for work. I wash all vegetables and fruit with soap and rinse well. I like my meat cooked to death.

If I understood correctly, toxins cannot be killed or removed, only the bacteria can be killed but its toxins stay on. I'll just dump those walnuts.

BUT to contract lysteria and salmonella you must consume live bacteria for the illness to occur
Did you ever think that what you had might have been a virus you caught from someone or the bathroom at work?
Food poisoning?? Really or self diagnosed? How long did it last?
I think you are way over reacting, no need to toss all the nuts....
Or perhaps never ever buy nuts again? No guarantee that another bag won't have the same problem.
Every bout of digestive upset isn't food poisoning.

I don't doubt you one bit. Just trying to track down the cause cannot always be traced. The best way is to bring it to the attention of the 'brand' or supplier. Even a mention will go on the books as an alarm so they can watch for it. Possible others are going through the same.

I've had a few bouts with food poisoning and it is no fun. And a strange bug that traveled through work over a period of 5-6 weeks. A mystery and a few other mysteries.

It affects everyone a bit differently. A healthy gut will not have the same symptoms as a weak one. An employee meal at a high end restaurant 30yrs ago as a waitress in college we all got sick. One puked, another was driven home, i had waves of bizarre hot flashes for a few hours. The bartender went to the emergency room. I've not had bluefish since.

If the nuts are suspect, maybe you could start a sauce pan of simmering water and dunk them for 5 min. (or whatever is recommended). Not sure the method.

Many cultures blanch and simmer to purify.

I actually simmered a lb of peppercorns a few years ago during a recall. Then dried them, then and into the freezer. Freezing does nothing but slow down the oils in nuts going rancid. Slows down and 'freezes' any bacteria that multiplies at room temp. Does not kill any of it. Heat will destroy if you want to go that way....

I will say, just my opinion, every bout of digestive upset is food related.

Eat fresh un-processed food, 3 or less ingredients, even if frozen, and your digestive system, your gut, will deal with any mis-haps.

Sleevendog....do you know what noro virus is?

I'm assuming that you've eaten other things than the nuts. Why are you so sure it's the nuts? I think you're more likely to have picked it up from touhing something dirty.

I scrub my hands before eating both at home and at work.

Not only did I dump the walnuts - I'm not going to touch walnuts again. Definitely overreacting, but it's a gut reaction (this pun wan't intended. it just came out of its own lol). My body flinches at the very idea of walnuts. I'm not prepared to go through that again and avoiding walnuts is a tiny price to pay believe me.

I'm virtually certain it was the walnuts. Couldn't have been anything else.

Why do you ask? I thought it was one word...norovirus

I can understand your "gut" reaction, but I understood you an get this kind of bug from, for example, drinking from a mug that someone has prepared for you who has the bug, or in the water or many other sources. I feel a bit sorry for the walnuts LOL Someone will tell me if I'm deluded!

You're right it is one word....and not related to "bad food"....nor is rotovirus.
Every bout of digestive upset is not food related.