Cassava poisoning occurs after consuming cassava and manifests as headaches, weakness, abdominal pain, and more. The culprit is hydrocyanic acid in cassava, which can lead to poisoning and even death if consumed in excessive amounts.

Cassava is a food made from the roots turned into tubers of the Manihot cassava plant of the Euphorbiacae family. Cassava peel contains a heteroizite, which when placed in water will be hydrolyzed into hydrocyanic acid, acetone and glucose. Therefore, the toxicity of cassava is mainly caused by hydrocyanic acid. If about 20mg of this substance is absorbed by a person weighing about 50kg, cassava poisoning will occur and 50mg will lead to death.