The ‘world’s deadliest food’ claims over 200 lives every year, yet nearly 500 million people still eat it

Why It’s Still Widely Consumed

Despite its dangers, cassava remains deeply embedded in cultural cuisines and economic systems. For many families, safer alternatives are simply unavailable or unaffordable.

Governments and humanitarian organizations have worked to introduce low-toxin cassava varieties and educate communities about safer processing methods. However, progress is uneven, and awareness gaps remain — especially in crisis situations.

A Food of Contradictions

Cassava’s story is one of stark contradiction: a crop that sustains hundreds of millions while quietly claiming lives each year. It is neither villain nor miracle — but a reminder that food safety is shaped by education, resources, and circumstance.

For much of the world, cassava is not a choice. It is a necessity.

And in that reality lies both its danger and its importance.