Medics warn young people that eating cyanide won’t help get rid of your acne

A favourite in spy novels and murder mysteries, cyanide has become infamous as a deadly poison – but some TikTok users now suggest consuming it as a cure for acne.

The chemical is found in very small quantities in the seeds of fruits such as apples and apricots. In concentrated amounts it attacks the heart, respiratory system and central nervous system, and can kill a human in minutes.

In one TikTok video that has been viewed nearly three million times, a young woman claims that she has been ‘secretly’ feeding her boyfriend seeds containing the poisonous chemical – and that it has cleared up his acne.

In another, which has garnered 440,000 views, a woman says her clear complexion may be due to eating at least five apricot kernels as a child.

Doctors have warned against copying the trend, highlighting that not only is it not an effective acne treatment but it is also potentially dangerous

Doctors have warned against copying the trend, highlighting that not only is it not an effective acne treatment but it is also potentially dangerous.

‘Foods that contain cyanide tend to hold it in very low doses which are nothing to worry about,’ says Dr Neel Patel, GP at Lloyds Pharmacy Online Doctor. ‘You’d need to eat at least 150 apple seeds in one sitting to be at any risk.

‘However, be careful with apricot kernels. These are the seeds inside the apricot stone which can be extracted with pliers.

‘The European Food Safety Authority cites apricot kernels as a cyanide poisoning risk. Eating more than three kernels in one sitting can exceed the recommended safe level.

‘This trend could be highly dangerous. Long-term symptoms of cyanide poisoning include coma, high or low blood pressure, loss of consciousness, lung injury, seizures and even death.’