OOPS: Even Chefs Can Mix-Up Poisonous Foods

Scientific names may not sound sexy, but Jauron thinks they save people from the sort of trouble chef Thompson created.

While their common names may sound similar, henbane and fat hen are worlds apart in terms of toxicity.

"You want to know exactly what you're dealing with, so typically when we deal with plants, we would provide the common name and the scientific name," Jauron said. "No other plant would have another scientific name."

But being careful with plants doesn't end with the name. Even if the gardener has the name right, the part of the plant matters.

Parts Matter

Careful chopping -- many common fruits and vegetables in the grocery store have toxins lurking in the leaves, roots or seeds.

For example, take the humdrum potato. The entire potato plant, from the edible tuber to the top leaves, has toxic glycoalkaloids lurking in it, according to the Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System.

The tuber part of the potato is usually safe because it has far less toxin than the green parts. But toxins can concentrate in the tuber if it is exposed to sunlight and starts photosynthesis.

The ordinary potato can become quite toxic if the tuber is exposed to sunlight. Green potatoes should be thrown away instead of eaten.

"A potato has buds, it's a stem, it's actually an underground stem," Jauron said. "When we see that [green color], we can still use them, we just have to cut off the green section," said Jauron.

Other green dangers can be found in the leaves of the tomato plant, the leaves of the avocado plant, the leaves of horse radish and the green parts of the tasty rhubarb.