© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

High Demand For Yucca In Venezuela Leads To Sometimes Fatal Results

Food shortages in Venezuela have led to a spike in the consumption of yucca, an inexpensive starchy root. But there's a sweet variety and a toxic, bitter version of the root vegetable.

As reporter John Otis (@JohnOtis) found, some Venezuelans are mistakenly eating the poisonous yucca and dying.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.