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Oxalic acid in rhubarb leaves

In the body: Rhubarb leaves are poisonous: they hold oxalic acid. Only the stalks are eaten.

Not rated by dose: a flag on one reviewed food, raw rhubarb.

Too much in one go. Harm from one big portion. A food measured against the agency’s dose shows the grams that reach it in one sitting.

All hazards

The reference value and where it comes from

  • The agency’s figureno agency dose value
  • Basisoxalic acid, the poison in rhubarb leaves (MedlinePlus; oxalates are 'especially concentrated in the leaves', Queensland Poisons Information Centre); reported fatal oral doses of oxalic acid 3 to 30 g per person (EMA CVMP 2003), 15 to 30 g (CDC/NIOSH); no agency gives the oxalic acid content of the leaf
  • Source Ema 2003

Reviewed foods that carry it

1 reviewed food carries it; none is rated by dose.

How often you can eat it

No food here is rated by dose. Each line says why it’s listed: a flag for the people the source names, advice on handling it, or context.

Named above but not among the foods we review, so no line below: rhubarb leaves.

Flags and context, not rated by dose

  • Rhubarb, raw

    Not rated yet

    Ema 2003 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Shown as context, not scored: a handling hazard. The leaves must not be eaten; the stalk can be (MedlinePlus). Rhubarb's oxalates are most concentrated in the leaves (Queensland Poisons Information Centre). Reported fatal doses of oxalic acid are 3 to 30 g per person (EMA CVMP 2003) or 15 to 30 g (CDC/NIOSH). No agency gives the amount of oxalic acid in the leaves, so no amount of leaf can be named.

    Intake: one 140 g serving a day (85 g is the alternative), 70 kg adult

    Measured on: not food scope: rhubarb LEAVES (leaf blade). The stalk is the food. No agency dose for rhubarb leaves found; agency dose for oxalic acid itself: EMA 2003.

Sources