Most recipes tell you to remove your bay leaf or bay leaves before eating whatever dish you’ve made. Apparently, this has led some people to think that eating a bay leaf is terrible for you or even poisonous. This is, in fact, a myth. Bay leaves are not poisonous to humans. There are a few reasons this myth might have started.
Bay leaves look like other poisonous plants. Bay leaves look very similar to mountain laurel and cherry laurel leaves which are poisonous to humans.
A bay leaf could be a choking hazard. For the elderly and small children, a thick woody leaf could be a choking hazard.
Let’s be honest, they’re also just not pleasant to chew. So when all is said and done, for the benefit of everyone, just remove them before serving.