Yes, ackee fruit can kill you if you eat the wrong part of the fruit or don’t wait until it is ripe. If you travel to a country where ackee is served fresh, only eat the arils once the fruit has naturally opened. Canned ackee is a safer option. That’s because strict monitoring is in place to ensure only ripe ackee arils are added to cans, and by then, it has already been cooked too. Unripe ackee can cause Jamaican Vomiting Sickness, an acute illness that can lead to death within two days of consumption.