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It is important to remember that there is a HUGE difference between snacking on something and eating in quantity. All plant foods go through a progression of food to medicine to poison with increasing amounts of consumed material. Absolutely all of them. Some plants exist in the food portion until a great deal of material is eaten, then they become medicine. Keep eating though, and almost anything will begin to affect your body in a negative manner. Even highly toxic plants can be used as medicinals in closely controlled amounts (and they pass through the "food" phase after a few grams of material as they quickly begin to affect the physiology of your body). Sambucus nigra (black elderberry) is a good example of this progression and each person has their own scale of food > medicine > poison progression (depending on their sensitivity to the terpenes and polyphenols contained in the fruits). I have eaten a fair amount of the berries of this plant (and flowers), but I have never needed to consume them alone and in quantity (i.e., having the fruits as a significant portion of my diet over periods of days or weeks). I, like Alberto Hernandez, eat them raw off the plant all the time (but not in what I would consider "quantity"). However, I would still recommend that persons new to this wild food begin with small quanities of fresh fruits or either dry or cook the fruits (into a thick syrup-like food) before consuming them.

For people interested in the medicinal uses of Sambucus nigra, here is an excerpt from Ancestral Plants (in preparation):

"Various parts of Sambucus nigra have been used as folk remedies for many types of ailments and some of the uses due appear to have verified merit. The flowers and leaves contain several terpenes (e.g., ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, α-amyrin, β-amyrin, sterols). The flowers also contain chlorogenic acid (a polyphenol), while the leaves also contain sambunigrin (a carbohydrate that belongs to a group of phytochemicals called cyanogenic glycosides) and various polyphenals (e.g., kaempferol, quercetin). An infusion of the flowers has been shown to be effective for some types of colds and can reduce fever (i.e., it is a febrifuge). Further, it is an anticatarrhal (i.e., helping rid the body of excess mucus, especially in the sinus area). The leaves can be infused and used as a wash or poulticed and used as a vulnerary for minor skin problems (e.g., eczema, cuts, bruises). The inner bark can be used for the same purpose, but it would be decocted when used as a wash. The Cherokee, Oklamhoma Delaware, Houma, and Iroquois all used the bark for this purpose (and other ailments). Syrup made by boiling down the juice from the berries has also been used as a cold remedy with research that supports its efficacy. In addition to diuretic and diaphoretic properties, Sambucus medicine also appears to strengthen cell membranes, which prevents penetration of the cell by viruses."

Haines