by Deborah Blum From the publisher: From Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times-bestselling author Deborah Blum, the dramatic true story of how food was made safe in the United […]
Tag: poisonous
Coca-Cola on trial in 1911 charged with being injurious to health
In October of 1909, the Coca-Cola Company transported forty barrels and twenty kegs of its signature syrup across state lines, from its hometown of Atlanta to Chattanooga, Tennessee. As soon […]
The “Poison Squad” men who tested food additives on themselves
“Poison Squad” was the name contemporary newspapers gave the men at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who volunteered to test on themselves the toxicity of chemicals commonly added to foods […]
Toxic amounts of Vitamin A in Polar Bear Liver
It has long been known among Eskimos and arctic travelers that eating polar bear liver can cause severe illness in men and dogs. Nearly 80 years, a researcher Norway named Kåre […]
Pathogen that caused Irish potato famine probably came from South America
Phytophthora infestans, the fungus responsible for the Irish potato famine of 1846 that killed an estimated one million people, probably originated in South America. That’s the conclusion researchers from North Carolina […]
Politics of Purity: Harvey Washington Wiley and the Origins of Federal Food Policy
by Clayton A. Coppin and Jack High From the publisher: Spearheaded by Harvey Washington Wiley, the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 launched the federal regulation of food and […]
Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics, and History
by Mary Kilbourne Matossian From the publisher: Did food poisoning cause the Black Plague, the Salem witch-hunts, and other significant events in human history? In this pathbreaking book, historian Mary […]
Outbreak: Foodborne Illness and the Struggle for Food Safety
by Timothy D. Lytton From the publisher: Foodborne illness is a big problem. Wash those chicken breasts, and you’re likely to spread Salmonella to your countertops, kitchen towels, and other […]
Our Daily Poison: From Pesticides to Packaging, How Chemicals Have Contaminated the Food Chain and Are Making Us Sick
by Marie-Monique Robin and translated by Allison Schein and Lara Vergnaud From the publisher: Called “terrifying” by L’Express and “a gripping and urgent book for anyone concerned about democracy, corporate power, […]
Cause of “milk sickness” that killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother
In the fall of 1818, 34 year-old Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of 11 year-old Sarah and 9 year-old Abraham, died unexpectedly from “milk sickness,” a mysterious disease afflicting pioneers in […]