HODLr on Nostr: They still use marble dust in white bread. No wonder the crap clogs arteries. ...

They still use marble dust in white bread. No wonder the crap clogs arteries.

quoting
note1zkz…lg5e

On October 25, 1858, John Neal, a sweet-maker in Bradford, sent an employee to buy plaster of Paris, commonly used then as a cheap substitute for sugar in confectionery.

During the 19th century, it was common for food and drinks to be adulterated with cheaper substances to reduce costs, enhance appearance, or extend shelf life, and consumers often didn't notice.

However, this time, the outcome was disastrous. The chemist was sick and sent his apprentice to fetch the plaster from the storeroom.

Due to a mix-up with unlabelled casks, the apprentice accidentally gave Neal 12 pounds of arsenic instead.

Neal used this arsenic to make peppermint drops, which he noted were darker and slower to dry than usual, but sold them anyway at a discount to market trader William Hardaker.

On October 30, about a thousand of these tainted sweets were sold. The next day, hundreds of people, including Hardaker, fell severely ill with symptoms of arsenic poisoning.

The authorities quickly traced the source and seized the remaining sweets, but not before at least 21 people, several of them children, had died.