Robert gibbon johnson an american that travelled in

Robert Gibbon Johnson: an american that travelled in europe saw that europeans ate tomatoes and
survive and prosper; thought it was a shame they weren’t eaten in NA
 Tomatoes were believed to be toxic in NA
 Tomatoes are in the same botanical family as the Belladonna plant; therefore tomatoes thought to be toxic
by association
 Johnson invited the public in Salem to watch him eat tomatoes; when he didn’t die tomatoes eating in NA
began
 Since then we’ve learned that the tomato is a very healthy fruit
 Contains a variety of antioxidants: lycopene
 Lycopene: reduces the risk of macular degeneration; keeps people healthy
 Ketchup contains lycopene and is used by advertisers to say it MAY reduce prostate cancer
In 1850, English physician Arthur Hasall saw that a steel fork became coated w copper when he mashed
gooseberries. The berries had been adulterated w copper to make them green.
In 1900s, chalk was added to watered down milk, arsenic and boric acid sprinkled on meat and fish to retard
spoilage and lard was added to “extend” butter.
In the “Good Old Days”:
 Copper salts were added to vegetables to make them look more green
 Plaster of Paris (CaSO4): was added to break instead of flour because it was cheaper
 Meat was preserved w Arsenic Oxide (As2O3): arsenic will kill bacteria making it a good preservative, but it
will kill people too
 Tea was extended by adding indigo: indigo has a darkish color when dissolved in water and was pretty
cheap
Video 2
Unintentional Toxins
 Have the idea that our food is contaminated w pesticides
 There are pesticide residues on food, but just because a chemical is there doesn’t mean it’s doing anything
 Pesticide Residues are there in trivial levels, not a big concern
People overestimate rare risks and underestimate common risks
Pesticides are a problem when they are improperly used
Aldicarb: pesticide that is used on cucumbers
 15 year old boy got sick because farmer who used aldicarb didn’t dilute it properly
 Too high concentration of aldicarb
At a picnic in the US, about 14/20 people got sick w eye twitching, sweating, diarrhea, etc.
Problem: Black pepper in cabbage Salad; but pepper wasn’t actually pepper it was found to be granules of 13.7%
aldicarb

Mercury in fish
 Mercury comes from burning coal: gets into the air, gets washed down, mercury reacts w bacteria in
water, converts to methylmercury, and that is found in fish
 Problem for pregnant women: can hurt the embryo
 Pregnant women should stay away from swordfish, tuna fish, shark (large fish that eat smaller fish and are
then the concentration of mercury chain)
Naturally occurring Toxins
The natural world is filled w poisons.
In Socrates time:
 Coniine (chemical): found in hemlock
 Greeks used to carry out executions by asking victims to drink the juice of the hemlock plant
Potatoes:
 Green coloring in potatoes is chlorophyll
 When chlorophyll is produced it mean potatoe is trying to sprout, when potato is trying to sprout is
produces natural insecticides like solanine
