• nyahlathotep
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    2 days ago

    they used to put brick dust in chocolate bars, and sawdust in bread

    edit: heck, they just caught someone recently intentionally putting lead in applesauce cinnamon that was used in applesauce, which has been used off and on as a sweetener since at least ancient rome, where a bunch of people went crazy and died from consuming a sweetener made by boiling grapes in lead pots

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Spices lose their flavor over time. Yours are too old; throw them out and replace them.

        Or at least start using a fuck-ton more than the recipe calls for until you use up the old stuff.

        • NielsBohron@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          You’re missing the point. Copying what I wrote above:

          I just mean because cinnamon (the spice) is the bark of the cinnamon tree, which when ground up is a form of sawdust. Delicious sawdust, but sawdust, nonetheless.

    • whodatdair@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 days ago

      Copper sulfate used to be added to canned peas because it turns green when it oxidizes, making them look greener.

      Copper sulphate is straight up poisonous, enough will kill a passion and low amounts will hurt them.

      Anyone who wants to learn more about this history, there is a great episode of the “ridiculous history” podcast that goes into the story that finally got food regulations in the US. A team of people who volunteered to be poisoned to help prove that certain things are unsafe to put in food.

    • frank@sopuli.xyz
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      2 days ago

      It’s also HEAVY, so something light sold by weight just needs a liiiiittle lead to be a lot cheaper to make

      • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        This is what caused that pet food scare back in the 00’s. Some Chinese manufacturer realized that they were being paid by weight, not volume, so they added heavy metals to their cat food and it poisoned a few cats here in the US.

        China executed that guy btw.