/oss/taxonomy/term/1329/all en /oss/article/food-health-history-toxicity/castor-bean-oil-plays-growing-role-chocolate-manufacture <p>I think the first medicine I ever heard of was “Ricinus,” a liquidy concoction with which my mother plied me when she suspected I was constipated. I can’t imagine why as a child I would have had such a problem, since our diet in Hungary back then included generous doses of goose fat that should have allowed everything to slide through at a pretty regular pace.</p> Thu, 12 Dec 2013 18:25:19 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2044 at /oss /oss/article/food-health-uncategorized/plastic-cheese-and-fake-mayo <p>On a recent trip to the U.S. I perused the menu and decided on a cheese sandwich. When I queried the waitress about the kind of cheese involved, I was told, “American!” I replied I was interested in the type of cheese, not its citizenship. “You know, American, the plastic kind” came the irritated response. I now knew I had to prep the taste buds for “processed” cheese.</p> Mon, 08 Jun 2015 11:21:27 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2265 at /oss