/oss/taxonomy/term/242/all en /oss/article/peppermint-lozenges-and-poisoning <p>In 1858 in Bradford, England, 200 people became ill from eating peppermint lozenges.  Unfortunately, 18 of them died within a week.  The cause?  Arsenic poisoning!  At the time calcium sulfate (Plaster of Paris) was commonly added to peppermint lozenges as a whitening agent.  One day, a druggist’s assistant was making up a batch of the candies and tragically added the wrong powder.  Arsenic oxide, which was sold as a rat poison ended up in the lozenges!  Partly as a result of this episode, the British government passed the Food and Drug Adulteration Act of 1860 which was designed to regulat</p> Thu, 23 Feb 2017 03:24:13 +0000 OSS 1525 at /oss