/oss/taxonomy/term/881/all en /oss/article/nutrition-history/miracle-chanukah <p>Around 175 BC, Israel came under the rule of the Syrian King Antiochus who wanted to obliterate the Jewish religion. Judah, leader of the Maccabees, a group of Jewish warriors, led a revolution against the Syrians and with an army of only six thousand defeated the Syrian army of 47,000. Eventually, the Maccabees liberated Jerusalem and rededicated the Holy Temple, which they did by lighting the Menorah, whose continuous burning symbolized the union of the different types of Jews and the eternal presence of God.</p> Mon, 09 Dec 2019 19:18:48 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8043 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-news-quackery/depraved-peter-popoff <p>You never know what you will come across when surfing TV channels late at night, hoping against hope that you will come across a Seinfeld episode you haven’t seen a hundred times. Last night I was shocked to come across the villanous Peter Popoff yet again milking the gullible in a shameless fashion with his offer of “miracle water.” Exactly what was to be done with the water was murky, but its effects were clear. Financial fortune would befall those who called the number on the screen to ask for a “free sample” of the water.</p> Mon, 21 Jul 2014 23:05:15 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2170 at /oss /oss/article/quackery/dr-oz-should-be-red-faced-over-promotion-red-palm-oil <p>Dr. Oz is a powerful guy. A mention of one of his miracles sends people scampering to stores to empty shelves of the latest wonder. And that wonder is red palm oil. According to the simple laws of economics, supply will try to meet demand. In this case it means increased production of red palm oil, extracted from the fruit of the palm tree that grows in Indonesia and Malaysia. Cultivation of the palm tree has been increasing quite aside from Oz’s antics because of greater demand by the food and cosmetics industries.</p> Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:19:58 +0000 OSS 1876 at /oss /oss/article/quackery/radithor <p>It seems hard to believe now, but in the 1930s a “miracle cure” which actually contained radioactive radium was widely promoted in North America by William J.A. Bailey, an ex auto-swindler. Radithor was claimed to “stimulate functional ability, lower metabolism, correct imperfect nutritional processes and eliminate toxic waste.” What it did was poison people. Bailey charged a dollar a day for the product, a staggering amount at the time.</p> Mon, 13 May 2013 16:10:04 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1935 at /oss