QuercusMalus
A bad apple...
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2023
- Messages
- 410
- Points
- 108
Kind of related(in the sense of weird shit that was consumed in food, drink or medicine)- I watched a program on food in Victorian England, and one of the things they did was add borax powder to milk as it masked the sour flavor from spoiling. Milk was primarily for children. Unfortunately, it does such a good job of masking that the children were being poisoned by the rotting milk(though I am sure the borax was a non negligible factor as well).Uranium tooth pastes
Source Here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doramad_Radioactive_Toothpaste
Images here
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Stuff on the toothpaste tube says
"What does Doramad do? Through its radioactivity, it increases the defenses of teeth and gums. The cells are charged with a new vigorous life energy, which inhibits bacteria in their destructive ability. Hence the exquisite prevention and healing effect on gum diseases. Polishes enamel to the softest shiny white. Prevents tartar approach. Good foam, new taste, pleasant, mild and refreshing. Use extensively."
And on the other side it's"Special biological healing effects by radium rays. A thousand times medically prescribed and recommended."
Funny back story
During the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, a group of German scientists stole all the thorium they could while in occupied France. The Alsos Mission thought they were using the heavy elements for the refinement of uranium to be used in an atomic bomb. However, after Allied agents captured and investigated a German chemical company's representative, it was revealed that the scientists were not seeking to develop an atomic bomb at all; rather, they were attempting to make thorium toothpaste.
According to physicist Samuel Goudsmit in a 1947 issue of Time, the German chemical company's officials had realized that, at the end of the war, they would no longer be able to make money producing wartime equipment such as gas masks or carbons for searchlights, and they decided cosmetic products would be their best option for future sales. One of the company's officials already had a patent for thorium toothpaste (likely unrelated to Doramad) and, influenced by marketing for Pepsodent "irium" toothpaste in the United States, the company sought to gain a monopoly on all the thorium they could find in order to produce as much thorium toothpaste as they could after the war, which led to the company's scientists stealing all of France's thorium. The identity and fate of the chemical company, the fate of the stolen thorium, and whether or not the thorium toothpaste was actually produced after the war is unknown.[4]
Also learned that as 'white bread' was preferred, plaster of Paris was added to the flour.....