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Carregando... Death in the Pot: The Impact of Food Poisoning on History (2007)de Morton Satin
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Registre-se no LibraryThing tpara descobrir se gostará deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. Satin is a molecular biologist and former director of the UN's Food and Agriculture division. He is undoubtedly a much better biologist than he is writer. His writing is turgid and dry. He makes his explanations of basic biological concepts as tangled and convoluted as possible. His grasp on history is even weaker. It's clear that he depends heavily on only a few sources, and takes them at their word; no cross-referencing or double-checking for him! The book is supposed to trace food poisoning from prehistoric periods to 2006, but it's a slap-dash, poorly organized, seemingly random bunch of essays. I did like seeing the numerous instances in which the establishment was slow-moving (to the point of criminality) in reacting to food adulteration. From the Roman government's slow reaction to sapa to the Japanese government's refusal to hold corporations responsible for their industrial waste, this is an age-old problem. The range of ways food can be dangerous to humans is very wide and quite fascinating. Still, I would definitely not recommend reading this book. sem resenhas | adicionar uma resenha
Did food poisoning play a role in the Salem witch trials, leading to the hanging of nineteen men and women? Which poison recently laced the food of Russian ex-KGB agent Viktor Litvinenko, and how did it kill him? In Death in the Pot, internationally renowned food expert Morton Satin documents several culinary mishaps and misdeeds in an engrossing narrative that spans the ancient world to the present day. Historic events both tragic and bizarre have resulted from adulterated food. In the fifth century BCE, the great plague of Athens, probably caused by contaminated cereals, led to the defeat of the Athenians in the Peloponnesian War. In the prescientific Middle Ages, illnesses resulting from contaminated food were often attributed to the wrath of God or malevolent spirits. Heavily infectious ergot induced a spasmodic muscle condition, which the Church named "St. Anthony's Fire" and interpreted as retribution by God on heretics. Similarly, in seventeenth-century America the hallucinogenic symptoms of moldy grain were thought by Puritans to be signs of witchcraft. Even the madness of King George III, which played a role in the American Revolution, may have been induced by accidental arsenic poisoning. In the twentieth century, Satin recounts the efforts of modern industrial societies to make food safer; in some cases these efforts were heroic. For example, in the early days of the Food and Drug Administration a "Poison Squad" was formed, consisting of young scientists who willingly acted as guinea pigs to test the toxic effects of chemical additives. Today, the government has focused on the hazards of food bioterrorism. Satin concludes by describing measures taken to protect the public from intentional and unintentional poisoning, as well as recounting recent poisoning incidents. Both a fascinating glimpse into history from a unique angle and an authoritative reference work on food safety, Death in the Pot offers entertaining and informative reading for laypersons as well as experts in food technology and public health. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — Carregando... GênerosClassificação decimal de Dewey (CDD)614.5Technology Medicine and health Public Health Contagious and infectious diseases: specialClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos E.U.A. (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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Interestingly, about half of Satin’s references are Web sites. My initial thought was that he was just hacking something together without a lot of library research, but with the benefit of the doubt he might be trying to make the material more accessible for the interested reader without access or time to use an academic library.
The Jamaican ginger extract story is worth a little more detail. Jamaican ginger extract was allowed into the US during Prohibition as a “medicine”, even though it was 70% alcohol. The ginger extract was supposed to make the stuff undrinkable in quantity; however, a clever bootlegger quickly found that the Treasury Department was testing it by distillation. If 30% of the original liquid remained after distillation at 250 F, it was assumed the residue was ginger extract. All that was needed was some tasteless liquid that didn’t boil below 250 F, and you could mix it with alcohol, sell it as ginger extract, and clean up. After various experiments with ethylene glycol, dibutyl phthalate, and castor oil, tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate, normally a nonflammable hydraulic fluid, became the “inert” ingredient. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be inert and habitual “Jake” drinkers started to get various ailments, most commonly paralysis that became known as “Jake Leg”. A number of songs commemorating the victims came out – “The Jake Leg Blues”, the “Jake Leg Rag”, and so on. Those were the good old days; I expect it will be a while before we hear a rap about Escherichia coli O157:H7.
Worth reading, especially for dinner party anecdotes where you want more food for yourself. ( )