Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/23/man-dies-from-eating-too-much-black-licorice-candy-heres-the-weird-scientific-reason-why.html
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Yikes, good thing I hate licorice!
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As kids, if there was any kind of candy swap this was the one flavor nobody wanted. It was also one of the few things dropped on the floor that my dog wouldn’t eat (the other was brussels sprouts). They always know… 
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You heathens! If you don’t want any, that just means more for me!
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I can buy licorice being toxic. I kind of felt it was long before I read this. What I’m having trouble believing is this “bag and a half at lunch” habit. Whose point of self-control kicks in at the mid-point of the second container? If I open a second container, I’m committing to the full Monty.
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Hopefully, not too much more.
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That was not the acid I was expecting to have killed him.
I’m neck deep in Halva Finnish ammonium chloride licorice that has warning labels in some countries.
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Do you Halva Finnish any bag you open?
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I can’t submit and Panda to your licorice puns.
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Count me in on that action! I love the stuff. That said, I have a couple of pieces every few weeks or so on average.
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Licorice is also supposed to have anti-viral properties, so maybe he considered it protective.
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The scene where The Lone Prospector and Big Jim have a boot for supper took three days and 63 takes to suit director Charles Chaplin. The boot was made of licorice, and Chaplin was later rushed to a hospital suffering insulin shock. The boot was made by the firm of Hillaby’s in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England; Pontefract is famous for growing licorice and making it into “Pomfret [Pontefract] Cakes”.
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You can chew the roots, I used to do that for a while.
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I adore black licorice. Whenever I fly through Schiphol I stock up. I have definitely eaten enough in a short amount of time to feel symptoms of potassium deficiency. Mostly I start getting cramps in my legs.
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i love black licorice. i like the easter season only because you can buy bags of only-black jellybeans – but i’ve never even come close to eating that sort of quantity for that long. i’ll definitely be careful from here on out.
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This happens and yet sasafrass and tonka beans are illegal even though we know the science behind the bans was in error. Don’t get me wrong. The FDA does great work when they aren’t being corrupted by regulatory capture. But sometimes it just doesn’t make sense.
I hated and shunned black licorice until I tried it again in my late 30’s, and realized my palate had changed. Now, I love it, including other licorice-tasting things, like fennel and star anise, that don’t actually have glycyrrhizin in them. Sometimes I even get cravings for the weirdness that is salted licorice. That said, I don’t think I could ever eat a bag and a half of black licorice even one time, much less regularly, so I think I’m safe.
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I hate the candy but also used to enjoy chewing the root.
Now that you mentions those I like them as well. Also ok with with some spirits that have a licorice flavor. I wonder if it’s another component in the candy that turns me off? Well I don’t need any candy, this or otherwise, so I guess it doesn’t matter.
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Wait. What? Since when is sasafrass illegal? The trees grow wild in the woods and the roots are there for the taking. I remember having a wonderful tea from shaved roots on a boy scout camping trip. (I don’t know anything about tonka beans - only Tonka toys.)
