Mountain Dew and Fresca banned in EU and Japan because they contain an ingredient that can lead to memory loss

[MagicFox]

That’s interesting! Thanks!

[ephoph]

In Canada there was no caffeine in Mountain Dew when I was growing up. The internet tells me that that changed in 2010.

[LurksNoMore]

You can poison yourself with quinine: Cinchonism.

[anon27554371]

I grew up eating a lot of Chinese food.

My nextdoor neighbors were Japanese. I ate there too.

So: depends…

[L0ki]

Large doses of quinine may lead to severe (but reversible) symptoms of cinchonism: skin rashes, deafness, somnolence, diminished visual acuity or blindness, anaphylactic shock, and disturbances in heart rhythm or conduction, and death from cardiotoxicity (damage to the heart).

I am thrilled to learn from that Wikipedia article that death is a reversible symptom.

[Ryuthrowsstuff]

It was originally formulated and marketed as a mixer for whiskey. Hence the moonshine themed name and Hillbilly branding.

[sdmikev]

@anon3072533

But take someone who is currently 18-20 years old, say, and their grandmother could be, say, in her 50s—easily young enough to have grown up in the days of artificial-everything food

I’m in my 50’s and know some peers that are grandparents. I’m 100% certain none of their grandkids are 18 or older, tho.

[anon3072533]

Ha, I had a feeling someone was going to reply like that Yeah, true, they’d have had to have started young. I should have just said that a teenager today could have a grandmother young enough to mess up Pollan’s advice—and it will only become more likely as time goes forward, that what grandmothers recognize as “food” isn’t what Pollan had in mind…

[VeronicaConnor]

@chenille

Propylene glycol is also found in a lot of food products and pharmaceuticals. Some also use glycerol, and that’s the antifreeze found naturally in some living things.

Propylene Glycol is also what’s used in non-toxic antifreezes, used in RV plumbing systems, swimming pools, etc.