The Chemist's War

[Amphora]

I find this very disturbing:

http://www.slate.com/id/2245188/?GT1=38001

To believe the US government would do something like this, so that people would stop drinking.

A very horrible site to see.

[Rhizomorph13]

That article confused me; we still have denatured alchohol and it is a "safe" process to make alchohol undrinkable and toxic to humans. There is a warning on the bottles and anyone who is crazy enough to try to drink it (I've heard you can filter it through bread to filter out the toxins, think about that the next time you see bread slices scattered all over the place) deserves to be poisoned. What is the problem with that? And lol at quinine as a poison, I've been putting it in my Gin in the form of Tonic for years!

Rhizo

[Rev. Rye]

Wow. I knew there were a lot of casualties due to Prohibition, but I thought it was due to the brewers not knowing what they were doing.

[Scarecrow]

If only it were coke back in coke. Great, now I'm thirsty.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

To believe the US government would do something like this, so that people would stop drinking.

Surprised that a government stupid enough to ban alcohol would also poison it? Not at all.

'Normal''alcohol found in legal drinks IS a a poison,it kills brain cells.

Industrial alcohol,called 'methylated spirits ' here and I think 'grain alcohol' in the US is even more poisonous,and can cause blindness an death.

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The original recipe for Coca Cola allegedly contained 5 ounces of coca leaves per gallon in 1891.It was removed in 1903. Coca Cola still contains caffeine as an alleged flavour enhancer. It's just a happy accident that it's also addictive..

Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup, a significant dose; in 1891, Candler claimed his formula (altered extensively from Pemberton's original) contained only a tenth of this amount. Coca-Cola did once contain an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass, but in 1903 it was removed.[30] Coca-Cola still contains coca flavoring.

After 1904, instead of using fresh leaves, Coca-Cola started using "spent" leaves — the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process with cocaine trace levels left over at a molecular level.[31] To this day, Coca-Cola uses as an ingredient a cocaine-free coca leaf extract prepared at a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola#C...94_cocaine

Résumé / Abstract
Caffeine contributes to the flavor profiles of beverage and food products, and other bitter compounds, such as quinine, cannot replicate caffeine's bitterness. Research also has indicated caffeine's ability to enhance desirable tastes, such as sweetness and saltiness, in beverages by modifying neurological pathways. Caffeine may reduce potential off-flavors by solubilizing some compounds, while having little effect on other compounds considered important in beverage flavor profiles. Exposure to caffeine may enhance cognition and potentially heighten the capacity for smell and taste. Thus, use of caffeine in beverages may positively affect flavor profiles and the experience of beverage consumption.

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=844153

PS note the use of the word 'may'.

[LukeMC]

Don't let Pippy get hold of this article.