This article was originally featured on The Conversation.
Black licorice may look and taste like an innocent treat, but this candy has a dark side. On Sept. 23, 2020, doctors reported that black licorice was the culprit in the death of a 54-year-old man in Massachusetts. How could this be? Overdosing on licorice sounds more like a twisted tale than a plausible fact.
I am a toxicologist and author of the book “Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs, and the Curious Forces That Make Us Who We Are.” I have a long-standing interest in how chemicals in food and the environment affect the body and mind.
When something seemingly harmless like licorice is implicated in a death, we are reminded of the famous proclamation by Swiss physician Paracelsus, considered the father of toxicology: “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.”
Root of the problem
The unfortunate man who succumbed to excessive black licorice consumption is not alone. There is a smattering of similar case reports in medical journals in which patients experienced a sudden severe increase in blood pressure, muscle breakdown or even death.
Adverse reactions are most frequently seen in people over the age of 40 who are eating far more black licorice than the average person. In addition, they are usually consuming the product for prolonged periods of time. In the 2020 case, the Massachusetts man had been eating a bag and a half of black licorice every day for three weeks.
Licorice is a flowering plant native to parts of Europe and Asia. Its scientific name, Glycyrrhiza, is derived from the Greek words “glykos” (sweet) and “rhiza” (root). People have long used the aromatic and sweet extract from its root as an herbal remedy for a wide variety of health maladies, from heartburn and stomach issues to sore throats and cough. However, there is insufficient evidence that licorice is…
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