When the Food We Ate Was Literally Poison (Even More So Than Now)

Right now spices are still filled with non-spice matter, but it is mostly very cheap and harmless rice flour.

We still can't get good spices.

It’s pretty easy to get good spices. Buy them whole and grind them yourself. There are a few things where this doesn’t quite work, e.g. asafoetida.

Wow, this adds a lot of perspective. I thought that things were bad nowadays.

One of the reasons Rome fell was lead poisoning.

Wow, it's almost too perfect of a parallel.

Artificial sweetener anyone? How about some hair dye? (still allowed today in the US but not in Canada)

Sodium Pyrophosphate is also a "fun," somewhat toxic additive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrasodium_pyrophosphate

Lead acetate is banned in the US (except for use in hair dye, which the FDA proved is safe).