It's a problem of translation between the chemistry definition of toxic (it will kill you in short order) and the common definition (poisonous, noxious). Bittman was using the latter, with an understanding that the dose makes the poison.
This makes a lot of sense, but feels unsavory to me. It's not so different than a drug dealer offering the first taste for free. EA knows that once they've hacked my mesolimbic dopamine reward system I'll pay them - and each payment makes me more invested. At some point it's a lot like gambling.