Radioactive Chocolate
July 9, 2008 by Heather R.
Filed under Chocolate, Chocolate History
With the discovery of radium by Marie Curie in 1898, many people began to tout it as a revolutionary health find. It was used by health spas in baths, treatments and procedures, and people were using it in everything from water jugs to toothpastes to suppositories! (I think that right there deserves an “OMG!,” how about you?)
As the video above illustrates, people of the early 20th century were quite taken with the supposed benefits of this pretty much unkown element and until people became severely ill (and of course, died) it was used indiscriminately.
It’s not surprising then that it eventually made its way into chocolate. The chocolate bar in that link was sold for its “its rejuvenation power” between 1931 to 1936 by the Burk & Braun company of Germany.
It makes you wonder – if you had lived during that time would you have fallen for the hype?
