[Sca-cooks] dyestuff toxicity?

[Randy Goldberg MD]

> Ok, I can't believe my books don't have this information, but I guess
they
> assume that you'll be using dyestuffs with mordants. Anybody have any
> toxicity information for
> - brazilwood
> - bedstraw
> - madder
> - cochineal
> - logwood
> Alkanet should be safe as it's a period food colorant still used in
> homemade Lipstick, right?

Cochineal is used in foodstuffs and appears to be safe.

Alkanet (Spanish Bugloss) "...is closely related to the poisonous
Viper's Bugloss and should be used with caution, if at all." (Cindy
Renfrow, "The Colorful Cook", _Compleat Anachronist #109, p.10) On
Viper's Bugloss (Echinum vulgare), the AMA Handbook says, "Toxicity is
associated with the use of the plant in herbal teas for folk medicine.
The chronic consumption of these teas may cause veno-occlusive disease
of the liver (Budd-Chiari syndrome) with hepatic vein thrombosis leading
to cirrhosis. The symptoms are abdominal pain with ascites, hepatomegaly
and splenomegaly, anorexia with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea..."