[Sca-cooks] medicinal recipies

[Carol Smith]

Again, CFR 21 lists camphor (from the tree) as GRAS for food use, provided 
it's safrole free (less than 10 ppm is considered "free").  Used in very 
limited quantity as a flavor, it is probably pretty safe, but is main use 
seems to be an active ingredient in cough medicines.  (I didn't read up on 
that aspect of it, though.)

Regards,
Brekke


>From: Lilinah <lilinah at earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
>To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] medicinal recipies
>Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:32:08 -0800
>
>Bear wrote:
> >  > Camphor would be Cinnamomum camphora. When i mentioned this to a
> >  > chemist friend, he was rather disturbed and said that it should not
> >  > be eaten and that it causes liver damage. He suggested substituting
> >  > menthol (NOT mint). Menthol is used in many products, like candy,
> >  > mouthwash, toothpaste, etc. so it is safe to consume in small
> >  > quantities. I don't know if druggists sell it (i know they used to
> >  > sell wintergreen oil - i don't know if they still do), or if you'd
> >  > have to get it from a chemical supply house or commercial flavor
> >  > manufacturer...
> >  >
> >  > Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
> >  > the persona formerly known as Anahita
> >
> >Camphor can cause liver damage, but that is normally from prolonged
> >exposure.  Adults can take up to 2 mg/kg of body mass without noticeable
> >effect.  It can be extremely toxic to small children and infants.  It's 
>also
> >not recommended for pregenant women.  You should be able to get it from a
> >druggist.
> >
> >Reading over some of the survey info for poison control, I'd be willing 
>to
> >expirement with camphor as a spice, but I wouldn't want to use it in a
> >feast.
>
>This is all good to read, and rather as i suspected - i.e., i didn't
>know the exact amount, but i figured that a tiny quantity once or
>twice a year would probably not harm me. I'm not much of a drinker
>(although i've had hangovers 3 times in 57 years) and don't have and
>have never had any form of hepatitis, so i assume my liver is in
>decent shape.
>
>I've also considered experimenting with alkanet, which was used to
>color some foods in period (fat soluble, not water or alcohol
>soluble). It is now used as a fabric dye, and was used in the first
>half or so of the 20th C. to color lipstick.
>
>And there are some recipes in the Arabic language corpus that call
>for coloring nuts and salt blue with indigo.
>
>How/where would i find out about toxicity issues with these substances?
>--
>Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
>the persona formerly known as Anahita
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