# Were tomatoes really considered poisonous long ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386 "2003-01-18T02:55:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/21 "2003-01-18T23:07:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LilShieste \* > \*\*I remember this one explanation that suggested tomatoes were thought to be poisonous because of the plates they were eaten off of. > > Apparently, back in the day, people used to eat things off of plates, etc made of lead. I heard that when tomatoes were eaten off these plates, they picked up traces of lead due to the acidity of the tomato. > > I will see if I can find the cite for this… it makes sense to me. 🙂 > > LilShieste \*\* Yes, I saw references to this when searching around yesterday. > [@](#): > > Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. ([Via About.com](http://historymedren.about.com/library/weekly/aa042202j.htm)) However, that theory is discredited, due to the relatively late date tomatoes hit the scene in Europe (early 1500s). ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/22 "2003-01-18T23:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hari Seldon \* > \*\* I believe that most of the potato plant is also poisonous and you are warned not eat any part of the tuber that has turned green. \*\* I have eaten raw potatoes with green parts. It is a result of sunburn and can be avoided by making sure the roots are covered with dirt. The green parts might be slightly toxic because as I recall they are quite bitter and cause some numbness. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/23 "2003-01-19T00:02:34Z")
The “sunburn” on potatoes is chlorophyll, but also may show solanine present under the skin, which is toxic (as Ice Wolf found out over the course of a few days bein’ sick as a dog once). Some info, and safe cooking instructions, [here.](http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/icooks/ask_8-5-02.html) ---
**Author:** ![TeleTronOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@TeleTronOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeleTronOne)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/24 "2003-01-19T00:45:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\*I have eaten raw potatoes with green parts. It is a result of sunburn and can be avoided by making sure the roots are covered with dirt. > > The green parts might be slightly toxic because as I recall they are quite bitter and cause some numbness. \*\* I don’t know about green parts, but generally speaking, it’s a bad idea to eat too much raw potato. This is because the potato contains an unusually high concentration of cyanogens (I’m not sure if that’s the right term or spelling) - cyanide, in a nutshell. Cooking them gets rid of it (it escapes in the steam). However, the potatoes sold in the US at least, are regulated, and contain only small amounts of these chemicals. But still, it’s probably not a great idea to eat too many of them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/25 "2003-01-19T06:10:45Z")
I don’t buy the “nightshade” explanation as to why people didn’t eat tomaters. Geneology is relatively recent, and a tomato doesn’t necessarily look like it’s chock full of alkaloids. Not to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/26 "2003-01-19T07:43:24Z")
Sure, like ‘Dr\_Paprika’ can be expected to give a fair and impartial accounting of the noble tomato! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/27 "2003-01-19T11:55:40Z")
This is what Alan Davidson, in the Oxford Companion to Food has to say about it: > [@](#): > > … The plant is a member of the family Solanaceae and therefore a relation of the New World capsicum peppers _(bell peppers, here in the US)_ and potato, and of the Old World aubergine _(eggplant)_. The presence of nightshades in the family may have made people cautious about using newly discovered members of it. This did not apply to capsicum peppers, since they were seen as providing a valuable new spice and spread like wildfire. The aubergine and the potato, however, were received with considerable reserve in W. Europe; and the same was true of the tomato. > > \ _(He basically describes how the Spanish brought the tomato from South America back to Europe)_ > > An Italian herbalist (Mattioli, 1544) referred to what must have been tomatoes as _mala aurea_ (golden apples) and later (1554) mentioned a red variety. The Dutch herbalist Dodoens (1554) gave a fuller description and an illustration. Thereafter mentions and illustrations became fairly frequent, although there is little evidence to suggest that people had begun cooking or eating tomatoes except rarely and by way of experiment. A supposed connection with the mandrake, the suggestive form of whose root had earned it a reputation as an aphrodisiac, led to the notion that the tomato had similar properties, which may in turn have prompted the Swiss naturalist Gesner to call it _poma amoris_. The fruit thus became linked with the Hesperides myth and acquired the string of names exemplified by _pomme d’amour_ in French and _pomodoro_ in Italian. The article goes on to say that the earliest known printed recipe using the tomato is in a Neapolitan book in 1692, for a ‘Tomato Sauce, Spanish Style’ which sounds very close to gazpacho. It seems that Spain and Italy took to the tomato much earlier than Britian did (it remained an object of suspicion up until the 19th century). So, it seems that there was a bit of resistance to the original introduction of the fruit, and after a few generations, once the rumors of poisonous and aphrodisiacal qualities were quelled, it eventually became a part of the cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/28 "2003-01-19T16:03:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr\_Paprika \* > \*\*I don’t buy the “nightshade” explanation as to why people didn’t eat tomaters. Geneology is relatively recent, and a tomato doesn’t necessarily look like it’s chock full of alkaloids. Not to everyone. \*\* Have you ever compared the flower of a tomato plant with that of deadly nightshade ? The two are very similar. There’s no need for a fancy botanical naming system to make this connection obvious to anyone with even a little knowledge of plants. The simple recognition that a new and unfamiliar plant, the tomato, bears a strong resemblence to an old and familiar producer of sweet, yet poisonous, berries would be enough to put the local “experts” off tomatoes. The rest of the populace would follow, spreading rumor and misinformation as usual. ---
**Author:** ![guiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ab097/32.png) [@guiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guiness)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/29 "2003-01-19T17:47:34Z")
Nightsade fruits are edible when black, ripe. They won’t harm you Lloyd ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386/30 "2003-01-19T19:00:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Nightshade fruits are edible when black, ripe. Possibly, but I ran across several seemingly reputable botany sites just this morning that stated otherwise. Perhaps you’d be willing to stand on the steps of local courthouse and consume a handful, just in the interest of dispelling ignorance and all ? 😉 There are lots of stories about various fruits, such as pokeberry, being poisonous, when all that’s needed is a little caution, but people generally follow a “better safe than sorry” strategy when it comes to unfamiliar foodstuffs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-tomatoes-really-considered-poisonous-long-ago/149386.md?page=1)