18th Century People Thought Tomatoes Were Killing Aristocrats
Tomatoes were widely feared and known as “poison apples”
In the 1700s people across Europe refused to touch tomatoes. To some they were bad luck, to others they were downright evil. The tomato began to make its way from natural habitats in North America to European tables they were inciting fear and paranoia wherever they appeared. Some people simply feared the new food which originated in a foreign land across the sea, still more thought they were poison. Eating tomatoes meant death and the most astute and observant citizens could see that with their own eyes.
The 18th century saw a large number of prominent local rulers and aristocrats come down with ailments and die. The main culprit at the time was the tomato. The dreaded poison apple. It was one of the only things that had recently changed in the diets of the aristocrats that ruled Europe for centuries. The tomatoes were killing them.
At least, that is what people thought.
The rich and famous were the only ones that could afford the exotic new fruit being offloaded from ships coming in from the New World. Regular people and peasants were still stuck eating moldy bread and rotting cast-offs.
