On the day before Halloween in 1858, residents of Bradford flocked to the local market’s sweet stall of to get their hands on Humbug Billy’s peppermint lozenges. But before long, it became clear that something was very wrong with these sweets... In this first series of History’s Greatest Scandals, Professor Rosalind Crone and Ellie Cawthorne uncover some of the most infamous episodes of the Victorian age. This episode revisits one of 19th-century Britain’s worst cases of accidental poisoning, exploring what it can reveal about the prevalence of both poisons and adulterated food in society at the time.

History’s Greatest Scandals is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. For more fascinating stories from the past, head to HistoryExtra, the home of ‘History’s Greatest’ podcasts. There you can find other feeds including History’s Greatest Cities, History’s Greatest Conspiracy Theories, History’s Greatest Battles and HistoryExtra LongReads. Find out more at historyextra.com/podcast.

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This episode was hosted by Ellie Cawthorne and produced by Jack Bateman.

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‘Little pills of sugared death’

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