S2E12 - S2.E12 - Willy Wonka’s Not So Golden Ticket: The Bradford Sweet Poisonings

This week, the Pandemonium team heads to Victorian England for one of history’s most shocking mass poisoning events - the Bradford sweets poisoning. In Bradford in 1858, what should have been a simple batch of peppermint lozenges turned into a deadly mistake when arsenic was accidentally used instead of sugar substitute, leaving more than 200 people sick and at least 20 dead. We dig into how a cost-cutting shortcut, a breakdown in oversight, and a chain of small decisions created a public health disaster that changed food safety laws forever. From confectioner Joseph Neal to supplier James Archer, and the tragic st...