Americans thought tomatoes were poisonous until the early 19th century.
Back in the 1700s, people deemed tomatoes “poison apples.” That’s because tomatoes are highly acidic, and so when European aristocrats ate them off their pewter plates, the food leached lead from the dish and passed it on to the diner. That resulted in lead poisoning, which could sometimes lead to death, according to Smithsonian. The “poison apple” myth prevailed in Britain and its North American colonies for more than 200 years, until it was dispelled in the early 18oos.
