I can understand why it might seem suspicious, but I’d also hope that (non-exotic?) substances capable of killing at doses small enough to fit in a Tylenol pill would be in their test matrix.

Precursor contamination, sabotage, etc. Lots of potential innocent reasons.

Cyanide occurs naturally in some fruit seeds and can be produced by some fungi + algae. So if any of those are things that could end up getting into the production inputs (even in small amounts), it would definitely be worth the effort to test. Even if that's not the case, contamination from other sources inside the factory don't seem terribly off the wall either.

About ibuprofen, here in Spain (and I think the whole Europe), it's BTC (no prescription) until 400mg. Over 400mg you need a prescription. And when it's pills/capsules, it's sold in pill sheets (is that the name?) individually sealed.

I think everything register as a medicine in Europe has to be BTC.

Of course, as you say, everything else is on the other side of the counter, so you could be poisoning bananas or chocolate.

Do pill bottles in America not have a tamper seal under the lid? All of them do here in the UK, and if it was missing, I'd be concerned. Alternatively, those little foil packet things

I really dislike this trend of leaving off the publication date. It's a key piece of context, especially for nonfiction, where the known facts may have changed since the story was published (as is the case here).

I get that they want the content to seem evergreen and unmoored from the tyranny of the calendar, but unless they intend to constantly monitor/update the facts of the nonfiction, the date ought to be clearly visible.

I do wonder how similar the smell of sweet and bitter almonds are, they are apparently different [2].

[1] https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article-abstract/67/9/662/47... [2] https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-are-bitter-almonds-180699...

A few thoughts:

* It's also "bitter almonds" apparently.

* Fresh almonds, canned, and older almonds all have different strengths of smell. Almonds can also be dried by a variety of means, some chemical

> NOTE 3: After posting this video, I got a few messages from people saying that in their experience, cyanide DOES smell like almonds. So, I spent an hour tonight doing some tests, and I think the results are interesting. I did some direct comparisons and the smell of cyanide is distinctly different from the smell of almonds. However, if I EAT the almonds, there is sometimes a faint taste of cyanide. I think this is because sweet almonds still have a very small amount of amygdalin in them, which can release HCN. I don't think it's enough to smell in open air, but in your mouth it can be concentrated enough to be detected at the back of the nose. It's subtle, but it is definitely part of the flavor profile. So, while I still don't think it's accurate to say that it smells like almonds, for some people, it might be similar to the taste. To make that connection though, the person needs to a) be able to smell HCN and b) be particularly aware of that part of the flavor.

> I can smell the HCN, but I never noticed it in the flavor of almonds, so I didn't make the connection. I was even looking for a similarity and eating almonds at the same time, but never noticed it. It was only when I became very familiar with the smell of HCN that I started noticing it in almonds. What's interesting too, is that now after noticing it, I feel like I've started to associate the smell with almonds. It's no longer just a "chemical" smell and it feels more almondy. However, on the flip side, I feel like almonds taste worse and are more "chemically."

> But either way, I still don't think that saying it smells like almonds or bitter almonds is accurate or helpful. However, based on the messages I've received, some people are naturally associating cyanide with almonds (sometimes without knowing that this was even a thing and not even knowing they were smelling cyanide). This has piqued my interest and I think it could be fun to get to the bottom of this and to do a trial with a lot more people.

My take from the video's description is that some people definitely do associate the smell with almonds even though for people like Nile that may not be the most present profile. I think the association will differ from person to person, with some people definitely associating the smell with almonds while others barely see the resemblance.

From the FDA [0]:

> FDA issues a nationwide recall of all over-the-counter dietary supplements containing 100 milligrams or more of L-Tryptophan, due to a clear link between the consumption of L-tryptophan tablets and its association with a U.S. outbreak of Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome (EMS), characterized by fatigue, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. By 1990 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirm over 1,500 cases of EMS, including 38 deaths, and FDA prohibits the importation of l-tryptophan.

I’m having a hard time finding a good article/document to link to but apparently the lab (Showa Denko) destroyed production report and reconfigured the production line to hide what happened. They were apparently using a new method to create L-Tryptophan and it had a flaw.

This seems to fit your comment except for the Australia part. I can find other articles about a large Australian vitamin recall, but it’s not related. [1]

[0] https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-history/milestones-us-food...

[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1125922/