Matcha of the unceremonious kind!

In ancient East, if one would want to eliminate healthy successor of an empire or the emperor himself, a few grams of Arsenic were added in secrecy to their daily meals something akin to a daily health supplement to expedite their travels to heaven or hell depending on their deeds. That One annoying travel none since date has able to convincingly document in their Travelogue.

The unparalleled enthusiasm humans shared for this ‘supplement’ was not just limited to East. “Great Minds Think Alike!” Is not a quote without substance. In 1880s, women in West were promised removal of blotches, moles, pimples and freckles of their face and enhance their complexion with the said ‘edible supplement’. Not only did the supplement overdeliver, there were almost no complaints from any of the customers!

Whilst Dr. Simm not only celebrated the immaculate success and profits over their flagship- ‘Arsenic Complexion Wafers’, surprisingly they seemed to also create more employment for the cremation businesses in the area. Kudos to him for moving many lives; perhaps, some from the earth to the ether. One can only imagine, if sales callbacks for reviews existed at those times, how Dr. Simm may have gone about his bedtime.

The asinine fascination with Arsenic was not limited to snacks and supplements, it extended to wearables too; perhaps just like how most technology had evolved overtime. There is an human obsession to make trends (healthy or unhealthy) and extension of one’s own biological self. Ancient Victorians were no different. Why consume Arsenic and lose the ability to flaunt in one go, when, one can wear it for a ballroom dance and make others faint? (literally and figuratively!). And if they desired to flaunt it more, there was always more supplied to meet their demands covering more area.

The person responsible for innovating the trend of wearing your expiry date on yourself was none other than Carl Wilhelmina Scheele who created the show stopper - a green dye using Copper Arsenite. His innovation spread around like wildfire engulfing wallpapers, gowns, toys and food. At least we know now that at the time if anyone mentioned that they would “die to look that aesthetic!”, at least they were being honest.

The daily touch of poison started right from having it as a booster in coffee and spreading it on bread. Nothing fresh like a strong dose of chemical melting those innards. And it makes one thing quite clear:

But why exactly am i ranting about Scheele’s dye and Arsenic when the title promises to talk about imposter Matcha? It’s because, the human fascination or lack of awareness about Arsenic never ended in the first place, it may have just evolved.

When one thinks of matcha, some visualise a green frothy matcha latte with ice cubes and a sipper, and on the other end, some would express much disdain and compare it to the taste of grass from the residue after mowing the friendly neighbourhood lawn or golf course. Now, who is to determine which one tasted what kind ? That’s a mystery for another day.

However, even if unintentionally, counterfeit Matcha or Matcha of low grade are big on bioaccumulation (think of a protagonist in an extreme case of the hoarders!) and if they grow in contaminated places, they are very likely to absorb heavy metals without filters. Metals like Cadmium and Arsenic. Filters are required when due!

Just like fillers are made to enhance youthfulness, similarly the unceremonious Matcha is filled with rice flour, cornstarch and maltodextrin. Feels like a reverse uno situation! The substances that were made to enhance women’s beauty, these days themselves seem to be inspired by human cosmetic procedures to look appealing. ouroboros, non? :D