Q 01/05

Which soft drink lost its traditional flavoring when the FDA banned safrole, a key compound in sassafras oil, in 1960?

A) Ginger ale

B) Root beer

C) Cream soda

D) Birch beer

Answer · why

B) Root beer

Root beer was traditionally flavored with sassafras root bark, until safrole was banned as a carcinogen. Most brands now use artificial sassafras flav...

Q 02/05

Which flower's oil did chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé use on his burned hands after a 1910 laboratory explosion?

A) Geranium

B) Jasmine

C) Marigold

D) Lavender

Answer · why

D) Lavender

Lavender essence stopped the gas gangrene spreading across his hands after a single rinse, by his own account. In 1937 he published the book that firs...

Q 03/05

Which household pets are especially vulnerable to essential oils because they lack a key liver enzyme?

A) Cats

B) Dogs

C) Rabbits

D) Hamsters

Answer · why

A) Cats

Cats lack a liver enzyme that helps clear these compounds, and the oils are absorbed quickly through skin and mouth. Warning signs include drooling, v...

Q 04/05

Which solvent, long used by artists to thin oil paints, is a volatile oil distilled from the resin of pine trees?

A) Acetone

B) White spirit

C) Turpentine

D) Kerosene

Answer · why

C) Turpentine

Turpentine was once tapped from living pines, but most of it is now a by-product of paper pulping. Cheaper petroleum-based white spirit has largely re...

Q 05/05

Which sour fruit, grown along the coast of Calabria in southern Italy, gives the peel oil that flavors Earl Grey tea?

A) Citron

B) Kumquat

C) Bergamot

D) Calamansi

Answer · why

C) Bergamot

Bergamot oil is pressed from the fruit's aromatic rind, and it also scents Lady Grey tea and Turkish delight. On bare skin it can make sunlight burn f...