How much licorice is safe to eat

By Kelly McCarthy. Licorice is the common name for a flowering plant from the bean family named glycyrrhiza glabra. Editor's Picks 1. PepsiCo launches new canned sleep-aid drink: What to know. Beekeepers and bartenders in big cities create sweet, sustainable cocktail supply chain. A woman takes some licorice from a bulk bin at a store in Hanover, Germany, Sept.

Up Next in Food. We respect your privacy. All email addresses you provide will be used just for sending this story. The Food and Drug Administration is reminding everyone this Halloween that while safe in small amounts, black licorice does in fact have things in it that can make you sick or kill you.

The candy contains the compound glycyrrhizin, FDA experts say, which is the sweet flavoring that comes from the licorice root. When that happens, some people experience abnormal heart rhythms, as well as high blood pressure, swelling, lethargy and congestive heart failure.

For several years, the Food and Drug Administration has been warning adults about the dangers of eating too much black licorice. Research has for several years linked black licorice to health problems in people over 40, said Dr. In the most recent case , the Massachusetts man had been eating a bag and a half of black licorice every day for three weeks. Licorice is a flowering plant native to parts of Europe and Asia.

The aromatic and sweet extract from its root has long been used as an herbal remedy for a wide variety of health maladies, from heartburn and stomach issues to sore throats and cough. However, there is insufficient evidence to support that licorice is effective in treating any medical condition.

Glycyrrhizin also called glycyrrhizic acid is the chemical in black licorice that gives the candy its signature flavor, but it also leads to its toxic effects. Glycyrrhizin mimics the hormone aldosterone , which is made by the adrenal glands when the body needs to retain sodium and excrete potassium.

Sodium and potassium work together as a kind of cellular battery that drives communication between nerves and the contraction of muscles. Other symptoms of excessive licorice intake include swelling, muscle pain, numbness and headache.

Examination of the man who died from consuming too much licorice revealed that he had dangerously low levels of potassium, consistent with glycyrrhizin toxicity.