Interesting post from another list

Liquorice (syn. licorice) contains a plant steroid that raises BP by
causing sodium retention.  It is relatively harmless on a very low salt
diet like the Paleodiet and dangerous at high salt intakes.  There is a
Dutch liquorice with added salt, and it is even sold in a double-salt
variety.  The taste is like a mixture of liquorice and seaweed, but it is
said to be more addictive than plain liquorice.  The doctor's first
question to a newly diagnosed hypertensive in Holland is how much liquorice
the patient is eating.

A little liquorice may be harmless but the problem is that some people get
very fond of it.  Taking 200g of black liquorice confectionery a week as an
arbitrary threshold for a harmful effect, a study of high school students
in Dunedin found that 5.9% of the girls and 4.9% of the boys were eating
potentially harmful amounts.   Two children were eating more than a
kilogram a week.  The authors thought it deplorable that confectionery with
quite powerful steroid activity and semi-addictive properties should be
available to children across the counter of a sweet-shop.  The reference is:

Simpson FO, Currie IJ.  Licorice consumption among high school students  NZ
Med J 1982;95:31-33.

Children before they learn to spell often pronounce it LICKERISH.  An
amazing number of Australian adults have not learnt to spell this word, and
the longer I live the worse it gets.  When I learnt the word it rhymed with
poultice, mortice and practice.

Ben