Europeans got pellagra because they lacked alkali corn processing

Evidence

History, again, provides us with a natural experiment, because corn was brought from the New World to Europe after 1500. By 1735, some populations in Italy and Spain had already become reliant on cornmeal as a staple, and pellagra had emerged. The condition was theorized to be a form of leprosy or somehow caused by spoiled corn. Pellagra spread across Europe with this new staple crop into Romania and Russia but remained confined mostly to poor populations, who relied on it almost exclusively through the winter—making pellagra the “springtime disease.” Experiments were done, and laws were passed to address the problem, by prohibiting the sale of spoiled or moldy corn. This did little to reduce pellagra, since spoilage is not the issue—the Europeans developed the wrong causal model. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 338

Categorization

• XREF: Parallel to the reader’s interest in how causally opaque cultural practices protect populations; Europe’s error shows knowledge can’t substitute for inherited practice. — connects to: Alkali cooking practices released corn niacin preventing pellagra across the Americas — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 336