Summary for rochelle salt edible Discussion
Rochelle salt edible? The question came from Michael Frudd in Nottingham, who had seen a smoking-cessation tip recommending half a teaspoon of Rochelle salt mixed with cream of tartar before breakfast. The answer identified Rochelle salt as potassium sodium tartrate and said it is widely available from chemical supply houses, but not necessarily to BP standard, so it should not be used as a medicine from an ordinary chemical source. The responder noted that Rochelle salt has been used medically as a mild purgative, but suggested there are better ways to stop smoking. For safety context, they compared its rat oral LD50 with common salt and sodium bicarbonate, implying it is not exceptionally toxic but still not something to self-medicate with. The advice was to ask a good pharmacist—specifically suggesting Boots in Nottingham—for guidance on a conventional anti-smoking treatment.
Quickstart: Cream of Tartar is reported as an aid towards quitting smoking. Readers did not resolve whether it is safe or not, but do claim a simple recipe for making it from baking soda and cream of tartar which seem safe enough.
Q. Can anyone tell me if Rochelle salt is edible. Is it available in the UK? (Sounds a daft question but I can’t find any.) The reason being that I found a tip to help stop smoking. Mix half a teaspoon of Rochelle salt with a little cream of tartar, take before breakfast, should keep you off cigarettes all day.
Regards,
Michael Frudd
– Nottingham, UK
2003
A. Rochelle salt is potassium sodium tartrate
⇦ on
or
Amazon [affil link]
. I do not know a source of BP standard, but it is widely available from chemical supply houses; however, I would not suggest using this source as a medicine as it is almost certainly not BP standard. Although Rochelle salt has medically been used as a mild purgative, I’m sure there are better ways of stopping smoking! As an example of its assessed toxicity, it has an LD50 in rats (oral intake) of 1250 mg/kg, compared with salt (NaCl) of 3,000 mg/kg and sodium bicarbonate (often used as an indigestion treatment) of 4,420 mg/kg. If you are adamant about trying it, go to a good pharmacist and ask their advice. Since you live in Nottingham, try Boots! Perhaps they will suggest a more conventional anti-smoking treatment.
Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
A. I know Rochelle salt was used medicinally for some time, but I don’t know about its use to quit smoking. However it’s simple to make your own rochelle salt from two ingredients in your kitchen, just baking soda [in bulk on
or
Amazon [affil link]
and cream of tartar
⇦ on
or
Amazon [affil link]
. For a recipe, go to:
www.cheminst.ca/ncw/crystal/xlroch.html ⇩
Ed. note: The above link is broken; thankfully, the Internet Archive preserved a copy here 🙂 ]
Shawn Allan
independent – Atlanta, Georgia