A food taster is a person who ingests food that was prepared for someone else, to confirm it is safe to eat. One who tests drinks in this way is known as a cupbearer. The person to whom the food is to be served is usually an important person, such as a monarch or somebody under threat of assassination or harm.
Food tasters have several functions:
In ancient Rome, the duty was often given to a slave (termed the praegustator). Roman Emperor Claudius was allegedly killed by poison in AD 54, even though he had a food taster named Halotus. [1] Tasters were sometimes coerced. [2] Over history, presidents and royal families have hired food tasters or sacrifices, over fear of being poisoned. Queen Durdhara, the Mauryan empress, ate food that was prepared for her husband and died. [3]
Adolf Hitler's food taster Margot Wölk tried the food at 8:00 am every day, and, if she did not fall ill, the food would be sent to Hitler's military headquarters. [2] President Vladimir Putin has hired a food taster who is part of his security staff to protect himself as well. [3] In recent times, animals such as mice have been used to detect impurities in food produced for humans, such as during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. [4] In the United States, a number of recent presidents, including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan, have been known to employ food tasters. [5]
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, also known as the ABM Treaty or ABMT, was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ballistic missile-delivered nuclear weapons. It was intended to reduce pressures to build more nuclear weapons to maintain deterrence. Under the terms of the treaty, each party was limited to two ABM complexes, each of which was to be limited to 100 anti-ballistic missiles.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who is the president of Russia. Putin has held continuous positions as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012, and as president from 2000 to 2008 and since 2012. He is the longest-serving Russian or Soviet leader since Joseph Stalin.
A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broad sense.
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Margot Wölk was a German secretary who was among 15 young women who, in 1942, were selected to taste German leader Adolf Hitler's food at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia for two-and-a-half years to confirm that it was safe. She was the only one of the 15 to survive World War II, and her background as Hitler's food taster was not revealed until a newspaper interview on her 95th birthday in December 2012.
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