Lead(II) acetate
<p>Like other lead(II) salts, lead(II) acetate has a sweet taste, which has led to its use as a <a title="Sugar substitute" href="/wiki/Sugar_substitute">sugar substitute</a> throughout history. The <a title="Ancient Rome" href="/wiki/Ancient_Rome">ancient Romans</a>, who had few sweeteners besides <a title="Honey" href="/wiki/Honey">honey</a>, would boil <a title="Must" href="/wiki/Must">must</a> (grape juice) in lead pots to produce a reduced sugar syrup called <i><a title="Defrutum" href="/wiki/Defrutum">defrutum</a></i>, concentrated again into <i><a class="mw-redirect" title="Sapa (sweetener)" href="/wiki/Sapa(sweetener)">sapa</a></i>. This syrup was used to sweeten wine and to sweeten and preserve fruit. It is possible that lead(II) acetate or other lead compounds <a class="mw-redirect" title="Leaching (chemical science)" href="/wiki/Leaching(chemical_science)">leaching</a> into the syrup might have caused <a title="Lead poisoning" href="/wiki/Lead_poisoning">lead poisoning</a> in anyone consuming it.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> Lead acetate is no longer used in the production of sweeteners in most of the world because of its recognized toxicity. Modern chemistry can easily detect it, which has all but stopped the illegal use that continued decades after legal use as a sweetener was banned.</p>