Did Rye Bread Cause the Salem Witch Trials?
The root of Salem's problems could have been at the supper table.
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
Media Editor:
Miranda Chabot
-
Public DomainLearn about Adolf Hitler's public speaking style by listening to him delivering the closing address at the 1934 NĂŒrnberg Rally. Footage of this speech served as the climax of Leni Riefenstahl's film Triumph des Willens (1935; Triumph of the Will). This excerpt is translated as âThe movement [National Socialism] is a living expression of our people and, therefore, a symbol of eternity. Long live the National Socialist movement! Long live Germany!â
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail EncyclopÊdia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the Potsdam Conference, attended by Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin, to decide the future of Germany and Europe after World War II.
-
© William J. Clinton Presidential LibraryU.S. Pres. Bill Clinton delivering his first inaugural address, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1993.
-
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.The Pacific Region of the United States is both geographically diverse and beautiful.
-
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.Learn how European American settlers drove Native Americans and bison from the Midwest and transformed the land.
-
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the landforms and climate of the southeastern United States.
-
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.The physical landscape of the Mountain Region of the United States ranges from the rugged Rocky Mountains to the sweeping fields of the Great Plains.
News •
Here's what it's like to live in Salem, Mass., during the Halloween tourism season
• Oct. 30, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (NPR)
European bee-eater at Broken Bridge
• Oct. 20, 2026, 5:34 AM ET (The Hindu)
Transcript
The Salem Witch Trials may have been caused by rye bread.
Itâs 1692 in the small Puritan village of Salem, Massachusetts. Two young girls have reported strange symptoms, including severe convulsions.
The village doctor diagnoses them as bewitched.
Soon, other townspeople start showing symptomsâand Salem springs to action with the deadliest witch hunt in American history.
By the end of the trials in May 1693, 19 people are hanged, one is crushed by stones, and five have died in prisonâall accused of being witches.
Did witches really haunt the town of Salem? Or was another devil at play?
In 1976 a researcher at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute found evidence that the girlsâ symptoms could have been due to ergotism, a disease contracted by eating infected grain.
The ergot fungus can form in rye grains after a severe winter and a damp springâconditions that historians believe struck Salem in 1691, thus affecting the next yearâs harvest.
Hereâs how it works: After a rye plant contracts ergot, fungus grows and replaces shoots on the grain with sclerotia, purple-black growths that contain toxic alkaloids.
Salemâs residents likely assumed that the darker shoots on rye were just from overexposure to the sun, not poison.
The behavior exhibited in rye-induced ergotism is exactly what people were seeing in Salem:
Convulsions, delusions, the sensation of something crawling under the skin, and gangrene of the extremities.
Another symptom? Hallucinations. Thatâs because lysergic acidâone of the alkaloids in ergot sclerotiaâis the substance that LSD is synthesized from.
It also makes sense that the Salem victims were mostly young girls. Without fully developed immune systems, they would have been more susceptible to disease compared with the adults around them.
The religious village doctor likely attributed their symptoms to a known evilâwitchcraftâversus an unknown oneâergotism.
According to this theory, the abrupt end of the witch trials in May 1693 has a straightforward explanation: Salem ran out of the poisonous grain.
But ergotism doesnât explain everything that happened in Salem. Groupthink and the power of suggestion certainly played their parts in the accusations and executions.
Some historians also believe that certain members of the community, including Salemâs reverend, had ulterior motives to keep villagers in line via accusations of witchery.
Weâll never know exactly what happened in Salem. A lot of researchers donât buy the ergotism theoryâafter all, Salem wasnât the only village to persecute suspected witches.
But itâs certainly possible that the root of Salemâs problems was at the supper table.
Itâs 1692 in the small Puritan village of Salem, Massachusetts. Two young girls have reported strange symptoms, including severe convulsions.
The village doctor diagnoses them as bewitched.
Soon, other townspeople start showing symptomsâand Salem springs to action with the deadliest witch hunt in American history.
By the end of the trials in May 1693, 19 people are hanged, one is crushed by stones, and five have died in prisonâall accused of being witches.
Did witches really haunt the town of Salem? Or was another devil at play?
In 1976 a researcher at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute found evidence that the girlsâ symptoms could have been due to ergotism, a disease contracted by eating infected grain.
The ergot fungus can form in rye grains after a severe winter and a damp springâconditions that historians believe struck Salem in 1691, thus affecting the next yearâs harvest.
Hereâs how it works: After a rye plant contracts ergot, fungus grows and replaces shoots on the grain with sclerotia, purple-black growths that contain toxic alkaloids.
Salemâs residents likely assumed that the darker shoots on rye were just from overexposure to the sun, not poison.
The behavior exhibited in rye-induced ergotism is exactly what people were seeing in Salem:
Convulsions, delusions, the sensation of something crawling under the skin, and gangrene of the extremities.
Another symptom? Hallucinations. Thatâs because lysergic acidâone of the alkaloids in ergot sclerotiaâis the substance that LSD is synthesized from.
It also makes sense that the Salem victims were mostly young girls. Without fully developed immune systems, they would have been more susceptible to disease compared with the adults around them.
The religious village doctor likely attributed their symptoms to a known evilâwitchcraftâversus an unknown oneâergotism.
According to this theory, the abrupt end of the witch trials in May 1693 has a straightforward explanation: Salem ran out of the poisonous grain.
But ergotism doesnât explain everything that happened in Salem. Groupthink and the power of suggestion certainly played their parts in the accusations and executions.
Some historians also believe that certain members of the community, including Salemâs reverend, had ulterior motives to keep villagers in line via accusations of witchery.
Weâll never know exactly what happened in Salem. A lot of researchers donât buy the ergotism theoryâafter all, Salem wasnât the only village to persecute suspected witches.
But itâs certainly possible that the root of Salemâs problems was at the supper table.
Last Modification: