Blessed by the Potato

Was just reading a WHO report today (as one does) when I came across this graph on the global burden of disease — external causes:

WTF is happening in Europe? For most places “poisoning” is a tiny little sliver of external cause, but for European males (and largely just males) it’s like 10% of disability-adjusted years of life lost, up there with car accidents. This big chunk of deaths, from poisoning. I know poison was an old hazard of courtly European life, but in this day and age? Why are there no in-depth reports about this apparent European male poisoning epidemic? Wayfare suggested that it was due to all the grody unpasteurized stuff they eat over there (surely poisoning must include food poisoning?), but then… why just the men?

Oh no, I’ve asked too many questions already, haven’t I?

Umm… I’ll make my own dinner tonight, thanks for offering though.