grocer's itch

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English

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Noun

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grocer's itch (uncountable)

  1. (medicine) An itching eruption, a variety of eczema, produced by sugar mites (Tyroglyphus sacchari or Glycyphagus domesticus) or fruit mites (Carpoglyphus lactis et al.).
    • [2018 November, Deborah Blum, “When Milk Was Full of Calf Brains”, in The Atlantic[1]:
      “Flour” routinely contained crushed stone or gypsum as a cheap extender. Ground insects could be mixed into brown sugar, often without detection; their use was linked to an unpleasant condition known as “grocer’s itch.”]

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