Garum dysentery, and ulcers, and to ease chronic diarrhea and treat constipation. Garum was even used as an ingredient in cosmetics and for removal of unwanted hair and freckles. The biological anthropologist Piers Mitchell suggests that garum may have helped spread fish tapeworms across Europe. Garum is believed to be the ancestor of the fermented anchovy sauce "colatura di alici", still produced in Campania, Italy. Worcestershire is a savory sauce based upon fermented anchovies and other ingredients. Ketchup, originally a savory fish sauce that did not contain either sugar or tomatoes, shared its origins, culinary functions and popularity with garum. Garum
Fish sauce fish sauce, called the "base". The dregs are then mixed with water and salt and again fermented for three to four months. This yields a second-grade fish sauce, mostly used in cooking. In 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the import of Thai fish sauces due to lack of information about tests for botulinum toxin. The toxin can cause death if more than 0.5 microgram is consumed. The Thai Office of Food Safety and Quality then tested 48 brands of fish sauce to determine the content of botulinum toxin in the products. Of 48 brands tested, 28