No, folks, not an urban legend in this case.

I know the fellow who this happened to. He's a local singer, he was one of my guitar students back in the early 1960s, and he's a regular at hoots and songfests. He also posts on Mudcat from time to time (I won't mention his Mudcat name in case he'd rather I'd not. I'll leave that to him if he wishes)

When Barbara got Bob's (Deckman's) e-mail about this yesterday, she dug out a couple of books she has on diet and nutrition and found that this is not an unknown phenomenon. She's at work right now, so I can't ask her about what she found, but I believe one of the books named the ingredients or agents involved. I'll ask her when she gets home. When the mix goes bad, it can cause anaphylactic shock (severe allergic reaction).

In the meantime, there is some information here:    CLICKY #1.

More information. CLICKY #2

Here's what Snopes says. CLICKY #3

Don Firth