'Moonshiners' stars challenge notorious warning that outlaw liquor can make you go blind

Moonshines reputation is enough to make your eyes water.

For generations, Americans have been warned that the notorious outlaw liquor could leave them blind. But "Moonshiners" stars Mark Ramsey and Eric "Digger" Manes say there's more behind that warning than most people realize.

"There's a huge different thought process behind moonshine than there was, say, in the '40s, '30s, early years," Manes told Fox News Digital.

"There was a lot of propaganda out there. It was said that it could make you go blind, make you die, make you go crazy, make you get the jack leg. The government was the one that was poisoning the industrial alcohol the people were stealing to make bathtub gin."

Historical records support part of Manes' account. During Prohibition, the federal government required industrial alcohol to contain toxic additives to discourage people from drinking it, according to the Smithsonian Channel. Some of that alcohol was diverted into the illegal liquor market and sold for consumption, although it was distinct from traditionally distilled moonshine.

The consequences were deadly. According to the Smithsonian Channel, 66 people died in New York City on Christmas Day 1926 after consuming poisoned industrial alcohol. The city's medical examiner, Charles Norris, blamed the federal government's practice of adding toxic substances to industrial alcohol, including those involving methyl alcohol, also known as methanol, which can cause blindness and death.

WATCH: MOONSHINERS STARS REVEAL THE TRUTH BEHIND A MISUNDERSTOOD TRADITION

But not every warning about illicit liquor was a scare tactic.

Ramsey acknowledged that moonshine posed genuine health risks in earlier generations, particularly when distillers unknowingly used dangerous materials to build their equipment.

"Back in the day, there were people who had health issues ," Ramsey explained. "The solder that they used to build the pots had lead in it back in the day, and they didn't know that it was happening. So once it was discovered that the solder had lead in it, even the old timers here, when they built their stills, they no longer soldered their joints on the inside of the pots. All the solder connections were on the outside where the mash never touched the solder anymore."

"So yeah, it caused some issues, but it was strictly an accident," he said. "They just didnt know any better."

While moonshine does not inherently cause blindness, improperly produced spirits can contain dangerous levels of methanol, a toxic form of alcohol. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that methanol poisoning can damage the optic nerve, causing permanent vision loss or death.

"Moonshiners," which is now in its 16th season, premiered in 2011. The series follows "a diverse group of people living in Appalachia who carry on a 200-year-old tradition passed down from their forefathers, making moonshine," according to the show's synopsis.

Distillers can legally produce and sell spirits marketed as moonshine if they comply with federal, state and local licensing, taxation and other requirements. Federal law generally prohibits producing distilled spirits at home for personal consumption, according to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, although recent court rulings have challenged the constitutionality of certain restrictions.

According to The Washington Post, federal appeals courts have issued conflicting rulings on a federal restriction on home distilling dating