4 ms·

It's like my brother says when there's a food or candy that doesn't taste the same as when we were kids: "they took the cancer out of it." Items that are no lon

It's like my brother says when there's a food or candy that doesn't taste the same as when we were kids: "they took the cancer out of it." Items that are no longer on the market had to remove so much cancer from their ingredients that it wasn't the same anymore, so they take it off the market. They say "regulations are written in blood," which makes you wonder what "new car smell" was composed of 50 years ago.

cptskippy 6y ago
I think it's actually the opposite. They put the cancer in it by swapping out expensive ingredients like sugar and fat for high fructose corn syrup and palm kernel oil. Evey time you see the "same great taste" or "new formula" on a box it means they've re-engineered it to cut costs by substituting ingredients, usually for some engineered compound that's cheaper or more shelf stable. Hershey's chocolate is now just rancid swill that just tastes of sugar with a hint of vomit.
- souprock 6y ago
  Hershey's chocolate was like that on day 1, about 120 years ago, because they wanted to use milk without having to keep the supply refrigerated. Lipolysis of the milk fat produces butyric acid, which does taste a bit like vomit or parmesan cheese. People got addicted to the taste, so today the flavor is intentional. Some companies, targeting the American market, even add butyric acid to mimic the Hershey's taste.
  - cptskippy 6y ago
    That's interesting. I don't recall it being quite so bad 30 years ago.
- Spivak 6y ago
  Of all the things to point out in commercial food production you chose basically the two most benign things. Swapping refined sugar for HFCS 55 (the most common type) is basically an even trade sans some extra water content in the syrup and palm kernel oil is just saturated fat but sourced from a plant instead of animals. I don’t think anyone is gonna argue that a high sugar and saturated fat diet is healthy but no worse than the same things sourced from other places. In an alternative universe palm oil and corn syrup would have been the standard and people would complain about the switch to lard and white sugar.
  - forgotmypw17 6y ago
    a) Refined sugar and HFCS both cause fatty liver about equally. b) HFCS is sourced from corn, which means pesticide residue. c) Palm oil also leads to fatty liver. They may be an "even trade", but certainly harmful to one's health.
    - Spivak 6y ago
      b) White sugar is sourced from sugar cane which is also grown with pesticides. In both cases you have to trust the respective refining processes to clean your food. I absolutely agree with you that sugar and saturated fat in anything other than moderation is harmful to your health but that, in this case, the source of those things doesn't really matter.
bawolff 6y ago
In terms of vegetables, much of the difference is selective breeding for varieties that look pretty in the store and can survive transport easily instead of for taste. No cancer involved.
- forgotmypw17 6y ago
  The cancer is in the pesticide residue.
  - bawolff 6y ago
    The pesticide residue wasn't what made it taste good, which was the context of the parents comment
    - forgotmypw17 6y ago
      Thanks

cptskippy 6y ago

I think it's actually the opposite. They put the cancer in it by swapping out expensive ingredients like sugar and fat for high fructose corn syrup and palm kernel oil. Evey time you see the "same great taste" or "new formula" on a box it means they've re-engineered it to cut costs by substituting ingredients, usually for some engineered compound that's cheaper or more shelf stable. Hershey's chocolate is now just rancid swill that just tastes of sugar with a hint of vomit.

souprock 6y ago
Hershey's chocolate was like that on day 1, about 120 years ago, because they wanted to use milk without having to keep the supply refrigerated. Lipolysis of the milk fat produces butyric acid, which does taste a bit like vomit or parmesan cheese. People got addicted to the taste, so today the flavor is intentional. Some companies, targeting the American market, even add butyric acid to mimic the Hershey's taste.
- cptskippy 6y ago
  That's interesting. I don't recall it being quite so bad 30 years ago.
Spivak 6y ago
Of all the things to point out in commercial food production you chose basically the two most benign things. Swapping refined sugar for HFCS 55 (the most common type) is basically an even trade sans some extra water content in the syrup and palm kernel oil is just saturated fat but sourced from a plant instead of animals. I don’t think anyone is gonna argue that a high sugar and saturated fat diet is healthy but no worse than the same things sourced from other places. In an alternative universe palm oil and corn syrup would have been the standard and people would complain about the switch to lard and white sugar.
- forgotmypw17 6y ago
  a) Refined sugar and HFCS both cause fatty liver about equally. b) HFCS is sourced from corn, which means pesticide residue. c) Palm oil also leads to fatty liver. They may be an "even trade", but certainly harmful to one's health.
  - Spivak 6y ago
    b) White sugar is sourced from sugar cane which is also grown with pesticides. In both cases you have to trust the respective refining processes to clean your food. I absolutely agree with you that sugar and saturated fat in anything other than moderation is harmful to your health but that, in this case, the source of those things doesn't really matter.

bawolff 6y ago

In terms of vegetables, much of the difference is selective breeding for varieties that look pretty in the store and can survive transport easily instead of for taste. No cancer involved.

forgotmypw17 6y ago
The cancer is in the pesticide residue.
- bawolff 6y ago
  The pesticide residue wasn't what made it taste good, which was the context of the parents comment
  - forgotmypw17 6y ago
    Thanks