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> Myself the truly distasteful part is the use of neotame (a follow-on to aspartame) on animal feed, to get animals to eat feed that they normally would not; fo
by cameldrv 3y ago
> Myself the truly distasteful part is the use of neotame (a follow-on to aspartame) on animal feed, to get animals to eat feed that they normally would not; for instance, if the feed is rancid or otherwise in a condition/taste that normal animal instincts, would have the animal reject the food...
True for human food as well. Maybe it’s not rancid, but food science can make terrible ingredients taste great. Take Doritos. It’s just cornmeal (animal feed) plus a ton of artificial flavoring that is incredibly well dialed in to make them delicious and even addictive.
- SketchySeaBeast 3y agoI think it's disingenuous to say that cornmeal is just animal feed. Polenta has been a thing for a long time.
- cassianoleal 3y agoAnd it's awesome, especially fried!
- solardev 3y agoWho needs food science when you've got hot liquid fat?
- IshKebab 3y agoYeah that's like saying "sandwiches are just ground up wheat, plus a ton of delicious filling to make them taste good"
- nielsbot 3y agoNot quite--I assume sandwich fillings are food. Doritos are coated w flavor powder.
- rootusrootus 3y ago> flavor powder Which seems to qualify as food, as well. Cheese, whey, milk, buttermilk, onion powder, MSG, etc. Nothing too scary on the list.
- nielsbot 3y agoFair point!
- xormapmap 3y agoMost bread you get from a supermarket (even outside the US) is highly processed garbage, as are many common sandwich fillings (mayo, salami, margarine). The typical sandwich is probably up there with many of the other least healthy things you could eat, so yeah, ground up wheat with filling to make it taste good is probably fair.
- hombre_fatal 3y agoI don’t see how that’s the case except for a fear of “processing”. I plug two slices of commercial whole wheat store bought bread into Cronometer and it has an impressive mineral breakdown and 14% of the day's nutrient needs.
- fatfingerd 3y agoLack of bioavailability analysis and links between processed meat and cancer are fears... of the established scientific community.
- hombre_fatal 3y agoSure. This thread is talking about bread. Processed wheat products like bread and seitan are nutrient dense foods usually caught in the social media meme diet crossfire.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- ahoka 3y agoBread is ultra processed.
- hombre_fatal 3y agoYes, so is chocolate and tofu. Why should I care unless it's bad for me? Using processing as an end-all heuristic loses sight of the characteristic that the heuristic is trying to approximate.
- Cerium 3y agoSince you don't even have to add the flavors to make corn meal taste good. Look at Fritos - corn + oil + salt.
- copperx 3y agoMexico also consumes millions of tortillas every day made of exactly that.
- ahoka 3y agoNot all maize are created equal.
- rightbyte 3y agoCornmeal is just corn flour but with courser grinding? But glutamate and stuff, sure. Doritos have the same "fake" feel as Pringles according to my taste.
- Waterluvian 3y agoOr HP sauce. Honestly I see it as a feature if we can move product that’s otherwise garbage, as long as it’s not dangerous. Reminds me of “omg do you know what’s in hotdogs?!” Hotdogs are a success story.
- ramblenode 3y agoTricking people's bodies into consuming garbage is a feature? For whom?
- nonethewiser 3y agoHarmless garbage, mind you
- ericd 3y agoNitrate laden meat consumption is heavily correlated with colon cancer, no?
- hedora 3y agoYes. Also, “sodium nitrate free” and “uncured” meat typically contains celery salt, which is chemically identical to sodium nitrate, except that the maximum safety levels don’t apply, so sometimes it has more nitrate in it than would otherwise be legal. The misleading “uncured” and “sodium nitrate free” language on labels is mandated by labeling standards in the US, so keep that in mind when directing your rage.
- scubbo 3y agoFor people, if the "garbage" still has positive nutritional value that would otherwise be wasted due to taste.
- ramblenode 3y agoWhat is an example of the good garbage that would otherwise be wasted? It seems like nutrient deficient junk food is the main beneficiary of these appetizing agents. Globally, we produce a huge surplus of calories but a deficit of micronutrients, fruits, and vegetables. The appetizing agents are mostly convincing people to eat more of the former, beyond what they need.
- nonethewiser 3y agoDoritos really are an amazing case. They are tortilla chips. It took me so long to realize this because that delicious dust is so transformational. It it’s literally a tortilla chip underneath that salt, msg, and spices. For the longest time I assumed it was some other novel type of chip.
- lexandstuff 3y agoCan't you buy plain Doritos where you live? In Australia, you can buy "Original Salted" Doritos, which is just oil, corn and salt: regular old Tortilla chips.
- TheCleric 3y agoNot from Doritos.
- fbdab103 3y agoIs there price parity vs flavored Doritos?
- lexandstuff 3y agoUsually, exactly the same price. Though the plain ones are often on special, as I guess they're less popular.
- rootusrootus 3y agoGenerally not, at least in the US. When we buy plain tortilla chips here, it's usually Mexican. Given the lack of a Mexico on the border of Australia, I can understand why you might not get the same variety of tortilla chips.
- poisonarena 3y agoI eat tortilla chips of all kinds outside of the dorito sphere, dont need anything besides a little salt, let alone engineered powders
- joezydeco 3y agoDortitos is a tidal wave of glutamate. Not just the added MSG but the cheese extracts that add even more.
- rootusrootus 3y agoMSG is right up there with aspartame of vilified ingredients with zero evidence to back up the claims. My own mother claims to get terrible headaches from MSG, but she loves tomatoes. And nuts. And peas. And mushrooms. Turns out the headaches are dependent on knowing the food has MSG.