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The “key ingredient” is “gum arabic”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic
by latexr 2y ago
The “key ingredient” is “gum arabic”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic
- card_zero 2y agoUnexpectedly, this additive has an extensive "health benefits" section.
- LordShredda 2y agoThis seems to be a thing with a lot of wikipedia articles on various foods, especially in other languages.
- bdcravens 2y agoLiterally the first sentence in the article: "Gum arabic, a vital ingredient used in everything...." The identity of this secret isn't what makes this article worth reading.
- latexr 2y agoI know it’s in the first sentence, I read the article, that’s how I know what the ingredient is. The point of my comment was to reduce the click-bait so people are better informed regarding if they want to read more or not, and provide an easy reference for more information.
- btbuildem 2y agoExactly. How hard would it have been to include the two words "gum arabic" in the title in the first place?
- hnlmorg 2y agoProbably because the article is about how this important ingredient is smuggled rather than a list of ingredients for popular drinks and snacks. And also probably because the article is featured on general audience site rather than a scientific or culinary journal. I get that people hate clickbait headlines but this is hardly misleading, impossibly vague nor exaggerated.
- bena 2y ago"How gum arabic, a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's, is smuggled from war-torn Sudan".
- hnlmorg 2y agoSure. But now you have a more verbose heading that places the emphasis (by being earlier in the title) on information that’s not actually relevant to the article itself. While also making is sound less accessible to the general audience of that specific website. In short, that’s not an improvement. This is a classic case of the HN crowd not understanding that different audiences are interested in different details.
- bena 2y agoPersonally, I'd flip it around to make Sudan the lead in. And it's two words, you could make other cuts if you want. However, at this point, you arguing a matter of taste. I don't think Coca-Cola or M&Ms are relevant to the article itself. Gum arabic isn't that uncommon. I mean, this is a largely software developer focused crowd and a lot of people here were like "Ah, gum arabic".
- pvg 2y agoIt mostly creates a thread of meta, as you can see.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- myself248 2y agoThanks, saved me a click.
- oinkbutton 2y ago[dead]
- soneca 2y agoI think which ingredient is being smuggled from a war-tone is the least interesting part of the article for me
- genewitch 2y agoit is (to me), if you want to know what not to buy. That's the easiest and practically, the only thing that a majority of people can do with this information.
- anon84873628 2y agoBy clicking into the comments instead of the article?
- dijksterhuis 2y agonot parent, but i often scan comments to get an idea of if it’s worth bothering to read an article. i was more interested in what the ingredient was. the fact its being smuggled (a) doesn’t surprise me and (b) isn’t something im particularly interested in learning about. so, in this case, it wasn’t worth opening the article for me. i learned what i wanted to learn during my normal comment scan that i usually do with titles like this (outside my wheel house).
- myself248 2y agoYes, exactly this. I don't read all the news in the world, I don't even read all the news on HN. Having that extra bit of info helps me decide whether to read the article.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]