Mysterious names, dubious origins: the 39 ingredients in a Twinkie
Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
Did you know that ferrous sulfate, an iron supplement found in vitamins and enriched bread products, is also a weed killer? Yeah, me either. Did you also know that the raw ingredient of baking soda is a mineral called trona, dug deep from the earth? These are just a few tidbits you'll learn in Steve Ettlinger's new book Twinkie, Deconstructed.
"Well, I don't eat Twinkies," you might be thinking (a little smugly) to yourself. But if you eat any type of processed food, this book might be worth reading. Many of the ingredients commonly found on grocery store shelves today appear in a Twinkie as well, and their origins may surprise you. For instance, did you know that artificial vanilla flavoring is produced in a petrochemical plant? The food sources these ingredients are derived from aren't necessarily harmful, but they aren't necessarily food either.
It sounds like a lesson in food labels that one won't soon forget. I know it just came out, but has anyone read it yet?
"Well, I don't eat Twinkies," you might be thinking (a little smugly) to yourself. But if you eat any type of processed food, this book might be worth reading. Many of the ingredients commonly found on grocery store shelves today appear in a Twinkie as well, and their origins may surprise you. For instance, did you know that artificial vanilla flavoring is produced in a petrochemical plant? The food sources these ingredients are derived from aren't necessarily harmful, but they aren't necessarily food either.
It sounds like a lesson in food labels that one won't soon forget. I know it just came out, but has anyone read it yet?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DesertRat16 3-14-2007 @ 4:52PM
Someone reading that book reminds me of a story I once heard. A man went to China as a missionary, and took his trusty little light-refracting microscope with him. (the kind you can use the sunlight with, & doesn't need electricity to operate it). As a lark one day, (he had a little spare time on his hands,) & he started examining under his microscope the rice kernals they were feeding him, and then saw numerous microscopic organisms crawling on the foodstuffs.
He thru his microscope in the trash!
(Moral of the story: Don't examine too closely something you MIGHT NOT want to know about!)
(The locals had been eating the rice without any ill effect for centuries....) but sometimes there are things you JUST DON'T WANT to (or SHOULD know about!)
Think about it!
(Alternate moral: "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!")
Just because you CAN know about it, do you REALLY WANT to KNOW about it???? Mmmmmmmm? (Bon apetite!)
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