Author Topic: Why McDonald's fries taste so good  (Read 5163 times)

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Offline iago

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Re: Why McDonald's fries taste so good
« Reply #15 on: November 26, 2008, 08:24:52 am »
I'm not too knowledgeable about organic products, but I definitely remember seeing some products being advertised as organic although they were from concentrate. On that note, what are the problems with food being from concentrate?
It doesn't taste as good? :)

But really, I'm not sure. When I said "concentrate", I was talking about like 1% acetic acid vs 5% acetic acid or whatever.

From what I remember, isomers are only a problem in hydrogenation of fats, because that leads to trans-fat, which is said to be unhealthy. I think that problem is pretty much addressed however, since every product ever now advertises "0% trans fat". As far as racemic mixtures go, I seriously don't think there are any in the food industry, but I cannot be certain.
From what I've heard, and I haven't done any research so this could be wrong, artificial vitamin D and natural vitamin D are isomers -- they have the same chemical formula, but react differently in the body. It's possible that, say, artificially derived bananana flavour and natural bananana flavour, despite being the same chemical, react differently in the body. I'm not saying that's right, I'm saying it's a possibility.

Offline d&q

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Re: Why McDonald's fries taste so good
« Reply #16 on: November 26, 2008, 10:20:48 am »
From what I remember, isomers are only a problem in hydrogenation of fats, because that leads to trans-fat, which is said to be unhealthy. I think that problem is pretty much addressed however, since every product ever now advertises "0% trans fat". As far as racemic mixtures go, I seriously don't think there are any in the food industry, but I cannot be certain.

From what I've heard, and I haven't done any research so this could be wrong, artificial vitamin D and natural vitamin D are isomers -- they have the same chemical formula, but react differently in the body. It's possible that, say, artificially derived bananana flavour and natural bananana flavour, despite being the same chemical, react differently in the body. I'm not saying that's right, I'm saying it's a possibility.

I couldn't find any evidence of synthesized vitamin D - AFAIK our vitamin D intake consists mainly of the isolated vitamin or fortified food. And looking at the structure of isoamyl acetate (banana oil), I don't think a stereoisomer is possible. Any structural isomers wouldn't be called banana oil. My basic point is that a lot of "non-organic" products are being passed off as unhealthy without any scientific evidence. The principal consequence is that some (expensive) foods become unfairly attractive to the clueless consumer. This could all be occurring in my mind though  :P. It's good that you're wary of what you eat though, I don't think I could say the same.
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Offline iago

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Re: Why McDonald's fries taste so good
« Reply #17 on: November 26, 2008, 10:44:46 am »
I couldn't find any evidence of synthesized vitamin D - AFAIK our vitamin D intake consists mainly of the isolated vitamin or fortified food. And looking at the structure of isoamyl acetate (banana oil), I don't think a stereoisomer is possible. Any structural isomers wouldn't be called banana oil. My basic point is that a lot of "non-organic" products are being passed off as unhealthy without any scientific evidence. The principal consequence is that some (expensive) foods become unfairly attractive to the clueless consumer. This could all be occurring in my mind though  :P. It's good that you're wary of what you eat though, I don't think I could say the same.
You could be right, I don't know much about chemistry stuff. Or maybe it's a big conspiracy. Both good!

I think the important part about organic food is that it is [supposed to be] grown and processed in stricter ways. Of course, depending on who classifies it as organic and what the company itself is like, it's hard to say. A lot of "organic food" companies are owned by the big corporations, so you're likely getting the borderline "we can just barely call this organic" stuff.

What it comes down to is reading labels and researching companies. When possible, I buy from small/local companies that get their food straight from local farms. You're getting the freshest food that way, and you're supporting the local economy, too.

But yeah, I try to avoid artificial (and any non-identified) flavour/colour in food, because I hate the idea of eating something that I can't possibly research. At least when I see, say, "concentrated pear juice" on a label, I know what I'm getting.

Offline Camel

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Re: Why McDonald's fries taste so good
« Reply #18 on: November 26, 2008, 01:46:26 pm »
I tend to feel better when I'm eating organic food than when I'm not.


Then again, there's also a strong correlation between the amount of money I have and the amount of organic food I have, so it may be that as well.

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