Fun and interesting food facts

Jell-O is the comfort food of generations. It's made of gelatin, which goes into making other products like yogurt and ice cream. Not many people know it, but it's made from a protein that is derived from prolonged boiling of animal skin, tissue, and bones.

The next time you use Betty Crocker icing to frost your cake, or Kraft Cool Whip, remember the bright-white color doesn't come from vigorous whisking of cream and egg whites. Rather it comes from titanium dioxide, a mineral that is also used in house paints.

If you like Yoplait strawberry yogurt, Tropicana grapefruit, orange-strawberry juice, or Hershey's Good & Plenty candies, chances are you will be sucking on the red coloring extracted from the female cochineal beetle and her eggs. These insects live on cactus plants in Peru and the Canary Islands.
According to the best-selling book by Eric Schlosser, Chew on This, the female bug feeds on cactus pads, and color from the cactus gathers in her body. The bugs are collected, dried, and ground into a coloring additive. It takes 70,000 of the insects to make a pound of carmine dye, as it is known. The Food & Drug Administration doesn't require that this cochineal be identified in the ingredients. Manufacturers simply identify it as an "artificial color."

The next time you're in the supermarket, you might spot a juicy, healthy-looking yellow chicken. More likely than not, it has been fed canthaxanthin. This hard-to-pronounce pigment is added to chicken feed to enhance the animal's yellow color and make it look palatable. Yum!

See this is one of those times when people will have one of two reactions:

1) They will read this and have some reaction of a hypocritical nature insisting they will never eat those foods again, even though they never thought twice about it before and if they hadn't read this would have continued to consume these items...

or

2) They will read this and not care (like me) because foods have to pass tests by the FDA to be sold in stores, thus assuring they are safe to eat (assuming you don't gorge yourself on particular items)

Having said that, you probably shouldn't go eat house paint, cactus licking bugs, or animal skins and bones you find lying on the road. We aren't trained in the proper way to produce foods safely for consumpion.

Oh and don't ask what's inside of a hotdog, twinkies, or oreo cookies if you are going to react in scenario #1.

v0rTeX wrote:

Oh and don't ask what's inside of a hotdog,

Did anyone else just have a Simpson's moment or was that just me?

lol. Glad you all enjoyed. lol. Actually I was lookin for some jokes. Oh and yes I had a simpsons moment too after reading that bot.

v0rTeX wrote:

Oh and don't ask what's inside of a hotdog, twinkies, or oreo cookies if you are going to react in scenario #1.

What's wrong with Oreos?

B_B

Boingo_Babe wrote:

v0rTeX wrote:

Oh and don't ask what's inside of a hotdog, twinkies, or oreo cookies if you are going to react in scenario #1.

What's wrong with Oreos?

B_B

Nonono dont ruin Oreos!!!
I have one more about the Jell-O... When Jell-O is in powder form it has no smell, but when cooked it has a smell after wards. (what i heard)

dip42 wrote:

Boingo_Babe wrote:

v0rTeX wrote:

Oh and don't ask what's inside of a hotdog, twinkies, or oreo cookies if you are going to react in scenario #1.

What's wrong with Oreos?

B_B

Nonono dont ruin Oreos!!!
I have one more about the Jell-O... When Jell-O is in powder form it has no smell, but when cooked it has a smell after wards. (what i heard)

The only thing wrong with oreos is that they don't come with milk, a completely necessary accessory to oreos! Well, at least for the Double Stuffed, since that's all I eat.

I got one about a drink no one's ever heard of! You know about that coloring that's in Mountain Dew, the Yellow 8 or whatever number it's supposed to be? Apparantly, it.... Yeah, I'm sick of hearing about the so-called side effects of the Yellow dye, which obviously only takes effect in Mountain Dew, even though it's in countless other foods.

Well, that's my rant for the day, Oreo's and Milk for the win!

Icey wrote:

I got one about a drink no one's ever heard of! You know about that coloring that's in Mountain Dew, the Yellow 8 or whatever number it's supposed to be? Apparantly, it.... Yeah, I'm sick of hearing about the so-called side effects of the Yellow dye, which obviously only takes effect in Mountain Dew, even though it's in countless other foods.

Well, that's my rant for the day, Oreo's and Milk for the win!

Thats fake.. Thier no proof that it does that

I don't care what's wrong with these foods. Like Vortex said, the FDA wouldn't feed people food that's going to cause problems, unless you believe that conspiracy.....

Anyway, I'm very curious about Oreos...

B_B

Boingo_Babe wrote:

the FDA wouldn't feed people food that's going to cause problems, unless you believe that conspiracy....
B_B

Gravy for the brain, man! Gravy for the brain!!!

Oh, I have one. Margerine is only one molecule away from being plastic! Try this little experimant. Put a pat of real butter on one plate, a pat of margerine on another and set them outside for a while, then take a look. Flies will land on and eat/lay eggs in the butter, but not the plastic (er, margerine i mean).

The only thing wrong with oreos is that they don't come with milk, a completely necessary accessory to oreos!

errr.......Am in the only one who doesn't eat oreos with milk.......i usually have the mint & cream one since mint's my favorite but i never EVER eat it with milk........hmm.......everyone dat i know eats it with milk

................i feel alone now

emetakleze wrote:

Boingo_Babe wrote:

the FDA wouldn't feed people food that's going to cause problems, unless you believe that conspiracy....
B_B

Gravy for the brain, man! Gravy for the brain!!!

Oh, I have one. Margerine is only one molecule away from being plastic! Try this little experimant. Put a pat of real butter on one plate, a pat of margerine on another and set them outside for a while, then take a look. Flies will land on and eat/lay eggs in the butter, but not the plastic (er, margerine i mean).

I'm going to have to try this...That's pretty interesting.

B_B

TIMMY wrote:

errr.......Am in the only one who doesn't eat oreos with milk.......i usually have the mint & cream one since mint's my favorite but i never EVER eat it with milk........hmm.......everyone dat i know eats it with milk ................i feel alone now

Get the plain ones an put peanut butter on it... YYYYUUUUUMMMMMMMmmmmm its soooo good

Icey wrote:

I got one about a drink no one's ever heard of! You know about that coloring that's in Mountain Dew, the Yellow 8 or whatever number it's supposed to be? Apparantly, it.... Yeah, I'm sick of hearing about the so-called side effects of the Yellow dye, which obviously only takes effect in Mountain Dew, even though it's in countless other foods.

Are you referring to a substance that turns urine more yellow? If so, that has more to do with how many "good" nutrients you are getting in your diet than any particular ingredient of a food.

Try taking a multivitamin every day for a while. You might notice the same effect.

Also, try eating alot of green veggies and other plant life for a day or two and see if you notice any side effects from that.

Boingo_Babe wrote:

I don't care what's wrong with these foods. Like Vortex said, the FDA wouldn't feed people food that's going to cause problems, unless you believe that conspiracy.....

Well the medical professionals do want to continue to work. But I do think that overall the FDA won't let anyone sell stuff that will kill you any faster than cigarettes.

Boingo_Babe wrote:

Anyway, I'm very curious about Oreos...

Spoiler:
(Highlight with mouse to see)
Lard is an ingredient of the 'white stuff' in the center.

emetakleze wrote:

Oh, I have one. Margerine is only one molecule away from being plastic! Try this little experimant. Put a pat of real butter on one plate, a pat of margerine on another and set them outside for a while, then take a look. Flies will land on and eat/lay eggs in the butter, but not the plastic (er, margerine i mean).

The boy scout handbook will tell you not to drink from a puddle of water that flies wont land in because it might have some chemicals in it. So maybe this a strong argument against margerine.

Another goodie:

Maybe some of you already knew this but you know those little sprinkles you get on donuts and ice cream?
They are made with wax. I don't know what percentage of wax is used, but you will notice a funny taste if you just grab a handful of sprinkles and eat them plain.