I don't know if you are a fan but recently there were 2 questions related to food that I found interesting.
Question #1
Much of this flavoring comes from Madagascar orchids, but scientists have figured out a way to manufacture it from PLASTIC.
Answer: Vanilla
Of course we all know that Vanilla comes from the orchid plant and that those from Madagascar are considered the best. But who would have ever thought the vanilla we put in our cookies, cakes and ice cream is actually PLASTIC?
Just one more reason to always ASK what is the source of every ingredient. And one more reason to read every label BEFORE you buy. Of course the label won't say PLASTIC but if it says vanillin don't buy it.
Why?
Vanillin: the compound that carries most of the smell and taste of vanilla, can be extracted naturally from vanilla beans or made synthetically. About 85% of vanillin is currently made from chemicals taken from fossil fuels.
Did you know that plastic is actually made from the sludge that is not good enough to make gasoline for your car? It is. When they first began to separate crude oil into other products, such as gasoline, they would bury the remaining sludge in the ground. When crops and livestock began to die in these areas they knew they could no longer bury it and must find another use for it.
Chemists were put to work on the problem and came up with the magically new material called plastic. It could be used in liquid form or hardened into any shape you wanted.
That may have solved one problem but created a whole host of other deadly consequences. Which were perpetrated on an unknowing public. Even today most people have no idea of the dangers of plastics or its origin.
When a company won't tell me the source of an ingredient. I tell them I understand and I am NOT asking for any priority information. Just the source of _________. I tell them I need to know because I have several allergies and must know before I purchase.
If they still won't tell me, I DON'T buy and I add them to my list of companies NOT to buy from.
We have a right to know what we are ingesting.
Question #2
Scientists made a liquor using apples from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: Distillation got rid of this property the apples exhibited.
Answer: Radioactivity
INTERESTING: To bad we can't distill people, houses, cars and everything that comes in contact with radioactivity.
Leave it to Jeopardy to teach us something new!!!!!! By the way none of the contestants even tried to the answer either question.
From your friend in the kitchen, Judy