Things you never knew about food.
Things you never knew about food.
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Justin Cyder

Original Poster:

12,624 posts

180 months

Thursday 9th October 2014
quotequote all
I found out the other day that when crisp bags are filled at the factory, they're commonly filled with nitrogen to retard oxidisation & extend shelf life.

Cool story etc. but what else don't I know about food? Tell me more.

calibrax

4,788 posts

242 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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The distinctive smell when you open a bag of dry roasted peanuts is because the bags are filled with monkey's farts.

Black can man

31,973 posts

199 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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Crabsticks" do not actually contain any crab and from 1993 manufacturers have been legally obliged to label them "Crab flavoured sticks".

fttm

4,607 posts

166 months

Friday 10th October 2014
quotequote all
Justin Cyder said:
I found out the other day that when crisp bags are filled at the factory, they're commonly filled with nitrogen to retard oxidisation & extend shelf life.

Cool story etc. but what else don't I know about food? Tell me more.
Yeap this is true , I have trucks on contract supplying the 'potato chip' manufacturers in Canada , Nitrogen is also used for flash freezing most meat products as it's colorless and odorless ,ok in small doses but displaces air and will suffocate you in an instant if unaware .

Baryonyx

18,293 posts

190 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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Burger King is better than McDonald's.

Dr Murdoch

3,956 posts

166 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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Baryonyx said:
Burger King is better than McDonald's.
And McDonalds chips are better than Burger Kings.

m1dg3

128 posts

185 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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Black can man said:
Crabsticks" do not actually contain any crab and from 1993 manufacturers have been legally obliged to label them "Crab flavoured sticks".
I'm sure I heard this on the radio last time I drove through Cromer...

HarryFlatters

4,203 posts

243 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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Black can man said:
"Crabsticks" do not actually contain any crab and from 1993 manufacturers have been legally obliged to label them "Crab flavoured sticks".
They're also fking disgusting. I wouldn't feed them to my cat hehe

Edit: - A fact that I use to disgust a lot of people... Worcestershire Sauce is made from anchovies.

motco

17,656 posts

277 months

Friday 10th October 2014
quotequote all
Black can man said:
Crabsticks" do not actually contain any crab and from 1993 manufacturers have been legally obliged to label them "Crab flavoured sticks".
If the hedgehog crisps case is anything to go by, 'crab flavoured sticks' must contain crab. If not they have to be called 'crab flavour sticks'.

XJSJohn

16,152 posts

250 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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HarryFlatters said:
Edit: - A fact that I use to disgust a lot of people... Worcestershire Sauce is made from anchovies.
And fish guts (well perhaps not as vague as that) are part of the ingredients of Newcastle Brown Ale, at least the reason a vegan mate at uni wouldn't drink a bottle of "dog", but happily sup most anything else!!

bingybongy

4,150 posts

177 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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XJSJohn said:
And fish guts (well perhaps not as vague as that) are part of the ingredients of Newcastle Brown Ale, at least the reason a vegan mate at uni wouldn't drink a bottle of "dog", but happily sup most anything else!!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isinglass

GnuBee

1,339 posts

246 months

Friday 10th October 2014
quotequote all
Justin Cyder said:
I found out the other day that when crisp bags are filled at the factory, they're commonly filled with nitrogen to retard oxidisation & extend shelf life.

Cool story etc. but what else don't I know about food? Tell me more.
It's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified_atmosphere

Used very extensively.

If you really want to worry yourself read http://www.amazon.co.uk/Not-Label-What-Really-Plat...

Updated to include the horse meat "scandal" and good to read if you've read Fast Food Nation and are labouring under the idea that "it could only happen in America"


XJSJohn

16,152 posts

250 months

Friday 10th October 2014
quotequote all
bingybongy said:
XJSJohn said:
And fish guts (well perhaps not as vague as that) are part of the ingredients of Newcastle Brown Ale, at least the reason a vegan mate at uni wouldn't drink a bottle of "dog", but happily sup most anything else!!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isinglass
thats the stuff!

dudleybloke

20,553 posts

217 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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Beaver anal gland secretions are in more foods than you would think.

ReallyReallyGood

1,641 posts

161 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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After freeze-dried coffee is put in the jar at the factory, the jar is filled with a coffee scent so that when you first open the jar you get that "mmmm coffee" smell, even though the coffee itself tastes like s**t.

anonymous-user

85 months

Friday 10th October 2014
quotequote all
XJSJohn said:
bingybongy said:
XJSJohn said:
And fish guts (well perhaps not as vague as that) are part of the ingredients of Newcastle Brown Ale, at least the reason a vegan mate at uni wouldn't drink a bottle of "dog", but happily sup most anything else!!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isinglass
thats the stuff!
Not just in Newcastle Brow either, its in loads of beer and ales

calibrax

4,788 posts

242 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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Much of the smoked bacon you buy at the supermarket is not actually smoked - it has been soaked in a smoke flavoured brine which is MUCH cheaper for the manufacturer.

J8 SVG

1,470 posts

161 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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calibrax said:
Much of the smoked bacon you buy at the supermarket is not actually smoked - it has been soaked in a smoke flavoured brine which is MUCH cheaper for the manufacturer.
And you can tell, Butcher's only for me!

Mastodon2

14,340 posts

196 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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Bananas picked raw and are gassed with ethylene to ripen them and enhance the yellow colouration.

PurpleTurtle

8,876 posts

175 months

Friday 10th October 2014
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my ex-GF is a food scientist for a division of Cadbury's, she was always telling me fascinating stuff.

My favourite was how they cut the inside of a Crunchie bar, to make it a uniform size every time. A blade can't do it as the honeycomb would crumble when cut, so the method used is a high-power jet of fat. Think of it as a kind of 'fat laser'.

Put me right off them for about an hour, until I remembered how tasty they are!