# "Chemical" does not equal "poison", fuckheads. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 16, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454 "2004-07-16T17:53:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/41 "2004-07-18T11:40:21Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Many words have very specific meanings in various branches of math and science, but are used in a different way by laymen, or even by people in different fields of study. I can only come up with lame examples off the top of my head, but: eccentricity, inclination, half, square, inertia, impulse, chaotic, etc. The problem is that for the words under discussion, the “different way” that laymen use words is nonsensical if you actually stop and think about it. As Colophon and others have so easily pointed out above. You may be right about the term “organic”, although I wouldn’t be surprised if even if there is a definition of the term at law, it is a woolly definition if you think about it. Take the word “chemical” (which was after all the centrepiece of Colophon’s rant). I defy you to rationally define that term as used by the “Granola” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/42 "2004-07-18T14:08:40Z")
Fine, what kind of industry are Dow and Dupont in then? We can’t call them chemical companies, since all of matter are chemicals, so any manufacturing firm would be a chemical company. “Chemicals” in lay conversation means “an industrially fabricated substance or byproduct”, and we all know that. Also, with foods, “chemical-free” usually means “tastes way better”. That’s good enough for me. You can say “chemicals are chemicals” and then taste why a Twinkie is so immortal (usually a second after you swallow it), or you can have grandma make one and just taste the cake. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/43 "2004-07-18T15:28:29Z")
[http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/twinkies.htm](http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/twinkies.htm) Twinky’s don’t last that long. Also one can make stuff that are ultimatley composed out of chemicals and not be a “chemical” company as it is the gross arrangement of the matter that is the concern, not the composition of the compound. More to the point the products that are “chemical free” are using other chemicals in place of typical ones. In most cases it is a matter of different technology, not less. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/44 "2004-07-18T15:29:39Z")
I really fucking want an edit function. The sentence after the link should be either “A twinky’s shelf life isn’t that long.” or “Twinkies don’t last that long.” Stupid sentence smash together not caught in time. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/45 "2004-07-18T16:05:17Z")
Shelf life is a remarkably ignorant way to gauge the quality of a food product. Canned foods have remarkable shelf lives, as do foods with very low moisture content. Neither have anything to do with how nutritious they are. > [@](#): > > Also, with foods, “chemical-free” usually means “tastes way better”. That’s good enough for me. You can say “chemicals are chemicals” and then taste why a Twinkie is so immortal (usually a second after you swallow it), or you can have grandma make one and just taste the cake. Because [bleached flour](http://www.prosphora.org/page8.html) is right off the vine? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/46 "2004-07-18T16:06:24Z")
> [@The Tim](#): > > I really fucking want an edit function. Tell me about it. I would pay ten bucks for a year’s worth of a five-minute edit function. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/47 "2004-07-18T16:13:14Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > Shelf life is a remarkably ignorant way to gauge the quality of a food product. Canned foods have remarkable shelf lives… And they suck in terms of taste! Thank you for proving my point! I didn’t say anything about nutrition. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/48 "2004-07-18T16:16:23Z")
Just letting that flour comment pass by, then? That’s ok. I understand that it is easier to arbitrarily use a word like “chemical” and link it to a subjective quality like _your sense of taste_ than to face any facts about food preparation. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/49 "2004-07-18T16:22:28Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > And they suck in terms of taste! Thank you for proving my point! I didn’t say anything about nutrition. Whoooosh. Unless of course I missed something and a can now counts as a chemical in some fucked-up way. The canned tomatoes I buy have precisely one ingredient, tomato. But, lasts forever! Must be bad for you! Simplistic reasoning a-go-go! In any case, half the point of the OP is about the coercion of perfectly sensible terms for promotion of quack products, like those “chemical free” PCs. That site was ace, incidentally, not least for making the somewhat bold claim that electromagnetic radiation (yes, all of it) is a “carcinogenic substance”. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/50 "2004-07-18T17:01:07Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > Just letting that flour comment pass by, then? That’s ok. I understand that it is easier to arbitrarily use a word like “chemical” and link it to a subjective quality like _your sense of taste_ than to face any facts about food preparation. I passed it by because I didn’t get it. You’re saying flour is processed…so? Is bleached flour eaten for it’s taste? It’s a base - it’s point is to be pure for the real flavor from the other ingredients to come in… > [@Dead Badger](#): > > Whoooosh. Unless of course I missed something and a can now counts as a chemical in some fucked-up way. The canned tomatoes I buy have precisely one ingredient, tomato. But, lasts forever! Must be bad for you! Simplistic reasoning a-go-go! I didn’t say anything about being “bad for you”. Stop shoving words into my mouth. A fresh tomato would taste better than a canned tomato is what my point was. And yes, a can counts as a chemical, didn’t you read the thread? All of matter is made of chemicals, remember? ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/51 "2004-07-18T17:28:20Z")
> [@kellner](#): > > Years ago my roommate and I came to the conclusion that we sould one day conduct a little experiment. We wanted to enter a crowded department store or shopping mall, hold up a nondescript container and yell that it’s full of chemicals and atoms. Then we judge the state of average science education by the reactions. So, you’d be happy with getting beat up/arrested? Tell the judge you were only making a joke? Performance art? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/52 "2004-07-18T17:32:14Z")
This is the nerdy pedant thread. As predictable and boring as “Who would win in a fight” or “Sports would be better if handgrenades were allowed” threads. Don’t you hate it when people refer to the SDMB as a “message board”? Its not a _board_. Its a bunch of code on a server in Chicago! Board! What idiot would use that term? Don’t you just hate them? ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/53 "2004-07-18T17:40:35Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > So, you’d be happy with getting beat up/arrested? Tell the judge you were only making a joke? Performance art? Obviously we didn’t do it because we were too cowardly for the consequences. However this was pre-9/11 (IIRC) and in a different country. You wouldn’t make yourself very popular with this, but actual consequences would be unlikely. Perhaps you shouldn’t do it on private property because the owner might cause you trouble. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/54 "2004-07-18T17:56:18Z")
So I was driving past this car dealership yesterday, and all the fuel injected cars had big signs reading “NO CARBS!” \ The funniest thing in the whole shebang is the “Natural Flavors” v. “Artificial Flavors” label. Exact same chemicals, just acquired in different ways. Natural Flavors cost more and generally have more impurities, both from the source and from the extraction process… but Artificial Flavors are frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/55 "2004-07-18T22:18:30Z")
> [@1010011010](#): > > The funniest thing in the whole shebang is the “Natural Flavors” v. “Artificial Flavors” label. Exact same chemicals, just acquired in different ways. Natural Flavors cost more and generally have more impurities, both from the source and from the extraction process… but Artificial Flavors are frowned upon. My personal favorite are the ones who buy “organic” and “natural” foods and then run out and buy 14 kinds of “supplement” pills. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/56 "2004-07-18T23:47:33Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > This is the nerdy pedant thread. As predictable and boring as “Who would win in a fight” or “Sports would be better if handgrenades were allowed” threads. > > Don’t you hate it when people refer to the SDMB as a “message board”? Its not a _board_. Its a bunch of code on a server in Chicago! Board! What idiot would use that term? Don’t you just hate them? No one ever said “I hate computers because I fear they will take over and turn us all into batteries, just like in _The Matrix_–we need to stop using so many computers in our society before it’s too late! But Internet message boards are cool, because boards are made of wood, and wood is all-natural!” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/57 "2004-07-19T00:27:45Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > This is the nerdy pedant thread. As predictable and boring as “Who would win in a fight” or “Sports would be better if handgrenades were allowed” threads. Or one of your posts. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/58 "2004-07-19T04:10:53Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > Fine, what kind of industry are Dow and Dupont in then? We can’t call them chemical companies, since all of matter are chemicals, so any manufacturing firm would be a chemical company. “Chemicals” in lay conversation means “an industrially fabricated substance or byproduct”, and we all know that. So you’d accept that wheat is a chemicals then? It’s fabricated by the agricultural industry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454.md?page=2)