# Foods that make you think twice when you think/learn about what they are/how they're made... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645 "2018-11-16T21:16:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/41 "2018-11-20T14:03:44Z")
The most common food that I use which \*should \*give me pause for thought is good old fish sauce. There is no masking what it is, it is decomposed and fermented fish and salt. Whole fish, guts and all. The fluid that comes off is strained and sold. There is a elegant purity of purpose in the production methods and a pleasing simplicity. I like the fact that something so tasty comes from a pretty disgusting process. I’d like to go back in time to when someone first realised that their tub of salted fish had been left out in the back garden for three months and had started to ooze liquid. How drunk were they at the point where their friends said “I dare you to…”? So it should give me pause for thought…but it never does. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/42 "2018-11-20T16:06:32Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Refried beans are made with lard. I am certainly not a vegetarian, but once I found that out I no longer enjoy that creamy texture. If I do make tacos the vegetarian beans are just fine. Don’t eat tamales either; the classic recipes use lard as well. Seriously though; I don’t know that all places use lard as a matter of course- I think it’s more expensive than using some other kind of fat or oil. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/43 "2018-11-20T17:25:56Z")
What’s wrong with lard? It’s better for you than butter. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/44 "2018-11-21T00:28:09Z")
The Hispanic groceries in my area sell lard in 5-gallon buckets. I also saw those in “regular” grocery stores when I lived briefly in the Southwest years ago. “Low fat Mexican food” does not exist, if you want the genuine item. Lard is also a preservative, which is one reason why it’s used in things like tamales and refried beans. Of course, we don’t have to do that now in the States, but our ancestors did, and many native Mexicans still do. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/45 "2018-11-21T05:46:04Z")
Lard, mmmmmmmmmmmmm! :o ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/46 "2018-11-21T06:04:45Z")
Ever since McDonalds stopped using beef tallow to fry their fries and apple pies, its never been the same. Also, Spam! Pork…ummm…parts. I love regular Spam, but Spam Lite with chicken added to reduce the fat kind of freaks me out. Same with bologna or hot dogs that have chicken or turkey. They can put the whole cow, organs and all into them and I don’t care, but something about adding chicken and turkey to the mix…shudder. BTW, my solution is to stop reading the labels and just eat. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/47 "2018-11-21T08:08:25Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > . I’d like to go back in time to when someone first realised that their tub of salted fish had been left out in the back garden for three months and had started to ooze liquid. How drunk were they at the point where their friends said “I dare you to…”? > > So it should give me pause for thought…but it never does. well according to legend bleu cheese was created when a shepherd or farmer was caught in a rainstorm and misplaced his lunch in a cave type of thing and for some reason the cheese was well wrapped …he found it a couple of months later tasted it and decided it tasted better than it did before due to the newly formed blue (moldy)streaks in it he experimented until he figured how they got there and sold it to his neighbors ……… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/48 "2018-11-21T08:36:31Z")
None, really, for I have a firm policy of not watching “how your (favorite food) gets made” videos on youtube. Makes for a far less stressful existence. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/49 "2018-11-26T03:29:21Z")
Veal Foie gras ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/50 "2018-11-26T03:54:13Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > The most common food that I use which \*should \*give me pause for thought is good old fish sauce. > > There is no masking what it is, it is decomposed and fermented fish and salt. Whole fish, guts and all. The fluid that comes off is strained and sold. There is a elegant purity of purpose in the production methods and a pleasing simplicity. I like the fact that something so tasty comes from a pretty disgusting process. > > I’d like to go back in time to when someone first realised that their tub of salted fish had been left out in the back garden for three months and had started to ooze liquid. How drunk were they at the point where their friends said “I dare you to…”? > > So it should give me pause for thought…but it never does. That’s how cod liver oil was made, back in the day. Nowadays, it’s steam-extracted, but yeah, when advertisers urged parents to give this to their children on a daily basis, that’s where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/51 "2018-11-26T21:58:19Z")
This thread is some nasty reading. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/52 "2018-11-26T22:32:13Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > About 10 years ago, Hy-Vee, an upper Midwestern grocery chain, offered salmon for sale with a sign stating that it was caught in Alaska and processed in China. This didn’t last long because people refused to buy it. > > This was around the time that the one of the stores in my town tested a special “pay with your thumbprint” machine. I am not the only person who refused to try it (on one occasion, I said, “I’m not touching this with a 10-foot pole!”) and in time, they discontinued it because the company that made the machines went bankrupt. Hey, I think I used to work for that company, which bought the company that bought my company, until I got laid off when they went bankrupt because it turned out they couldn’t just buy quite as many companies as the coke-addled CEO’s grand-vision called for. :shakes fist: ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/53 "2018-11-26T23:58:00Z")
I was off of Oreos for a few years, when I found the filling is just lard and sugar. I got over it :). ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/54 "2018-12-02T19:48:13Z")
Corned beef hash. Greasy, smelly and nasty looking and what I’m cooking up right now! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/55 "2018-12-03T00:53:48Z")
Really? Nobody has mentioned honey yet? Bug barf? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/56 "2018-12-03T03:42:05Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Really? Nobody has mentioned honey yet? Bug barf? Honey is not bug barf. It’s made by an organ in its throat, and then spat out. However, I could see where the two would get mixed up - AND it just plain old tastes good. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/57 "2018-12-06T00:12:18Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Honey is not bug barf. It’s made by an organ in its throat, and then spat out. However, I could see where the two would get mixed up - AND it just plain old tastes good. That is possibly the most pedantic distinction that I’ve ever seen here: “Well, technically, since the subanstance consumed by the insect and spit back out again comes from an organ in the throat and not from the stomach several millimeters away, you shouldn’t use the humorously colloquial term ‘barf’.” Gotta say, I expected the nitpick to be that bees don’t belong to the order Hemiptera. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/58 "2018-12-06T10:23:33Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > If I ever had another Bombay Sapphire after I’d learned their source I’d always be like “so you drew your water from some reservoir in Wales? Great!” It’s the only origin story that makes tap water seem sexy by comparison. It’s a nice gin and I’m sure the water source is better than tapwater, but still, if I may add to the adage, laws, sausages, and water, thanks. You may be working from old information there. I recently visited the Bombay Sapphire distillery, which is in Hampshire, quite some distance from Wales. The distillery is in what was originally a paper mill which sits on the banks of the River Test, from whence they draw all their water. The river is a chalk stream from its source through that stretch which makes for incredibly clear water. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/59 "2018-12-06T11:15:07Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > If I ever had another Bombay Sapphire after I’d learned their source I’d always be like “so you drew your water from some reservoir in Wales? Great!” It’s the only origin story that makes tap water seem sexy by comparison. It’s a nice gin and I’m sure the water source is better than tapwater, but still, if I may add to the adage, laws, sausages, and water, thanks. I don’t understand. What is supposed to be distasteful about a reservoir in Wales, as opposed to any other source of water? ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/60 "2018-12-06T13:38:01Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I don’t understand. What is supposed to be distasteful about a reservoir in Wales, as opposed to any other source of water? I suppose “some reservoir in Wales” doesn’t necessarily conjour up images of great beauty. I mean, look at [this monstrosity](https://goo.gl/images/bZTv8W) 😉 As for the OP… There’s not much I won’t eat; black (blood) pudding, haggis, liver, even tripe. Love it all. But for no logical reason, I don’t think I could bring myself to eat brains. Nope. No Sir. Anyone who has, what’s it like? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645.md?page=4)