# 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:** 4
**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, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/61 "2018-12-06T14:37:34Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > 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) 😉 Disgusting! Well, now I know what **Ludovic** meant, and I’ll never touch Bombay Sapphire again! 😃 No, but seriously, **Ludovic** , what is it all about? I have been to Wales twice (in 1971 and 1976) and found it a beautiful country. I’m an American, and I have an impression that some Brits look down on Wales as being somewhat provincial, but I don’t get why a Welsh reservoir would be perceived as less wholesome than a reservoir anywhere else. Does it have something to do with the association of Wales with coal mining? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/62 "2018-12-13T05:41:07Z")
> [@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. Well, that’s an excellent example of “how on EARTH did someone decide that this is edible?”. A lot of foods must go through significant processing to be safe to eat - e.g. cassava (cyanide, anyone?), castor oil (the beans are poisonous), lima and kidney beans (genuinely toxic if not properly cooked). Who figured all that out? (Cassava in particular stumps me). Then there are the things like fish sauce, Tabasco sauce (aged for years), huitlacoche (diseased corn, sold as a “delicacy”). I know food standards were not up to 21st century levels when those were all developed, but even 200 years ago people knew that food that had gone off might make you ill. And some have to be chalked up to desperation: eat that spoiled food or you’re gonna starve (blue cheese, casu marzu, natto and so on). Oooh: and who figured out that taking milk, tossing in a chunk of a calf’s stomach, and letting it rot would result in cheese to begin with? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/63 "2018-12-13T06:50:23Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > 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? its like a slightly meaty cross between cottage cheese and scrambled eggs……… we usually ate them in scrambled eggs for breakfast ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/64 "2018-12-13T07:27:50Z")
I used to be a big fan of McDonald’s chicken nuggets until I saw how they were made in a documentary photo. I think it’s now been 10 years since I last ate one and I may never eat one again. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2018, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/65 "2018-12-13T09:15:37Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > its like a slightly meaty cross between cottage cheese and scrambled eggs……… > > we usually ate them in scrambled eggs for breakfast I was told my Hungarian grandfather would saute chicken heads, crack the skulls open, and suck the brains out. Yeccch! ---
**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:** [December 13, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/66 "2018-12-13T14:35:55Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Oooh: and who figured out that taking milk, tossing in a chunk of a calf’s stomach, and letting it rot would result in cheese to begin with? I’ve read that milk was stored in calf’s stomach, like a canteen, and would start to curdle. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/67 "2018-12-13T14:56:42Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’ve read that milk was stored in calf’s stomach, like a canteen, and would start to curdle. That’s the story I heard is that they did this- more like a wineskin that just happened to have rennet built-in. From there, I’m guessing that someone figured out that if you pressed out the whey, you ended up with longer-lasting curds, and the same for salting them (probably putting them in brine for primitive feta actually). And various molds and bacteria grew in/on them naturally, so someone likely figured out that pressed, salted curds were better the longer they were kept. Or that more/less salt, more/less pressing, storing here vs. there, etc… made differences. Keep that going over a long time, and you end up with distinct types of cheeses that we now know. And I’m with everyone else- what’s the big deal with Bombay Sapphire and Welsh water? Even the stuff they cut it with is purified before they add it, and the lake they use is also used for Liverpool’s water, so it’s not like it’s some godawful cesspit. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/68 "2018-12-13T16:13:19Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I used to be a big fan of McDonald’s chicken nuggets until I saw how they were made in a documentary photo. I think it’s now been 10 years since I last ate one and I may never eat one again. Even as a teen I just couldn’t stomach most of their food, and truly failed to see the appeal, as a result. So I’d just have a coke and fries if going along with others. Then I learned both how many ingredients go into those fries, (19), AND how they are grown. The potato breed they demand is prone to a particular blight, only preventable by use of a frightening chemical cocktail. After it’s sprayed on the crop, no one can go into the fields for weeks, without risking neurological damage! The potatoes, when harvested, are spread out in barns for weeks of offgasing so they are not toxic. No thanks, I’ll pass. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/69 "2018-12-13T16:31:26Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Even as a teen I just couldn’t stomach most of their food, and truly failed to see the appeal, as a result. So I’d just have a coke and fries if going along with others. > > Then I learned both how many ingredients go into those fries, (19), AND how they are grown. The potato breed they demand is prone to a particular blight, only preventable by use of a frightening chemical cocktail. After it’s sprayed on the crop, no one can go into the fields for weeks, without risking neurological damage! The potatoes, when harvested, are spread out in barns for weeks of offgasing so they are not toxic. > > No thanks, I’ll pass. > [@elbows](#): > > Even as a teen I just couldn’t stomach most of their food, and truly failed to see the appeal, as a result. So I’d just have a coke and fries if going along with others. > > Then I learned both how many ingredients go into those fries, (19), AND how they are grown. The potato breed they demand is prone to a particular blight, only preventable by use of a frightening chemical cocktail. After it’s sprayed on the crop, no one can go into the fields for weeks, without risking neurological damage! The potatoes, when harvested, are spread out in barns for weeks of offgasing so they are not toxic. > > No thanks, I’ll pass. This is some Michael Pollan thing? Looks like he claims it’s 1 variety of potato, except that it’s a bog standard variety (Russet Burbank). Everything I can find suggests they use up to 7 varieties of potato, all pretty standard. His information seems misinformed and maybe downright quackery. > **[What Variety Of Potatoes Did McDonald’s Use?](https://idahopotato.com/dr-potato/what-variety-of-potatoes-did-mcdonalds-use)** > > I heard that McDonald’s used to make their fries fresh and use animal fat. What variety of potatoes did they use? What else changed over the years? It looks like the pesticide hasn’t been used since 2009. By anybody. > **[Methamidophos](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamidophos)** > > Methamidophos, trade name "Monitor," is an organophosphate insecticide. > Crops grown with the use of methamidophos include potatoes and some Latin American rice. Many nations have used methamidophos on crops, including developed nations such as Spain, United States, Japan, and Australia. Due to its toxicity, the use of pesticides that contain methamidophos is currently being phased out in Brazil. In 2009, all uses in the United States were voluntarily canceled. > LD50 rates of 21 and 16 mg/kg for ... More info > **[Should we Fear McDonalds French Fries?](https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/controversial-science-food-health-news/fear-fries)** > > I've been repeatedly asked about the "dangers" of McDonald's French fries. To be honest, I am not the biggest fan of McDonald’s fries. Not because they're "dangerous", but because they simply are not to my taste. I am a fan, however, of Michael... As for nuggets, the main thing to realize is that it’s not a chunk of a chicken so much as a slurry made from many chickens. Not just McDonald’s even. I can’t stomach their food but more due to their burgers and the smell of their particular fries. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/70 "2018-12-13T19:26:51Z")
_::::shrug:::_ It’s what they were doing at the time I quit, many years ago. I haven’t bothered to keep up with their latest practices. That they EVER found that acceptable is enough to keep me from going there. Ever again. Everybody’s different. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/71 "2018-12-13T20:32:54Z")
Pollan made that claim in 2014, so he comes across as a bullshit artist. Parts of his story are out of date, the rest look like outright lies. And I hate McDonald’s. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/72 "2018-12-14T17:18:59Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Pollan made that claim in 2014, so he comes across as a bullshit artist. Parts of his story are out of date, the rest look like outright lies. > > And I hate McDonald’s. Yeah, he seems to be much more of a BS artist with an agenda to push, not an unbiased scientific writer. He even admits as much in an interview. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/73 "2018-12-14T19:18:08Z")
> [@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…”? Um… where else & how else would they have stored salted fish? The whole point of salting fish is to preserve it at room temperature for a very long time. Fish sauce or [garum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum) date back at least to ancient Greece. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/74 "2018-12-15T13:32:54Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > I was off of Oreos for a few years, when I found the filling is just lard and sugar. > > I got over it :). Crisco (vegetable shortening), not lard. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/75 "2018-12-15T15:30:34Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Crisco (vegetable shortening), not lard. It used to be lard for a long time. I find cites that it became certified kosher in 1997, and some say that’s when the lard was removed, but I suspect it may have been earlier than that, as it could have been made with vegetable oils and still not been kosher certified. Wikipedia says early 90s is when they switched to vegetable shortening. > [@RobDog](#): > > Anyone who has, what’s it like? The texture is kind of creamy and lumpy at the same time, a bit like a firm tofu crossed with scrambled eggs. The taste is relatively mild, not organ-y in the liver or kidney sort of way, but definitely tastes different. I’ve had it in tacos and some type of curry (bheja fry) when I was visiting Mumbai. I believe that one was goat or sheep brain. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/76 "2018-12-15T18:16:27Z")
I like “real” beef jerky, but I also like a ‘Slim Jim’ once in a while. I have a hunch this wouldn’t be so anymore if I saw how they were made, or from exactly _what_ they were made from. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/77 "2018-12-15T19:02:49Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > As for nuggets, the main thing to realize is that it’s not a chunk of a chicken so much as a slurry made from many chickens. Oddly enough, I prefer the chicken slurry nuggets to whole muscle chicken nuggets. Or, rather, I should say they are two different things. Chick Fil A has great nuggets, but goddamned if I don’t love the texture and taste of McD’s nuggets, “pink slime” and all. Doesn’t bug me a single bit. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/78 "2018-12-15T20:50:36Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > What’s wrong with lard? It’s better for you than butter. Cite? Better than margarine, very likely, yes. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/79 "2018-12-15T22:28:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Cite? Better than margarine, very likely, yes. [Lard](https://www.nutritionvalue.org/Lard_nutritional_value.html) [Butter](https://www.nutritionvalue.org/Butter%2C_without_salt_nutritional_value.html) Have a look at the cholesterol and the different types of fat. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-make-you-think-twice-when-you-think-learn-about-what-they-are-how-theyre-made/824645/80 "2018-12-15T22:29:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oddly enough, I prefer the chicken slurry nuggets to whole muscle chicken nuggets. Or, rather, I should say they are two different things. Chick Fil A has great nuggets, but goddamned if I don’t love the texture and taste of McD’s nuggets, “pink slime” and all. Doesn’t bug me a single bit. I’m bothered more when I bite into a vein in a whole chicken piece than I do eating a McNugget. I forget which comedian said this, but it goes: “Two breasts, two wings, two thighs, two drumsticks…what’s left is the McNugget!”. I used to repeat that and it put my ex off McNuggets permanently. BTW, smoked turkey butts are great! Chicken butts, not so much. [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=3) [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=5)