Starbucks

starfish_from_sea said:Well, yeah, 🙄
I’ve started checking labels on everything I buy lately,
and whenever I spot things like E 330 or maybe E 124, I just put it back on the shelf.

Hey Chemist, can you clear something up for me—what exactly is "modified starch" in food,
like in those chocolate puddings or other stuff we grab at the grocery store?
Just seeing the word 'modified' makes my stomach turn.👎

Modified starch is basically just starch that's been tweaked (🙄 ) through various processes to make sure it actually works for whatever specific texture or consistency a manufacturer is aiming for. Most people see that word and immediately think of GMOs, but there’s absolutely no connection between modified starch and genetic engineering. It’s just taking standard starch from things like potatoes or corn and shifting its physical structure so it behaves differently—for instance, helping it hold onto water better, which is pretty essential for instant products like soups or baby food that need to thicken up once you add liquid. Modified starch isn't a health hazard! 🙂 I'll say it again: modified starch is perfectly safe to eat!

If you're looking for info on additives or those E-number codes, there are plenty of websites out there that list them all, such as: this one

As for the whole massive debate regarding whether these lists are even necessary or justified, it's a long story and I don't really have the energy to dive into it right now...🙂

The kid is still just a child, so there is really no point in debating his intellect or how he perceives himself.
I won't go calling her out right now, but once I run into her, I'll definitely ask.

Sarah Long said:I’m not gonna call her out online, but if I run into her, I'll definitely ask.

........and then come back here to type out exactly what she told me, right? 😁

Sarah Long said:The kid is just a child, so there's really no point arguing about his intelligence or what she thinks of him.

Right, I didn't consider the "he's actually a child" angle... 😁
I wasn't talking about his brains, though. Just Dr. Chin's lack thereof...😉

I can’t stand when people just spout stuff without any actual proof, like that doctor!
"That's just how it is, but we don't know why!" Give me a break... 😠

Grace Flores85 said:I can't stand it when people spout off without having a single actual argument—just like that doctor!
"It's true, but I don't know why!" Give me a break. 😠

No, wait—this one is even better: "It's scientifically proven, but I have no clue how or where." 🤣

I have my one glass of Kraft Foods a day, and that’s plenty for me. It isn’t that I think more would be toxic or anything; it’s just that I’d much rather stick to plain sparkling water. That single serving after dinner hits the spot just fine.

As for this whole talk about carcinogens—honestly, I’m starting to develop an allergy to that word itself. Look, in this specific case, we might be dealing with a hoax, but I am exhausted by the constant stream of "breakthrough discoveries" claiming everything is a cancer risk today, only for them to retract it tomorrow and blame something else entirely. At this rate, I'm just waiting for the news to tell me that breathing is carcinogenic and the best course of action is to simply stop inhaling.
It's the same story with these supposed "health scares" regarding certain foods, pizzas, or additives...
To be perfectly honest, I ignore all of it. Even if some of it turns out to be true, I choose to look the other way. If I actually sat around obsessing over every single thing I’ve ever eaten—considering what was labeled toxic yesterday but deemed safe today—I’d probably die of sheer panic. It’s a total playground for hypochondriacs.

Karen Brooks said:I'm honestly just sitting here waiting for them to tell me that breathing is carcinogenic and the best move is to just... stop breathing altogether.

Oxygen is basically the ultimate carcinogen, isn't it? I mean, didn't you know that? That’s the whole reason you need to load up on all those heavy-duty antioxidants—like Vitamin C or artichoke extract—just to protect yourself from the sheer impact of oxygen...

Rachel Brooks63 said:Oxygen is hands down the absolute worst carcinogen out there!!! Did you seriously not know that? That’s exactly why you need to be slamming all those heavy-duty antioxidants—you know, Vitamin C, artichoke extract, whatever...—just to protect yourself from the sheer impact of oxygen!

Whatever, man.

And don't even get me started on how drinking distilled water can basically wreck your DNA structure... 😲

rustymoose54 said:as if you could actually mess up someone's DNA structure just by using distilled water😲

I remember back in college we spent basically weeks debating whether you could actually kill someone with D2O... like, if you forced them to drink nothing but that for long enough, would it actually be fatal?😈

Rachel Brooks63 said:Oxygen is hands down the worst carcinogen out there. Didn't you know? That’s why you need all those heavy-duty antioxidants—Vitamin C, artichoke extract, whatever—just to shield yourself from oxygen's effects.

Right... obviously... which is exactly why overdoing it with extreme sports, or hitting the gym way too hard, isn't exactly recommended... since it ramps up oxygen demand and spikes free radicals, making the body age faster.

Slowing things down works the exact opposite way...

Rachel Brooks63 said:remember back when we spent weeks debating if you could actually kill someone with heavy water? Like, if you just kept feeding them nothing but D2O for long enough, would they actually kick the bucket😈

well, using deuterated water would definitely mess things up somehow😁

plus it’d slow down those proton exchange reactions—you know, the kinetic isotope effect stuff... KIE... 🤣

but honestly, pure distilled water is what really does the job

rustymoose54 said:adding deuterated water would definitely throw a wrench in things 😁

plus it’d probably slow down those kinetic isotope effects (KIE) too... 🤣

and I honestly think the base pairs would get all messed up—especially in those newly formed cells...
either way, it wouldn't end well...

Distilled water? That thing is a straight-up serial killer. Hell, I'm even a little paranoid about using my clothes iron because of it!

why does distilled hit so much harder than non-distilled?

shadowgardener12 said:why does distilled water hit so much harder than regular stuff?

man, shadowgardener12, don't take this too seriously... it's basically just a big joke at everyone's expense. I think it all started back in that thread about Coca-Cola, but I'm pretty sure rustymoose54 remembers the exact details of where this whole thing about lethal distilled water actually kicked off...

there's nothing wrong with distilled water, other than the fact that it tastes like absolute garbage

Rachel Brooks63 said:Oxygen is hands down the most dangerous carcinogen out there. Didn't you know? That's exactly why you need to load up on all those heavy-duty antioxidants—Vitamin C, artichoke extract, whatever—just to defend yourself from the effects of oxygen!

Well, if that's the case, you might as well use that extra cash to snag another ticket to the Metropolitan Opera. 😁

So, I heard it’s pretty harsh... even some chemists were saying it isn't really fit for drinking...

It drives me nuts when people go on some crusade against food additives, acting like seeing an ingredient code is the end of the world 🙄 Like, sure, eating greenhouse strawberries drenched in fungicide or whole wheat loaded with pesticides is totally fine though. Whatever... 🙂
Man, you just can't live like this anymore. You gotta chill instead of waiting for some cosmic ray to strike us all down and send us straight to hell😎

Look, peppers coming in from Spain or Turkey can end up with as many as 14 different pesticides on them. It’s a trick—they stack multiple chemicals so they don't technically break the legal limit for any single one.

We talk about progress, but I think food should be part of that. Instead, people today are eating worse junk than they were 400 years ago... where's the actual improvement? Mass-produced, nutrient-void garbage... and then everyone tries to fix the damage by popping pills. Big Pharma wins again. 😉

The only silver lining is the shift toward organic. It's pricier to produce, sure, but at least there's some oversight involved.

Whenever possible, I try to dodge the industrial stuff and actually eat something real for once. 😉

Kraft doesn't cause bacteria in urine

Taking excessive amounts of vitamin C can interfere with the test strips used during urinalysis, which might lead to FALSE positive results

The thing is, those testing strips just aren't specific enough...