I recently saw a full-page ad by a US Beef Industry trade group, warning people about the chemicals used to make the new plant-based meats. Seeing it reminded me about the use of a chemical called Dihydrogen Monoixde in a lot of foods. So I thought I should post this here, for those interested, who want to research about it. Not a lot of people are aware of Dihydrogen Monoixde, and the chemical is prevalant just about everywhere. It's used as a fire retardant, and is the most commonly used chemical in the production of milk. The chemical is a major component of acid rain, it contributes to the greenhouse effect, it can cause severe burns, it's used in the distribution of pesticides (and even after washing, produce remains contaminated by it), and has been found in excised tumors of cancer patients. It's been found even in Antarctica now, but so far the US Government has refused to ban its production, distribution, or use. For a while, the town of Aliso Viejo here in SoCal moved to ban styrofoam (because it's also used in its production), but in the end, they didn't. Here's a webpage about it: Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division - dihydrogen monoxide info And here's an NPR story on it: Dihydrogen Monoxide Sparks Global Concern : NPR
Meh. I've heard several stories about the fake meat now, and two things can be true at once: 1. The beef and dairy industry are fully capable of big-dealing the unhealthy aspects of fake meat and dairy 2. Sometimes eating plant based isn't healthy. Example: French Fries and beer for lunch.
Sort of along this line, a long ago article about the hazards of smoking included a nasty selection of some of the many ingredients known to be added to cigarettes. One item that stood out a bit, and got some extra attention, was the cleaning agent "citric acid". Really now, who would want to consume anything with any acids at all, let alone this nasty "citric" acid? The overall article was clearly not a parody. I must wonder if anyone ever alerted the author to check for possibly far higher levels of this contaminant in their breakfast orange juice.
You are a few months early with your Dihydrogen Oxide "information". Those posts usually appear on April 1st. AKA: H2O
That's exactly right. Regardless of what your thoughts are on plant-based meats, the WSJ recently had a few long articles on how the Beef Industry is spending millions now to sow doubt in people's minds about their new competitors (everything from legislation to outlaw the use of the word beef, even if it says "plant-based beef" or "beef substitute") to a full-blown huge advertising campaign to discredit them. I've never eaten any of the fake meats before (even as Burger King, Carls Jr etc now serve them -- and they're available in every supermarket) but the other day my dad showed me one of the beef industry's full-page ads, in scary-style fonts, listing 5 or 6 random chemicals that it said was used in plant-based beef -- as well as some "other uses" for those same chemicals. My dad, who had recently talked about picking some up just to try, saw the full page ad and kept it to show me -- and was now very worried, saying maybe he shouldn't pick it up if there's all these bad things in it. It immediately reminded me of the Dihydrogen Monoxide "warning." And that's what I hate: whether it be websites propagating fake news, or websites selling snake oil after convincing you of the dangers of sleeping. And to make it clear: when I went with my dad to the market yesterday to pick some up for the first time, we looked at the ingredients of the 3 brands of plant-based beef they sold (the two major ones, plus one we'd never heard of before). And not ONE of the "scare" chemicals listed on the beef industry's ad were found anywhere on the 3 brands we looked at. So, we bought some yesterday, and will try it this weekend. I don't like deception, but unfortunately, as it initially showed with my dad, deception often works. For anyone who clicked on the NPR link in my initial post, the end of the short article explains exactly what "Dihydrogen Monoixde" is. It's water.
The whole "chemicals in your food!!!!" has always been more scare tactic than science. Some natural foods contain compounds that can cause you serious health issues, while some processed foods with tons of scary sounding chemicals are perfectly fine for you. The biggest nutritional issue I've seen with plant-based meats is their high sodium content. If you need to watch your salt intake, I would make plant-based burgers only an occasional treat.
I like the taste of the impossible burgers quite a bit. Can’t stand the taste of non-alcoholic beers.
But that is so corrosive. My high school science teacher used this term. It is a more accurate one for water as it reflects the chemical structure and properties better. Need the alcohol to numb the taste buds.
