Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site burl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!rcj
From: rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: nasty food ingredients
Message-ID: <899@burl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-Oct-85 17:18:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: burl.899
Posted: Thu Oct 17 17:18:53 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 18-Oct-85 01:33:40 EDT
References: <279@weitek.UUCP> <24@calma.uucp> <159@aplvax.UUCP> <887@burl.UUCP> <198@Navajo.ARPA>
Reply-To: rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson)
Organization: AT&T Technologies, Burlington NC
Lines: 44
Summary: 

In article <198@Navajo.ARPA> billw@Navajo.ARPA writes:
>> a minimum of 6 months.  I'd be interested to see if there has been any
>> research done on replacing existing chemical preservatives (BHA, BHT,
>> whatever) with more natural substitutes.
>> 
>Well, I don't beleive nearly any of the natural food hype, but by
>irradiating food with a nice gamma ray source, you can preserve
>it for months without adding ANYTHING at all to it chemically.
>
>Try to get the public to swallow THAT though.
>
Well, some of us "public" won't swallow that because, although the food
has been demonstrated fresh alright, there have been no studies that I
have seen that try to determine what irradiation does to food tissue and
how that relates to what it does to me when I eat it.  Other than that,
I am 110% for irradiation.

This brings up another interesting point:  Ever notice how there are
never any [reasonable] studies at all on how EVERYTHING that the average
Joe eats/breaths/absorbs affects him/her re: cancer, etc.?

"Small amounts of sacharrin don't cause cancer.  Yellow dye #N doesn't
cause cancer.  Nutrasweet doesn't cause cancer.  Therefore, all of these
are marked safe; the assumption being that if no one of them causes
cancer then surely the combination of all of them won't, either."

I mean, how many cooks do you know who say:

"Peanut butter tastes good.  Smoked oysters taste good. Guacamole tastes
good.  Therefore, I'll mix them together and have a great dish!"

[disclaimer:  The above is not a recipe and should be instantly forgotten by
		anyone who has a tendency to get the stoned munchies.]

Sorry for the poor analogies/examples above -- it has been a long day.
Comments/info disproving my hypothesis and/or showing that there have been
such studies are welcomed (hopefully via mail -- I'll summarize).  Flames
at my stupidity will be gleefully agreed with by my co-workers and then
tossed....
-- 

The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3313 (Cornet 291)
alias: Curtis Jackson	...![ ihnp4 ulysses cbosgd mgnetp ]!burl!rcj
			...![ ihnp4 cbosgd akgua masscomp ]!clyde!rcj