"food" products

Somebody else got the editor job. Ah well, as long as she does a good job I'm happy...and as long as Angelah doesn't hire too many people for the store in the fall, I'll be making more money.

So I wrote off 52 bags of expired Crispers today. For a store this size that's a lot. Anyway I took a gander at the ingredients because that's what I do...you know, 5 years of vegan training and all. Those mothafuckas have a lot of weird shit in them. My mission this afternoon, should I choose to accept it (and I do), is to look up the ingredients of which I don't know the original source. And I'm taking you along for the ride. Here we go:

Sodium acid pyrophosphate: This would appear to be one of those mysterious chemicals that are spontaneously generated in test tubes, as I could find plenty of information on its usage but nothing on its source. Apparently it's considered safe for use in food. Good thing.

Sodium Stearoyl-2-Lactylate: Could be made from milk products but not always. I know it also has vegetable sources, I learned that in grade 12.

Sodium Bisulphite: Not sure where it comes from, but apparently it's also used as a bleaching agent in the pulp and paer industry.

Ascorbyl palmitate: It's made from ascorbic acid, sulfuric acid and palmitic acid. Which, of course, magically appear in the test tubes.

Sodium acetate: Used as a runway de-icer.

Monosodium glutamate: According to Wiktionary, it's "the mono sodium salt" of glutamic acid, an amino acid that comes from plant and animal tissues. Best known for bringing to mind images of lab rats with brain tumours.

Annatto: A seed, used to colour stuff.

Sodium metabisulphite: Apparently it's not allowed to be added to wine in Australia.

Until sodium acid pyrophosphate grows on trees, I think I'll stick to crackers. Even chips - at least Lays are now trans fat free, even if they do still give you cellulite.