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Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

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Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#81
post #78
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sort of makes one stick with whole ingredients. If you want flour that is relatively bug free, grind your own wheat. No packaged goods. Certainly shrinks one's choices but it might be the right thing to do to encourage more transparent suppliers.

Are bugs in flour really that big of a health concern?

It makes it difficult to calculate one's protein intake.

Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#82
post #73
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a big problem in the USA, but much of Europe is far stricter about food labeling.

No joke, a big thing I noticed the first time I went outside America was, "Holy shit, the food is real." No matter where I go, I find cheap food that's simply better quality than anything that's even mid-range in the US. It's especially noticeable with snacks/junk food, where everything in America is some odd artificial flavor that tastes nothing like what it claims to be, while (particularly in Japan) things taste e…

Agree with the exception of mainland China where processed food is even more race to the bottom than in the US. Recommend that you assume food served on internal flights is inedible and plan accordingly.

Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#83
post #78
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sort of makes one stick with whole ingredients. If you want flour that is relatively bug free, grind your own wheat. No packaged goods. Certainly shrinks one's choices but it might be the right thing to do to encourage more transparent suppliers.

Are bugs in flour really that big of a health concern?

I guess it depends on the person. For example, flour is currently allowed 150 insect filth/fragments per 100 grams [1]. Your reaction will vary to this information but mine is to try to forget this information as soon as possible because I love bread and I am not ready to get a wheat grinder (though I have seen a nice portable one in a Mormon household that I will probably purchase one day). Similarly, in Montreal, it was recently discovered that turkey sausages were mostly chicken and 'pure beef' sausages were made of horse meat [2]. A certain fish that looks like mackerel (edit: served as albacore) and is served as such in some places causes significant gastric discomfort if consumed in a large portion [3].

Food adulteration is a big deal and was much worse when regulation was loose/non-existent. My point was that whole ingredients (such as wheat berries) are a reasonable approach to self empowerment in terms of controlling what you put in your body. It is in my opinion more doable than running one's own farm or some such.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels

[2]: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/sausage-science-1.4234568

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escolar

Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#84

>“I was talking to a vanilla purveyor recently and he offered me tonka bean paste,” says Raquel. “I was like ‘If I want to use tonka bean, I’ll use tonka bean.’” One of my biggest issues with mislabeling foods. Sell me vanilla at the market price, sell me tonka at the market price, but don't sell my vanilla that is actually tonka at vanilla market prices. Same with scallops and stingray, crab and surimi, calamari and…

>calamari and pork

What?? Since when do they do that? What parts of pork have a calamari texture? I've literally never heard of that before

Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#85
post #83
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are bugs in flour really that big of a health concern?

I guess it depends on the person. For example, flour is currently allowed 150 insect filth/fragments per 100 grams [1]. Your reaction will vary to this information but mine is to try to forget this information as soon as possible because I love bread and I am not ready to get a wheat grinder (though I have seen a nice portable one in a Mormon household that I will probably purchase one day). Similarly, in Montreal, i…

My reaction to the insect in flour info is "yay more proteins". Why would one try to avoid it? I mean on a scientific level.

Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#86
post #84

>“I was talking to a vanilla purveyor recently and he offered me tonka bean paste,” says Raquel. “I was like ‘If I want to use tonka bean, I’ll use tonka bean.’” One of my biggest issues with mislabeling foods. Sell me vanilla at the market price, sell me tonka at the market price, but don't sell my vanilla that is actually tonka at vanilla market prices. Same with scallops and stingray, crab and surimi, calamari and…

>calamari and pork What?? Since when do they do that? What parts of pork have a calamari texture? I've literally never heard of that before

The idea is that the final part of the digestive system of pigs and squid tentacles have similar texture and appearance and the flavor can be similar, but so far there are no reported instances of the switch in meat sources happening.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14981406

Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#87
post #85
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it depends on the person. For example, flour is currently allowed 150 insect filth/fragments per 100 grams [1]. Your reaction will vary to this information but mine is to try to forget this information as soon as possible because I love bread and I am not ready to get a wheat grinder (though I have seen a nice portable one in a Mormon household that I will probably purchase one day). Similarly, in Montreal, i…

My reaction to the insect in flour info is "yay more proteins". Why would one try to avoid it? I mean on a scientific level.

Well, if only it was insects. It says insect filth and parts without specifying the proportion. People say 'yum' when they hear beef but it is a rare person who will have the same reaction to dung. Edit: also, if it was just insects, which it isn't, these insects are hardly likely to be the clean and sanitized crickets that are sold as flour.

Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#88
post #85
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it depends on the person. For example, flour is currently allowed 150 insect filth/fragments per 100 grams [1]. Your reaction will vary to this information but mine is to try to forget this information as soon as possible because I love bread and I am not ready to get a wheat grinder (though I have seen a nice portable one in a Mormon household that I will probably purchase one day). Similarly, in Montreal, i…

My reaction to the insect in flour info is "yay more proteins". Why would one try to avoid it? I mean on a scientific level.

Cooking is chemistry, enough adulterants in your flour would affect the final product. That's why there are different flours for different uses.

Also why are the bugs in the grain? Were they alive, or did they die in the grain after being doused with a pesticide somewhere in the mill and now you're eating pesticide too(besides the pesticide residue normally allowed on grains from spraying on the fields).

Re: Tonka beans – A delicious flavour with a toxic chemical

#89
post #45
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ray and skate is nothing like scallops. They are frequently substituted, cut out in little circles, and sold as "scallops". It is legal to do so (in the US.) The poster is complaining about mislabeling.

Frequently where? I believe this is yet another urban legend. The meat looks different.

And the taste is totally different
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