OpenCola

Post by anon373839 » Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 4:06 AM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #101

lock-the-spock wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This only means the flavours are derived from natural products like plants, bark, meat, milk, bone, etc. So not fully synthetic flavours (which are often from oil/gas), but still these will not be anything you would ever guess or recognise. Companies that use actual 'natural' flavours usually list them in the ingredientsas consumers take these as signals of the product being 'healthy' (e.g. fruit concentrates like ap…

But "natural flavors" are the entirety of what Coca-Cola uses for flavoring, including real vanilla and cinnamon and all the rest. Whether it uses actual kola nut or not, there's no way of knowing. Things like fruit concentrates can't be listed as natural flavors, because they're still the actual full fruit.

Post by freedomben » Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 2:06 PM UTC

mrguyorama wrote: post #84

freedomben wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with ethanol gas. If not for the corn subsidies, it wouldn't be cheaper. Also much more gas is burned growing/harvesting the corn and electrical powering the process than is saved in emissions (there was a great piece on HN of this some time ago), so it's a net negative to the environment. It's so dumb it hurts, but Iowa is an early presidential election state, so good luck finding someone who will go in and tel…

The actual reason we stay on ethanol as a fuel additive is not about saving the planet: It's simply a good octane booster for the kinds of reliable octane you need in modern engines. Before, we had leaded gas which is bad, then MTBE which kept poisoning water tables. In contrast, using 15% ethanol uses 15% less gas at a time when we were desperately trying to not be held by the balls by the middle east gas sellers, i…

Post by magicpin » Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 3:48 PM UTC

throwitaway222 wrote: post #49

crazygringo wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all, surface salt doesn't taste nearly as good as food that is salted throughout. Every chef knows this. Not to mention that salting foods before cooking changes their texture as well. This is why a steak that is salted an hour before grilling is far more flavorful and has a better texture than one cooked without salt, but salted at the table. And it's not a subtle difference, either -- we're talking night-a…

That might be true, but it takes toooo much salt. So I prefer to salt after cooking, right before eating because it requires way less and gives roughly the same effect. The reason a chef "knows this" is because if you judged their food with or without salt, the salt one would win, so in the end they're required to add waaay to much salt, when the tongue just needs those surface crystals. Healthier to salt after, and…

Post by anon373839 » Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 11:15 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #114

anon373839 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember reading that there are biotech companies that basically engineer custom flavors for products like Coke and Doritos, flavor compounds that have a powerful impact and which no one else can get. Despite the engineered nature, they qualify for labeling as “natural flavors”.

Unless you can point to a source, that sounds exactly like all sorts of urban legends I grew up with... (The most popular one was that KFC had started using initials for its name because its chicken had similarly been so "engineered" they weren't legally allowed to call it chicken... 100% false, of course.)

Post by safety1st » Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 4:38 AM UTC

3523582908 wrote: post #20

safety1st wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm gonna poke at this only because some people take the anti-sugar message too far and use it to rationalize away the stuff that's really killing them. Refined sugar is certainly not good for you, but a 12oz can of Coke - is 140 calories. That's about 6% of the recommended daily caloric intake. Calories RDI is about 2000-2500 for most people. But most Americans eat more like 3000-3500 and don't exercise. You can dri…

For me, the issue with Coke isn't that one Can can kill you. It's that I never seem to be able to drink only one can. When I drink Coke, it becomes the primary way I hydrate. So five, six cans a day is not uncommon. I can't speak for everyone, but I've known plenty of other people who end each workday with 5+ cans of Coke on their desk. Personally, when I was drinking coke regularly, I was >30% body fat. Now that I'v…