Proof religion is good for something

[Cardinal Fang]

I think it might be time to do a comparative experiment - all in the name of science you understand.

Mentos + fructose-containing Coke vs Mentos + sucrose-containing Coke.

In theory the sucrose one should produce a bigger fountain as the fructose suppresses bubble formation.

CF

[Ubi Dubium]

Except that its possible that neither will make much of a fountain. The Mythbusters did a series of experiments on Mentos, and it's Diet Coke that makes the impressive spray. Plain soda water also did OK. The suger/fructose sodas were apparently too viscous to spray well.

[Arkaeon]

I'm sorry, ADoS, I shouldn't have made that snappy response to your inquiry. I made an obnoxious post. I get even more bothered by bad industrialized food because of culinary reasons than medical ones, and I took it out on you instead of them. My bad. I've read so many labels on manufactured boxed food, only to be put off by diglycerides and HFCS and various formaldehyde substitutes in recipes left over from the early industrial food period (i.e.1920's-30') that I irrationally feel like everyone should share my disgust of it. As a longtime moody cook, I'm twitchier and more territorial in the kitchen than anywhere else, and it sometimes oozes out with the aromas.

[Almighty Doer of Stuff]

No worries, Arkaeon. I was just feeling kind of sensitive for reasons explained in RR&M's Good News Thread, so it probably upset me more than it normally would have when I came back to the forums and found that post.

So peace, and I look forward to reading more of your entertaining stories about your frozen heritage.

[TwistedSister]

Awh, I just love it when we can all play nice together.......
GROUP HUG!!!!

[Tigger_the_Wing]

[daftbeaker]

Pooface

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

formaldehyde substitutes

[Arkaeon]

Yah formaldehyde forms were used in milk, pickles, beer, and other food products. Stabler versions/relatives like formalin and ethylene glycol were still being used to "speed age" beer by some big USA beer brands and in some flavor extracts the last time I checked them. Food manufacturers in Asia have been caught using formaldehyde in the last few years. It's a cheap preservative, anti-microbial, and emulsifier that adds a little tanginess to flavor, and just happens to cause cancer, abortion, and respiratory inflammation.
In most cases, it has been replaced by "ingredients" like di- and tri-glycerides, sodium benzoate, sulfites, gluconates, and ascorbic acid. Some have their own problems, and some just look scary.

[Tigger_the_Wing]

Ascorbic acid is OK, though, isn't it? I thought it was just vitamin C.

[Arkaeon]

Yah, it's vitamin C, it's great. I just used the "chemical" name for it so I could have a "just looks scary" example.

It has even been used, apparently safely, in high enough doses to alter blood pH enough to improve viral resistance... like 100 times or more the US "recommended" amount required for nutrition, daily. Of course, enough of any such chemical will screw up your biochemistry and stress out your kidneys, eventually, but you'll never eat anywhere near enough by foods to get close to that.

People and chimpanzees do have the gene for making our own vitamin C internally, but due to a genetic error in our common ancestor, that gene is damaged and doesn't work, so we have to eat foods that have it natively. Some arctic people (no orange trees up there) traditionally got it from harvesting floating kelp bulbs. More weird trivia!

[Tigger_the_Wing]

Like Dihydrogen Oxide and Sodium Chloride and C2H5OH? All of which are deadly in large quantities?

[Arkaeon]

Precisely, although you could eat/drink enough of any of those 3 to kill yourself.

When I was working with the criminally insane, we had a few compulsives or schizophrenics who were over-hydraters. We had to measure their water intake and restrict them from faucets and drinking fountains or they would literally drink themselves to death by diluting their sodium/potassium levels until their nerves quit working. By acclimation, their body had learned to run on such low levels of minerals that most people would be in a coma.

[FaithfulPirate42]

Wow. I know anything will kill you if you ingest enough, but I had no idea some people compulsively drank that much water. How did they have enough time for anything else in the day? On a side note, you can drink enough water that it messes with your head and makes you feel drunk. Apparently, coming down from it is easy enough, you just drink a pop (soda/coke/carbonated beverage/whatever other wrong names you people might have for it). It seems chemistry and biology actually can be fun. On occasion. Oooh, DB, you should teach about that! Forget the periodic table and other such useless trivia, get your students drunk on water!

[FaithfulPirate42]

Wow. I know anything will kill you if you ingest enough, but I had no idea some people compulsively drank that much water. How did they have enough time for anything else in the day? On a side note, you can drink enough water that it messes with your head and makes you feel drunk. Apparently, coming down from it is easy enough, you just drink a pop (soda/coke/carbonated beverage/whatever other wrong names you people might have for it). It seems chemistry and biology actually can be fun. On occasion. Oooh, DB, you should teach about that! Forget the periodic table and other such boring and useless trivia, get your students drunk on water!

Gah, stupid interwebs and confounding computer! Quit conspiring against me!