Any food additive with “cyanide” in the name makes me pause. Cyanide is one of the deadliest poisons known to man. Cyanide releasing compounds are found in some of the foods we eat and these foods must be thoroughly cooked or processed to render them safe. So, why in the world add such a compound … Read more
When major fast food chains like Taco Bell or McDonald’s are linked to food poisoning outbreaks, the media reacts in a more sensational way and the public tends to assign more weight to these outbreaks. This familiarity makes it seem as if fast food restaurants are responsible for more foodborne illness outbreaks than they actually … Read more
The way most of us think about the concept of an acquired taste for particular foods is completely flawed. The concept itself is grossly misrepresented and misunderstood by almost everyone who talks about it! This is not to say that how tastes are acquired is completely understood in all its aspects and that we know … Read more
I found this question on one of those Wired YouTube videos where experts answer various questions from the web. A microbiologist gave a less than satisfactory answer to this question: Can bacteria survive high temperatures and microwave radiation? Do we really need to clean our microwaves? First of all, yes, you need to clean your … Read more
Some folks like the crunch of raw pasta. They eat it as a snack or just for something to crunch on. Since fresh pasta contains not only raw flour but also raw eggs, it is definitely unsafe to eat. But, not many people would enjoy the taste of fresh raw pasta and children are more … Read more
This is how the story goes: In the UK, they don’t wash their eggs. So, the protective coating on the shell, the cuticle, is not removed. This means they don’t have to refrigerate their eggs. They will last much longer at room temperature. But, in the U.S. they wash their eggs and wash off the … Read more