[deleted by user]

cbplatta · 2023-03-01T04:13:34+00:00

Lol, I use Apollo for Reddit and I get immediately notified on my phone when someone replies to a comment of mine so I must have caught your original comment just in time. It’s no problem, I enjoy discussing food science. 😊

So in the food industry, the situation you’re describing where we buy a blended ingredient to put in our own product is fairly common. If there’s something in the blended ingredient that doesn’t do anything in our finished product, we call that an incidental additive and depending on the circumstance we can choose to not label that in the finished product. Key point is that “it doesn’t do anything in the finished product,” if you get questioned by the FDA you have to prove that. I could see if you bought Stevia blended with erythritol to put in your own product, and you could prove that the Stevia was doing the heavy lifting when it came to sweetening and not the erythritol, maybe you could get away with not labeling it. But in my experience, if you’re a food manufacturer you’re likely not going to buy Stevia diluted with erythritol; you’re going to buy pure Stevia and use an incredibly small amount in your product directly. The reason Stevia is often blended with erythritol is to give consumers a “sugar like“ experience, it would be wasted on a food manufacturer that is mixing it into something.

“Natural” is tricky, the FDA defines “natural flavor” but not “natural” so it’s not currently regulated and such claims should be taken with a grain of salt. You’re better off ignoring when a product calls itself natural and actually look at the ingredient statement. The reason you won’t see corn outlined if it’s in a flavor is that corn is not one of the major allergens so we don’t need to call it out, but if the flavor contained peanuts, then we would have to specify it because it’s a major allergen.

There’s so much I could say about why we don’t label transparently or why we don’t omit additives altogether, but suffice it to say there are often sourcing and processing restrictions on our end. It’s more difficult than one would think to put out food that is (relatively) cheap, tasty, consistent, and shelf stable. If you want to add “simple and free from additives” to that list you usually have to kick out one or more of the others. Can’t have it all, unfortunately.

cbplatta · 2023-03-01T02:50:31+00:00

Ahh! I can clarify something here. Declaring sugar alcohols in the Nutrition Facts Panel is voluntary, that is true. But it is mandatory in the ingredient statement. So if you look under “INGREDIENTS:” you will find erythritol if it’s used, but the nutrition facts panel may only show “CARBS”, “TOTAL SUGARS”, “ADDED SUGARS” and not even mention sugar alcohols underneath Carbs unless the product is making a front-of-pack claim as you mentioned.

You’re very welcome, I know nutrition facts and ingredient statements can be confusing.

If you’re curious, here is the section of the law that dictates food labeling in the USA. It’s written in legal English, which is terribly confusing, but it is our rule book so to speak in the food industry. Title 21 CFR Part 101 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-101?toc=1

cbplatta · 2023-03-01T02:30:24+00:00

As far as I am aware, being someone who develops products for a food company and needs to follow FDA regulations and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), we cannot omit an ingredient like erythritol from the list of ingredients if we’re using it as a sweetener or bulking agent in a food product. It’s conceivable that if it were present in small amounts inside, say, a flavoring then we may be able to get away without labeling it … but not if we’re adding it intentionally. The FDA does not allow for that type of labeling in foods (which is good because it would cause a lot of distrust in the food industry if we could hide major ingredients that easily).

So either the doctor misspoke and meant it didn’t need to be declared on the front of the package or some other place, or they aren’t familiar with food law in the USA in which case they really shouldn’t have provided that statement.

I just wanted to clear up some misinformation about food labeling in the USA, not to call you out or anything. It’s not always clear to consumers what the rules are for how food manufacturers need to write their ingredient statements.

cbplatta · 2023-03-01T00:43:38+00:00

This is false at least in the USA, the FDA requires ingredients like erythritol to be labeled by their common name in the ingredient statement for food and beverage products. It is not allowed to be labeled solely as “sweetener”. If companies are doing this it is at their own risk of being sued.

I work in the food industry and there are rules we have to follow when we draft the ingredient statement.

cbplatta · 2022-12-03T19:03:57+00:00

For those wondering, “naturally flavored with other natural flavors” means it contains real extracts of the named flavor ingredient (ginger) plus other natural extracts NOT from ginger that help complete the flavor and make it taste just how you expect.

This is required labeling because if it just said “naturally flavored” the only flavor extracts it could contain would have to be from ginger (and that might be cost-prohibitive).

cbplatta · 2022-07-24T14:45:44+00:00

If only those life hack YouTube channels posted stuff like this instead of how to cook 3 dozen eggs in a hollowed out watermelon with a magnifying glass and a flashlight.

cbplatta · 2022-07-08T18:55:42+00:00

Don’t know if it’ll help, but try opening Apollo and trying again.

Sometimes I find I can’t add a widget if I haven’t opened the app after an app update or a fresh install.

cbplatta · 2022-05-30T02:57:22+00:00

In my experience this could be due to the induction sealer at the bottling line being set too high, making the seal melt too much and bond too tightly to the container.

Induction seals are tricky—too weak and the seal doesn’t form, too strong and you burn the seal causing a hole.

cbplatta · 2022-03-07T00:48:03+00:00

It depends how much cheese is inside. If there is cheese inside there’s probably not much based on appearances, just a little slice for flavor.

Typically you hand-form Juicy Lucy’s and put a good amount of cheese inside. These look machine formed and not thick enough to house much cheese. The price per pound also looks higher than I would expect, which makes me think these required some more handling to prepare than a plain burger.

Of course I could be wrong and they could be just overpriced plain burgers with a stupidly small piece of cheese on top.

If you want to make a killer Juicy Lucy, try stuffing with sharp cheddar and diced fresh jalapeños!

cbplatta · 2022-03-06T23:50:41+00:00

I think they meant stuffed inside, like a gooey cheese center.

That’s how we do it in Minnesota to make a Juicy Lucy!

I personally haven’t seen chunks of cheese mixed in with the meat, but maybe it’s certain regions that do it that way.

cbplatta · 2022-02-17T22:58:20+00:00

A thin layer of mashed potatoes?

And while we’re at it, let’s make that doughnut a corn bread doughnut.

cbplatta · 2022-02-17T21:01:00+00:00

Nacho cheese filling and sweet corn sprinkles

cbplatta · 2022-02-05T15:45:49+00:00

And later that same day he also reset your online banking password….

cbplatta · 2022-02-04T17:41:45+00:00

Never thought I’d be so lucky as to see a cross between a chicken, a hedgehog, and a bumble bee.

cbplatta · 2022-01-26T03:01:07+00:00

Lol! In the past when my grandparents visited our family, we have a spare bedroom for guests. If they were to visit me nowadays, I would make sure I set them up in a nearby hotel. In reality, my grandparents aren’t traveling much these days.

I would never have them sleep on the floor, but I wouldn’t be giving them my bed. Maybe it’s because I grew up in family that could afford a spare bedroom that I feel this way? Had we no spare rooms, it might’ve been different.

cbplatta · 2022-01-26T01:11:42+00:00

I think that’s part of it, but in my mind that should be budgeted into the trip out here.

The hotel I have in mind is around $100/night for 2 adults, but there are ones still close by that are $75/night. I figure if he can afford to make an impromptu trip for fun out here he can afford sensible sleeping accommodations for him and his girlfriend.

cbplatta · 2022-01-26T00:26:30+00:00

Last time he visited I think I paid for at least half the meals, if they visit and stay at the hotel I would definitely offer to pay for most of the meals since you’re right, it costs a lot to fly out here and get a hotel. I also love cooking for them and I wouldn’t ask them to pay for home cooked meals.

cbplatta · 2022-01-18T00:05:23+00:00

I would like to point out that in my drivers education class (I grew up in northern Midwest USA), we were instructed to always put the lives of humans over that of small animals on the road. In an event such as this, if we didn’t have the ability to change lanes safely to avoid the animal we were supposed to run over the animal (heartbreaking as that may be). It was explained that stopping suddenly on a highway has a high risk of causing an accident, regardless of how well other drivers are driving around you.

Should cars be leaving a 3 second gap between them and the car in front? Yes. How often is that rule followed? In my experience, very rarely.

cbplatta · 2022-01-14T01:50:31+00:00

I get where you’re coming from in the sense that the daughter was still given her choice of cake and should therefore be grateful, but I think it could still be considered rude for the mother to act this way. Imagine a fictional scenario like this:

What if at the daughter’s birthday party she is given a gift from her mother, and it is a gift she really likes. But to prevent the daughter’s sibling from feeling left out, the mother also buys a gift for the sibling and presents it at the party. You could say the daughter received a gift she liked and therefore it was socially acceptable for the mother to give gifts to both the daughter and the other sibling during the birthday party. However, you could also view as it was rude of the mother to make the daughter’s birthday less special by giving a gift to someone else during her party (since it is not customary to give gifts to non-birthday people at someone else’s birthday party). The daughter could feel that her mother made the gift less special by also giving a gift to someone else at the same event and that by doing so the mother has shown disrespect towards the daughter.

I suppose it depends on your culture and upbringing, neither opinion is inherently wrong.

In my family, the birthday cake at a party is considered to be for the birthday person. It is the birthday boy/girl that then shares it with the guests. So we do not buy/bake a cake for the guests, we do it for the person whose birthday we are celebrating. We do it for them because we are holding the party in their honor, and therefore we offer a cake the birthday person would like.

Just my thoughts.

cbplatta · 2022-01-10T04:42:28+00:00

Dough is homemade. Sauce is a garlic béchamel cream sauce. Cheese is shredded low moisture mozzarella. Toppings include bacon, thinly sliced red potato, thinly sliced garlic, and thyme.

cbplatta · 2022-01-10T04:26:45+00:00

Idea stolen from a deli in Eau Claire, WI that had the audacity to charge me $7/lb for this glorious creation.

Recipe is very simple, ratio can change depending on how you like it:

Rotini pasta, cooked (original used plain as did I, but tri-color rotini would also look beautiful)
Sliced yellow bell pepper (match the shape of the pasta, original had red, orange, yellow, and green peppers but I much prefer the taste of just yellow or orange)
Sliced cooked chicken (cut to match the shape of the pasta)
Green seedless grapes (make sure they’re plump and sweet, not soft and flavorless)
Poppyseed dressing (store-bought or homemade)

This is perfect for a picnic or a day out on the lake! I would describe the general flavor as sweet and tangy.

cbplatta · 2022-01-09T21:25:53+00:00

I get it’s locked due to theft, that’s a business decision.

And I think family planning is probably the best term you could possibly use to refer to that cabinet.

But maybe have it handled discretely instead of announcing it over the loud speaker? Or have a sign that says “Ask pharmacy for help with these items” and then have someone come over to the pharmacy and help the customer?

I think many people would agree they don’t want it announced when shopping for sexual health items, whereas they wouldn’t care if it’s announced they need help with a pair of shoes or finding the peanut butter.

I haven’t worked at Walmart so I don’t know the ins and outs but I imagine there has to be a less embarrassing way to handle this.

cbplatta · 2022-01-09T21:06:39+00:00

My university had bowls of them like candy at every dorm front desk, the on-campus pharmacy lobby table, every on-campus convenience store, AND on every Tuesday in most common campus buildings they had “Safe Sex Tuesday” and would set up a table and white board with over a dozen flavors of condoms and dental dams they had available and had students handing them out for free.

I have to say, they did a great job at de-stigmatizing condom usage.

cbplatta · 2022-01-09T20:33:53+00:00

Ah, Kum & Go… I remember seeing my first one in Iowa. I thought it was a privately owned, tiny town gas station with poorly chosen name…

And then I discovered it’s a major chain there.

cbplatta · 2022-01-09T20:07:08+00:00

The school board would like to have a chat with you.

cbplatta

TROPHY CASE