Whats what in food????

[lost the plot]

Just thought it would be good if people could tell each other what thing are that are writen in "scientific" talk. Ie what each e-number is and what it is made of? What is REALLY totaly organic and meat free. I know that conchaneil (don`t think that is spelt right) red food colouring ( in things like tikka masala) , is made from crushed up beatles, this is also used in lipsticks, Not sure what the e-number is for this?? Also i know that crushed beatles are used for shining up apples. And gelatin is an animal derivative, so anything with gelatin is not sutable for true vegitarians. I would be very interested to know what each e-number is and made of?

[Shortie]

Am I going to get totally grossed out reading this thread as it goes on? Euwwww.... crushed beetles?

[lost the plot]

I wasn`t too fussed about eating crushed beetles, After all it`s just another form of meat! The beetle come from cati plants i beleive!

[Waffler]

I thought everyone knew about the old crushed beetles.

My dad told me at the weekend, that the reason shop-bought tomatoes lack flavour is because they're sprayed with something (hormone?) to turn them red, so they're actually not yet ripe. It's to do with transporting them.

[Nicos]

I have an oldish book called ' E for additives ' by Maurice Hanssen ISBN no 0-7225-1150-7
Lists every E-no , its origin, function, adverse effects and typical products where it is used.
You might be able to order one still??

Quote... E 120 -Cochineal is the natural red colour from the egg yolks and the fatty parts of the dried female insect [I]Dactilopius coccus[I] a native of central America, and the Canary Islands. It is now used fairly rarely because of high cost but is available as cochineal food colour for home cooking. Largely replaced by E 124 in manufacturing.... (It should also be avoided by hyperactive chidren)

Hope that is helpful??

[Birdie Wife]

Some wine is also unsuitable for vegetarians because it is cleared using isinglas, which is made from fish. Just in case you wondered! I would guess tomatoes are sprayed with the same thing as bananas to make them ripen, it's not a colouring but a natural hormone. Even so, because the fruit hasn't been ripened naturally on the plant for as long as it would do naturally, it doesn't have the same taste.

I thought they made cochineal artificially now? Could be wrong.

[Alice]

I'm sure I saw a Birds Eye advert that said farmed salmon are fed with some kind of dye agent to give them the pink colour wild salmon get naturally from their food. Is that right ??

[Palustris]

Yes, it is.
Beetroot is often used (or an extract of) in place or cochineal. A lot of fruit is irradiated to stop it rotting so prolonging storage life. Try cutting open a bought apple and a home grown one and seeing which one goes brown first! Our birds will not eat a shop bought apple, but quickly demolish one of our own.

[Alice]

Hello Lost the plot, the list of E numbers is endless but if you just type it into Google you'll find all the information you are looking for. The Food Standards Agency site seems to be written in plain English.

[Snadger]

I'm sure I saw a Birds Eye advert that said farmed salmon are fed with some kind of dye agent to give them the pink colour wild salmon get naturally from their food. Is that right ??

The annoying thing is they 'brag' about only using wild salmon and slag off the farmed fish which at least are trying to take the pressure off the wild stock!

[Snadger]

Whale's puke for the smelly part of eu-de-cologne?

[HappyMouffe]

A lot of fruit is irradiated to stop it rotting so prolonging storage life.

Irradiation is illegal for all but a few herbs and spices in the UK. Only one site in the UK is licenced to irradiate food, and it is illegal to import food into the UK which has been irradiated, unless it is on the list of permitted irradiated food. The Food Standard Agency regularly monitors imported foods to check for evidence of irradiation.

Browning in apples is due to an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. This enzyme is natural and browning will occur in any apple when cut open. Variety, level of ripeness, naturally varying levels of acidity in the fruit will all have an effect on how rapidly the apple browns.

All additives used in the UK have to comply with European safety legislation. That is all an 'E number' is - the the 'E' standing for European, and the number showing what role the chemical has. Having an E number does not make a chemical 'nasty' - vitamin C has an E number, and sodium benzoate (a preservative) is derived from a variety of fruits. In fact, the level of sodium benzoate in fresh organic cranberries can exceed the maximum level allowed in foods in the U.K.

I fully understand that on a site such as this it is natural to be interested in organic/home-grown/local foods but it is important to be aware that a lot of these stories about nasty chemicals in foods are often just not true. The UK food industry isn't perfect, but it's not quite as bad as some people think.

Certainly, nothing with gelatin, cochineal or isinglas in it would ever be labelled as suitable for vegetarians.

Sorry - got a bit carried away

[beefy]

I'm sure I saw a Birds Eye advert that said farmed salmon are fed with some kind of dye agent to give them the pink colour wild salmon get naturally from their food. Is that right ??

Yep its true allright. Wild salmon get the pink colour from a diet of prawns . If your a farmed salmon swiming round in a cage at sea you arnt getting anything except what comes in the pellets that the fiish farmers feed you.

Snadger the problem with farmed salmon is that the cages cause a vast pollution problem where they are sited .If you want I can direct you to info on the problems as it would take up to much space here but as a keen fisherman I would not have farmed salmon in the house.If you remember a year or so ago there was a scare about farmed salmon being full of cancer causing chemicals etc . I would say that that would be the least of your problems eating fish that have been kept in cages so tightly packed that they start to aet each others tails and fins .

Anyone want to know how the big rotisserie of kebab meat that you see in the kebab shop window is made ?

[Alice]

Thanks for all that info HM. Food is like everything else. Everybody sets their own standards. I think I go a middle way myself, looking for the best of both worlds - home grown and commercial. Sure that's true of most of us.

Thanks for the blog. Enjoyed it.

[HappyMouffe]

thank you Alice
I think i go the middle way too - I'm very keen to reduce the distance my food travels before it gets to me. Went to a lecture last week on food production and transport & the amount of carbon dioxide produced because of it - scary. Hopefully growing my own (what little the slugs leave of it anyway) will help (in a very tiny way) reduce this.