No, I went to school for it, it's my career, and you just believe all the hype that gets fed to you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolemite
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No, I went to school for it, it's my career, and you just believe all the hype that gets fed to you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolemite
Perhaps if you enlightened us with your career choice, educational credentials, and some reasoning behind your arguements, I'd be more inclined to take you seriously, elf-boy.Quote:
Originally Posted by portnoyd
http://ffmedia.ign.com/filmforce/image/elf-10-1-sm.jpg
We really dont know if it is, because McDonalds and Burger King and all them spend a lot of cash to get studies squashed and what not.Quote:
All that stuff about chemicals and preservatives being harmful and bad for you is all in your head.
A modern McDonalds menu really is a miracle of science. Everything on the menu tastes exactly the same across the entire US, from Maine to Florida to Texas to Washington. And its cheap, real cheap. $1 for a double cheeseburger. You couldnt convince me in a million years that some of the stuff they do to get their "food" to that point doesnt involve things that are harmful to our bodies.
My career is in the food industry. I went to school here:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolemite
http://www.cookcollege.rutgers.edu/
For this program:
http://www.foodsci.rutgers.edu/
Which I graduated with a B.S. in Food Science. Afterwards, I worked for:
http://www.kraftfoods.com/careers/locations/index.htm
At the Division HQ in East Hanover, NJ, a.k.a. Nabisco HQ. I worked in R&D for New Products. First, as a Technician, then as an Associate Scientist with projects of my own. The low carb craze hit, and is still hitting them tough, so I, along with many others, got laid off. Now I work for an ingredient company who shall remain nameless, that produces hydrocolloids, such as xanthan gum, sodium alginate, carrageenan, and so on.
Reasoning follows below.
Fair enough. I can respect your opinion here because you backed up your reasoning, and didn't call me 'elf boy'.Quote:
Originally Posted by diffusionx
Yes, a miracle of 'food science'! Har har, *snort*. Food and process science is how we are able to get large manufacturing plants online all over the country, and producing food products in mass quantities exactly the same way. Great measures are taken to insure that the west coast plants produce identical products to the east coast plant. It is very scientific.. when I worked at Nabisco, they were working on consolidating production lines in order to close bakeries. This required taking an existing unused line at another bakery, and standardizing it. This was usually a six month process.
It's not really chemicals that make everything so uniform.. They are more based on keeping the food fresh, fortification, and making the food appealing to the eye and pallete.
I admit, however, that McDs is usually off the charts with their ingredients. It does not help any argument trying to convince you otherwise. They could probably make an equal product with 25% off the ingredient statement, but with a lowering of their margin (note: not cost you, but how much they are making off each sale). Cutting extreme corners in the name of productivity is the name of the consumer food industry right now. Companies like Kraft and Nabisco have whole departments dedicated to productivity, which is a nice way of saying 'Where can we save money here?'. People in these positions have to reformulate the products down in some way for their livelihood.
My point can be summed up by the whole MSG debacle. MSG is harmless. Completely. I did a group project on it for one of my classes. The reactions found were most likely do to a sensitivity to the spices used in Chinese cooking.
A lot of the ingredients bastardized by society and the media are because of episodes like this, and 'It has a long chemical sounding name so it must be bad' logic. Potassium sorbate and sodium benozate, two of the most common antimicrobial agents, are harmless. They have long, scary names (*gasp* one has a Z in it), but that's about all the bad that comes of it.
Now if you want to stray away from things that are probably bad for you, herbals and dietary supplements are the thing. Only recently has testing and regulation on them been ramped up.
Are you enjoying your career/job?
As much as one can enjoy the daily grind. (Hey, we can't all be morphix, right?)Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowutopia
I was originally going to go Comp Sci, but I found it beyond boring. So having my sights set on Cook, I looked at the other majors and Food Sci was so damn interesting. The first major course I took, the instructor, the best teacher I've ever had, said foods are not black boxes. Meaning, you just don't add this, add this, cook it, and that's all there is to it. There are reactions going on, interactions, and so on that take place, that understanding them is what food science is all about.
So, yes. Yes I do.
Do you think there will come a time when the market will demand better quality food from McDonalds and what not? I was saying last year that we may have turned a corner in the US, where people stop demanding nothing but "low price" (like I read somewhere, there has to be more to life and consumerism than just getting shit cheap, quality be damned) and start demanding "better food". Cause McDonalds is out of control - when I think of it I think of greasy, overprocessed food, a limp, ugly, lifeless looking burger, and basically all the negatives of capitalism condensed into one "restaurant".Quote:
I admit, however, that McDs is usually off the charts with their ingredients. It does not help any argument trying to convince you otherwise. They could probably make an equal product with 25% off the ingredient statement, but with a lowering of their margin (note: not cost you, but how much they are making off each sale). Cutting extreme corners in the name of productivity is the name of the consumer food industry right now. Companies like Kraft and Nabisco have whole departments dedicated to productivity, which is a nice way of saying 'Where can we save money here?'. People in these positions have to reformulate the products down in some way for their livelihood.
But now I see BK is introducing that ridiculously unhealthy omelot sandwich, and the hardee's ultimate burger... and I may have been wrong.
Which makes me sad.
Damn. Anything that affects the sales of Wheat Thins is bad. Sucks about your job, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by portnoyd
Where didn't I back up my reasoning? And is being called 'elf boy' really so offensive to you?Quote:
Fair enough. I can respect your opinion here because you backed up your reasoning, and didn't call me 'elf boy'.
I think Jack LaLane said it best: "If man made it, don't eat it." Okay, so that's close to impossible to adhere to for a normal, average person, but it makes sense. I mean, the guy's fucking 90 and can do physical feats probably no one here on TNL could. He must be doing something right.
There will always be a place for McDonalds - I don't think they will try to go higher quality. It seems like a better McDonalds could work - something that compared to McDonalds the way that Starbucks compares to Dunkin Donuts. High-quality fast food doesn't do that well, though - I don't think Baja Fresh is doing that well anymore. The Omelet Sandwich at Burger King sells a lot.
What will probably end up happening is Starbucks rolling out a more complete food menu at all of its locations. Starbucks will become the alternative to places like McDonalds, Subway, etc.
Virtually all mass-market restaurants serve overpriced, bad food, and that goes from McDonalds up to Cheesecake Factory. Cheesecake Factory bothers me more than McDonalds, because with McDonalds, everyone knows what they're getting - Cheesecake Factory's food is just as unhealthy, just as stuffed with chemicals, but it's more expensive.
I think we're seeing the beginning of that now, what with all the public backlash against McDonalds in recent years and their subsequent 'attempts' at improving their menu (salads, "white meat" nuggets, etc.). It may not be affecting their bottom line too much at the moment, but hopefully this sentiment will snowball and eventually lead to change. But change will only occur if it makes economic sense to McDonalds. If people keep buying their shit as is they won't change a thing.Quote:
Do you think there will come a time when the market will demand better quality food from McDonalds and what not?