Re: What is the need for PHOs in food products?

[Guest guest]

--- In , " Sharon " <sharonz@v...>

wrote:

> When I was at the grocery store yesterday I was looking around

> at all the " modern " convenience foods. Just about everything

> has some combination of PHOs as an ingredient. Why is that?

> What is its function and why couldn't they just use regular

> fats? Is it because regular fats go rancid?

Assuming from the context that PHO is polyunsaturated hydrogenated

oil and not Vietnamese beef soup, the answer is yes, PHO has better

shelf life than real food. Of course, real food is better for human

life, but when it comes down to McFood's black ink on the bottom

line, shelf life beats human life every time.

[Guest guest]

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

> When I was at the grocery store yesterday I was looking around at

all

> the " modern " convenience foods. Just about everything has some

> combination of PHOs as an ingredient. Why is that? What is its

> function and why couldn't they just use regular fats? Is it because

> regular fats go rancid? Even our favorite Montreal Steak Seasoning

has

> PHO listed. I called McCormick Spice to inquire and complain about

it,

> but was given, " it's in the formula " as the answer.

>

> Sharon

@@@@@@@@@@@

Well Sharon, this is a complex matter, and there are many interacting

factors that I believe to account for it. I will try to make a list

to keep things organized and impart some order to the multifactorial

tangle:

1. $$$$$$$$$

2. $$$$$

3. $$

4. $$$$$

5. $$$

6. $$$$$$$

Now there may be other things involved (e.g. $$$$, $$$$$$, etc), but

I think it is mostly driven by some combination of the above.

Hope this clears things up!

Mike

SE Pennsylvania

[Guest guest]

I knew it already, the part about $$$$.

Did you ever read The Lazlo Letters by Lazlo Toth (aka Don Novello,

the comedian who portrayed Father Guido Sarducci on Saturday Night

Live)? He wrote to various corporations with seemingly insane comments

and questions. I have occasionally written similar letters with

hilarious results. Email, of course, makes it easier to do. I think

I'll mount a PHO (no, not the soup) campaign.

That reminds me about the email I sent in Dec. to the American Beef

Board after reading an article in the Burlington (VT) Freepress about

how the Beef Board was condoning irradiation to kill mad-cow disease.

Finally got an answer from them the other day and they told me " the

Beef Board does not have a feeling one way or the other about

irradiation. " Yeah, right. Oh, I so believe that.

Sharon

> @@@@@@@@@@@@@

> > When I was at the grocery store yesterday I was looking around at

> all

> > the " modern " convenience foods. Just about everything has some

> > combination of PHOs as an ingredient. Why is that? What is its

> > function and why couldn't they just use regular fats? Is it because

> > regular fats go rancid? Even our favorite Montreal Steak Seasoning

> has

> > PHO listed. I called McCormick Spice to inquire and complain about

> it,

> > but was given, " it's in the formula " as the answer.

> >

> > Sharon

> @@@@@@@@@@@

>

> Well Sharon, this is a complex matter, and there are many interacting

> factors that I believe to account for it. I will try to make a list

> to keep things organized and impart some order to the multifactorial

> tangle:

>

> 1. $$$$$$$$$

>

> 2. $$$$$

>

> 3. $$

>

> 4. $$$$$

>

> 5. $$$

>

> 6. $$$$$$$

>

> Now there may be other things involved (e.g. $$$$, $$$$$$, etc), but

> I think it is mostly driven by some combination of the above.

>

> Hope this clears things up!

>

> Mike

> SE Pennsylvania

[Guest guest]

>When I was at the grocery store yesterday I was looking around at all

>the " modern " convenience foods. Just about everything has some

>combination of PHOs as an ingredient. Why is that? What is its

>function and why couldn't they just use regular fats? Is it because

>regular fats go rancid?

Exactly. It's hard to store regular fats, unless they are saturated.

They used to use saturated fats more, like coconut oil, believe

it or not, and there was this big health scare about the dangers

of tropical oils (fueled by the soy industry, I wouldn't doubt).

So the manufacturers all switched, overnight practically, to

" healthy " oils. The economies of some island countries collapsed

as a result ... coconut oil used to be cheap and easy to get!

Now, ironically enough, the " trans fat " scare is beginning to do

the same thing, and a lot of manufacturers are going back to plain

oils. Albeit not tropical oils, yet. The unhydrogenated oils don't

go rancid if light doesn't hit them and the bag is tight, so some

chip makers are now using " metalized " bags.

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

At 09:27 AM 2/28/04 -0800, you wrote:

>Exactly. It's hard to store regular fats, unless they are saturated.

>They used to use saturated fats more, like coconut oil, believe

>it or not, and there was this big health scare about the dangers

>of tropical oils (fueled by the soy industry, I wouldn't doubt).

>So the manufacturers all switched, overnight practically, to

> " healthy " oils. The economies of some island countries collapsed

>as a result ... coconut oil used to be cheap and easy to get!

Was in the regular grocery store this morning, walked past a big

already-popped popcorn display. All over both the display rack and each

bag was splashed, in REALLY big letters:

" NO COCONUT OR PALM OILS USED!! "

MFJ

Any moment in which you feel like dancing is a perfect moment.