Synthetic Foods

Of all the many accomplishments of food chemists in recent decades, perhaps the most remarkable is the development of synthetic foods. The term synthetic food refers to a food not found in nature. Non-dairy creamer, mentioned in chapter 1, is often cited as a classic example of a synthetic food. It does not exist anywhere in the natural world and was invented by food chemists to replace a natural product, natural cream. Any...

The Ultimate Synthetic Food: Soda Pop

Carbonated soft drinks made primarily of water containing dis­solved carbon dioxide, artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, and other ingredients go by many different names in different parts of the country: pop, soda, soda pop, and tonic. These drinks are also widely known as soft drinks, although that term is generally used for noncarbonated drinks also. Soda pop may well be one of the world's first totally artificial...

Soda Pop and Nutrition

In recent years, some people have criticized soda pop on nutritional grounds. They argue that it scarcely deserves to be called a food since it typically contains few, if any, nutrients. As noted earlier, soda pop consists of water, dissolved carbon dioxide, artificial fla­voring, artificial coloring, and other ingredients. Chief among these other ingredients is sugar or sugar substitutes. Perhaps ironically, it is sugar and...

Caloric Sweeteners

Sweeteners can be classified into two general groups: caloric (or nutritive) and noncaloric (or non-nutritive) products. Caloric sweeteners are natural products, such as sucrose, fructose, glu- ~   75 1Л ТЭ С 3 о о. с 25 ГС 3 О 50 100 — \ * ■у — —   Sugar ■ - Corn s\ —   High-f weeteners ■uctose со rn syrup 1970   1975     ...

Artificial Sweeteners

Some people regard artificial sweeteners as the way to avoid the health problems associated with caloric sweeteners such as sugar and HFCS. These synthetic foods add no calories or virtually no calories to a person's diet. As of late 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved five artificial sweeteners for use in the United States. They are saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, ace-sulfame potassium,...

Ira Remsen (1846-1927)

ra Remsen's name is familiar to any historian of American science today. He is best remembered for two accomplishments: the first was the discovery in 1879 of o-benzoyl sulfimide, the compound now known as saccharin, and his contributions to the development of professional education in science in the United States. Ira Remsen was born in New York City on February 10, 1846, of Dutch and Huguenot ancestry. At his parents'...

Aspartame

Serendipity, the act of making a useful discovery of something for which one is not actually searching, seems to be an inherent part of the discovery of nearly all artificial sweeteners. Like Remsen and Fahlberg's discovery of saccharin, the discovery of aspartame was accidental. James Schlatter, a chemist at the G. D. Searle pharma­ceutical company, was involved in research on new drugs that might be used to treat ulcers....

Acesulfame-K, Sucralose, And Neotame

A third artificial sweetener, acesulfame was discovered accidentally in a manner similar to that as saccharin and aspartame: In 1967 Karl Claus, an employee of the large manufacturing company Hoechst AG, accidentally dipped his fingers into a chemical with which he was working in the laboratory. When he later licked his finger to pick up a piece of paper, he noted the very sweet taste of the chemical. This compound was later...

Cyclamates and Alitame

As already noted, the FDA has approved five non-nutritive sweeten­ers just discussed: saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose, and neotame. Others, however, have been developed and are under consideration by the FDA, the two most important of which are cy-clamates and alitame. The discovery of the cyclamates yields yet another fantastic story in the history of artificial sweeteners. In 1937 Michael Sveda, then a...

The Monsanto Company

No single corporation has ever done greater damage to the planet than Monsanto. —Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly, Issue #504, July 25, 1996. Life is not always easy for the world's chemical manufacturers these days. Companies such as Monsanto, DuPont, Merck, Aventis, Merck, and Union Carbide are being blamed for a host of environmental problems and health problems among humans and other animals. Chemicals produced...

Artificial Fats

The problems of sugar consumption notwithstanding, many nutri­tion experts believe that the most important health problems in the United States today stem from Americans' high intake of fats. Many Americans consume 40 percent or more of their daily dietary calo­ries in the form of fats. The FDA, the American Heart Association, and other health agencies, however, recommend diets containing no more than about 30 percent of...

The Center For Science In The Public Interest

But who will watch the watchers? —Juvenal (ca. 70-138 c.e.) In a democratic society like that of the United States, one function of the government is to protect its citizens from possible risks posed by large corporations. For example, the Food and Drug Administration is charged with the responsibility of watching over the foods, drugs, cosmetics, and other chemicals that are made available to Americans in the marketplace....