The Official Adam Pascal Love Thread, part 14, version 2.0 — Page 27

The Fuse people?

argh, forgot about it again!

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Thanks for the recap brina. I'm sure it will be on youtube in no time.

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hey guys! how have you all been? school's been nuts. it was midterms so i've been really busy. and next week the kids are out of school *sigh* so i'll be just a little nutso next week.

anyway, what happened to the old thread?

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No kidding sweetdisaster. I feel awful for the people who have to live with those allergies; I can't imagine how difficult it must be for themselves and there families.

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And now it's even harder because everything contains traces of this and traces of that. It's not that the actual foods have changed, but manufacturers are now using these catch-all labels to cover their asses. Suddenly things I've been eating since I was three are no longer okay, which is really frustrating. The list of things I CAN eat is growing increasingly smaller.

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Label reading is frightening, because it reflects how processed everything is. Something you'd assume would be made of like, 2 ingredients is really made up of 30. It freaks me out.

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yikes, I don't think I've ever had Wonderbread, lol.

The whole obesity epidemic is scary. Have you ever seen that show "Honey, We're Killing the Kids"? I can't believe the amount of crap people pump into their children on a daily basis

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But if the actual products haven't changed and you were able to eat the foods before they started using catch-all labeling, why wouldn't you be able to eat them in spite of the new labeling system?

Technically, yes, that's the logical answer. And that's what I thought. It's tedious because although in most cases nothing has actually changed, you can't really assume that. So then you have to make phone calls and basically ask if they've changed anything. At first, I was like, "well, okay, if the answer is no, screw it -- I'm going to keep eating ___." I've always avoided things that say "may contain traces of," for obvious reasons, as well as "processed on shared equipment with," for similar reasons. But now there's this new "made in a shared facility with ___." Logically, I'd figure that's okay, because it seems like it just means it was made in the same building. But apparently there's been some research done that says even those foods are (and always have been) really dangerous. Those foods can and do contain traces of whatever it is they're marked for, and basically, if you've never had a reaction to them, you've just been lucky -- especially for people who are allergic enough that they can't even tolerate trace amounts, which I can't. That's why there are some labels that say "may" and some that tell you it definitely DOES contain traces -- in a lot of cases, whether or not those traces appear just depends on manufacturing sequence and stuff. Of course, a lot of companies ARE creating these really flippant catch-all labels that truly ARE just to cover all bases. Like the labels that are on all of Fairway's prepared foods now. They're all identical, saying that the food is processed in a facility that also processes.... followed by a list of about fifteen of the most common allergens, from milk to soy to shellfish. And really, are there going to be traces of shellfish in a chocolate chip cookie? No. That's the kind of label that doesn't help anybody with allergies -- it's a, "if you die, don't sue us because we told you so," label.

So in short, it's all really frustrating. In some cases, it's worth the phone call, but most of the time, it's just not. If you follow it far enough, everything is going to contain traces of something down the line.

Heh, that was so long-winded. Sorry! There's never a simple answer!

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Updated On: 10/20/07 at 12:43 AM

Did you know McDonalds french fries contain beef flavoring?

As far as I know, they stopped using beef flavoring when they were sued by a religious group over it. They also had to donate a large sum of money to PETA.

Anyway, I actually completely understand your frustration, _LaLuna. I've always eaten fish but gave up red meat and poultry when I was 12, mainly over ethical concerns, and I wish I would have never learned what gelatin is. I no longer feel the same vehemence about animal rights that I did then, but I still can't bring myself to eat foods with gelatin now. Probably because of the way I've conditioned myself to think more than anything. I really want a Smores Pop Tart.

Are you vegan? I have a lot of respect for vegans, even though I could never do it, hehe.

I've just recently sworn off all fast food all together - I just don't want them to have my money.

I agree about the vodka sauce - I was just reading a label a few weeks ago on some store bought vodka sauce, and it said "contains tomato, cheese, oil, etc" and it didn't mention meat. I made it for myself and bit into a huge chunk of meat in the second bite. I was so mad. And there were only like, 6 ingredients in the sauce. I don't understand how they COULDN'T list meat. That shows you how careful you need to be...it's scary. I can only imagine how frustrating it is for people with allergies.

Since I've been a vegetarian almost my whole life, I can also see how irritating it is to deal with people in the food business. I've asked multiple times if items contain meat, and have been told no, only to have an experience like I had with the vodka sauce. Arg

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No, there's not. She has one for regular pasta sauce though, so I think with a bit of tweaking, you can transform that into vodka sauce. You should write to her tho - I think she's still accepting recipes for her new book, that's definitely a good suggestion

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