as small as a world and as large as alone

11:25am August 31, 2014

chaosphaere:

compoundchem:

Followers of the site on Twitter or Facebook might have already spotted this graphic. If you’re unaware of the Food Babe, or her latest crusade of misinformation regarding chemicals in Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte, then this post might not make much sense, but you can at least be thankful you’ve had a facepalm-free day. If you have spotted some of the fallout of her ‘revelations’, here’s a quick image I threw together for you to show to anyone who’s unsure about the claims being bandied around.

Now, I don’t even like Starbucks all that much (and confess to never having had a Pumpkin Spice Latte). I’m also all for transparency about the various substances added to food and drinks. However, spreading wilful misinformation about chemicals added to food isn’t helping matters at all in that regard - if anything, it’s only going to make manufacturers more reticent to make publicly available the ingredients in their products, for fear of the scientifically illiterate coming at them with pitchforks.

References:

• FDA Q&A on 4-MEI
• Carcinogenicity studies of caramel colour IV
• Critique of carcinogenicity tests
• Review of toxicological effects of carrageenan
• Lethal doses of common chemicals

Hating on Pumpkin Spice Lattes?? SOMEONE’S the Fun Police. 

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