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Barbeque sauce may seriously harm your health.

E

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
I have some Sweet Baby Ray's barbeque sauce here. It contains sodium benzoate as a preservative, and it contains 6% RDV for Vitamin C.

Mmmm... Benzene slathered meat. :roll:

It is no wonder that "everything" seems to kill you these days. Christ.

Text

 
Originally posted by: Eli
I have some Sweet Baby Ray's barbeque sauce here. It contains sodium benzoate as a preservative, and it contains 6% RDV for Vitamin C.

Mmmm... Benzene slathered meat. :roll:
Click to expand...

Should cook faster 😉
 
Shouldn't this be fairly easy to test? Mix sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid, and stick the results into a mass spectrometer. Shouldn't it be able to quickly show the molecular composition of the resulting mess?
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
Shouldn't this be fairly easy to test? Mix sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid, and stick the results into a mass spectrometer. Shouldn't it be able to quickly show the molecular composition of the resulting mess?
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Links make it seem as if it is shelf-life thing. Like the BBQ sauce sits on the shelf, and the longer its there the more and more %-age of sodium benzoate turns to benzene. Heat is also a factor too. Like if the BBQ sauce were left out in the sun, etc.

I also noticed this, from the first google hit "Diet and sugar-free drinks are considered more at risk because sugar has been found to help block the reaction. "
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
Shouldn't this be fairly easy to test? Mix sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid, and stick the results into a mass spectrometer. Shouldn't it be able to quickly show the molecular composition of the resulting mess?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you mean..?

The answer to your question is yes. Whether sodium benzoate in the presence of ascorbic acid forms benzene or not is not in question - it does.

The question is what the fsck are we going to do about it?

Benzene is highly carcinogenic. Not cool.
 
Edited for schnazzier title since the big words seemed to confuse people. :roll:

😛
 
How long are consumers going to wait before they simply refuse to buy products that include @#$@ like this? Seriously, you have people even in ATOT that will refuse to believe any of the many hundreds of preservatives used in foods are harmful unless you have unequivocal evidence of cancer. A little proactive guidance is necessary here.

I'm a broken record, I know, but buy products from responsible companies and you won't have to even consider such issues.
 
Originally posted by: Descartes
How long are consumers going to wait before they simply refuse to buy products that include @#$@ like this? Seriously, you have people even in ATOT that will refuse to believe any of the many hundreds of preservatives used in foods are harmful unless you have unequivocal evidence of cancer. A little proactive guidance is necessary here.

I'm a broken record, I know, but buy products from responsible companies and you won't have to even consider such issues.
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I agree, but there is one problem.. Companies rely on information from the FDA to determine whether an ingredient is safe or not.

I'm not sure you can place the blame squarely on the manufacturer in this case.

What I wonder is this: If we know that sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid form benzene.. Why don't they pull it?

Our bodies contain Vitamin C. Even if the reaction is slow, it seems unacceptable. 😕
Originally posted by: barfo
The meat you're eating it with also harms your health so meh.
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I completely, absolutely and whole-heartedly disagree.

Meat in and of itself does not harm your health, and proteins and fats are necessary for human life.

Benzene does harm your health. A single molecule of it has the potential to cause cancer if it takes out the right DNA strands. Of course, that is being a little extreme.. But it is possible. 😉 If someones cancer fighting mechanisms were that bad, though, they'd probably have died as an infant.
 
Take studies with a grain of salt. The way medical studies work is someone forms a hypothesis, such as "Eating seven lbs. of carrots per day can be fatal." Someone does testing, and shows that beta carotene poisoning exists in people that eat 7 lbs. of carrots per day.

Next, the news media sees the report and it turns into "Beta Carotene is Bad for your Health".

We've been using these food additives for decades and you don't hear of any problems. Until an official agency comes out and says "OK- we've proven this is bad", take it for what it's worth: the possibility that a study might be true in some circumstances.
 
Originally posted by: Fritzo
Take studies with a grain of salt. The way medical studies work is someone forms a hypothesis, such as "Eating seven lbs. of carrots per day can be fatal." Someone does testing, and shows that beta carotene poisoning exists in people that eat 7 lbs. of carrots per day.

Next, the news media sees the report and it turns into "Beta Carotene is Bad for your Health".

We've been using these food additives for decades and you don't hear of any problems. Until an official agency comes out and says "OK- we've proven this is bad", take it for what it's worth: the possibility that a study might be true in some circumstances.
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Whether sodium benzoate in the presence of ascorbic acid forms benzene is not in question.

We have indeed been using these preservatives for decades. And you're right, we have not heard of any problems.. until now.

I don't think many of you understand that environmental toxins have a cumulative effect. You need to avoid them wherever possible. Even if you're dipping deep fried hamburgers wrapped in bacon in the barbeque sauce, it doesn't matter.

Benzene is still an aromatic hydrocarbon and a known carcinogen, and it has no business being in my food.
 
Stop buying products that contain harmful/questionable chemicals/preservatives.

Stop drinking soda period. If you really need to consume something harmful, take up smoking instead.

Make your own BBQ sauce. It is neither complicated nor expensive to do.

Better yet, make better BBQ, as real BBQ don't need sauce. 😛



I hate to say it, but I view most consumers as fat and greedy pigs lining up to the feeding trough. They could make much of what the need for themselves, they could be creative, they could take control of their lives, and they could exercise restraint in their consumption, but oh no it's easier to just feed and feed on what you're given and then bitch about it after the fact.
 
Originally posted by: Vic
Stop buying products that contain harmful/questionable chemicals/preservatives.

Stop drinking soda period. If you really need to consume something harmful, take up smoking instead.

Make your own BBQ sauce. It is neither complicated nor expensive to do.

Better yet, make better BBQ, as real BBQ don't need sauce. 😛



I hate to say it, but I view most consumers as fat and greedy pigs lining up to the feeding trough. They could make much of what the need for themselves, they could be creative, they could take control of their lives, and they could exercise restraint in their consumption, but oh no it's easier to just feed and feed on what you're given and then bitch about it after the fact.
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No...they do that because their attention to other things is more important than spending all day making everything you need. Civilization developed and grew due to specialization: the fact that every individual no longer had to make everything they required...they could specialize in one area and trade services or goods for other things they needed.

I know I have better things to do than to hand make everything I eat every day.
 
Originally posted by: Vic
Stop buying products that contain harmful/questionable chemicals/preservatives.

Stop drinking soda period. If you really need to consume something harmful, take up smoking instead.

Make your own BBQ sauce. It is neither complicated nor expensive to do.

Better yet, make better BBQ, as real BBQ don't need sauce. 😛



I hate to say it, but I view most consumers as fat and greedy pigs lining up to the feeding trough. They could make much of what the need for themselves, they could be creative, they could take control of their lives, and they could exercise restraint in their consumption, but oh no it's easier to just feed and feed on what you're given and then bitch about it after the fact.
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I agree with your sentiment, and I am realizing this is what I'm going to have to do.

I still find it unacceptable, though.

Trader Joes, here I come. :roll:

 
Originally posted by: Fritzo
Originally posted by: Vic
Stop buying products that contain harmful/questionable chemicals/preservatives.

Stop drinking soda period. If you really need to consume something harmful, take up smoking instead.

Make your own BBQ sauce. It is neither complicated nor expensive to do.

Better yet, make better BBQ, as real BBQ don't need sauce. 😛



I hate to say it, but I view most consumers as fat and greedy pigs lining up to the feeding trough. They could make much of what the need for themselves, they could be creative, they could take control of their lives, and they could exercise restraint in their consumption, but oh no it's easier to just feed and feed on what you're given and then bitch about it after the fact.
Click to expand...

No...they do that because their attention to other things is more important than spending all day making everything you need. Civilization developed and grew due to specialization: the fact that every individual no longer had to make everything they required...they could specialize in one area and trade services or goods for other things they needed.

I know I have better things to do than to hand make everything I eat every day.
Click to expand...

Hey, it's your health and your life, brother. Just don't whine to me and demand various entitlements when all that McD's and soda ruins your health and cuts your life short. I took care of myself, and I won't be sympathetic.
 
Originally posted by: Eli
I agree with your sentiment, and I am realizing this is what I'm going to have to do.

I still find it unacceptable, though.

Trader Joes, here I come. :roll:
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As more consumers become proactive in their consumption choices, these suppliers will realize that they have to change in order to maintain market share and profitability. The only reason they're getting away with it right now is because the pigs are too busy feeding without looking at what they're eating. Hey, they got better things to do, right?
 
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