What The Heck Is That?

At the library one day, I ran across a book called A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives.  After disturbing everyone by screeching, "Where was this last year?!!!!!!!!" I checked it out and began perusing.

Our rules for last year were rather simple:
1.  No high fructose corn syrup
2.  No ingredients we didn't know
3.  No food dyes

To be quite honest, I have no idea if there are any health risks associated with food dyes or any of the ingredients we eliminated, so I can't just completely condemn anything as "good" or "bad," but I did end up with a lot of questions about what things were & why they've been added. However, this is not a book for the timid.  Or for those who don't know their science terms.  A few of my favorites:

*  Locust Bean Gum:  St. John's Bread. Carob Bean Gum.  A thickener and stabilizer in cosmetics and foods. Also used in depilatories.  [Though hopefully not as the active ingredient......]

*  Tetrahydroxypropylethylenediamine:  [which is being included here because it is the longest word I've ever seen] Clear, colorless, thick liquid, a component of the bacteria-killing substance in sugar cane.  

*  Xanthum Gum:  [besides being a killer word to know for Scrabble fans, this is what made most mustards off-limits for the year]  Used to thicken, suspend, emulsify, and stabilize water-based foods, such as dairy products and salad dressings.  It is also used as a "pseudo plasticizer" in salad dressings to help them poor well.  [Mmmmm, yummy!]

And, as I am trying to convince myself to get out there and start working up those garden beds, the book has a nice list of produce that is waxed:

cantaloupe

egglplant

oranges

peaches

grapefruit

rutabagas

persimmons

squash

cucumbers

sweet potatoes

tomatoes

and the list is not all-inclusive.  Apples should probably be on there somewhere as well.  I don't exactly mind them waxing cantaloupe or oranges, since I don't end up eating the wax, but just how much fruit can I eat before I have consumed an entire candle?  These are the things I wonder about when I'm really needing some coffee......