Have Another Bite of … Crude Oil?
By jmara
Sunday, February 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm in General.
Have you ever noticed the mysterious, vaguely science-fictionesque “polysorbate 60″ on an ingredients list for a Twinkie or other processed food? Turns out that it’s a mix of corn, palm oil and petroleum.
True! And it’s found in a wide variety of processed foods, food author Steve Ettlinger discovered in researching his book, “Twinkie, Deconstructed,” this newspaper reported Saturday. Niacin and food coloring (that’s yellow dye 5 and red dye 40) are also made from petroleum products.
I thought there was, um, an oil shortage or something like that? So, maybe not such a good idea to put it in what we EAT, you think? (Photo of yummy oil slick: ctd 2005.)
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February 26th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Did you know that palm oil is the single biggest threat to orangutans in the wild? Whether it’s being used in twinkies, shampoo, chips or biodiesel, the production comes at the expense of the rainforests of Indonesia– and every living creature that inhabits them…
Orangutans are facing a particularly brutal fate. I invite you and your readers to learn about how palm oil is pushing them to the brink of extinction. Check us out: Orangutan Outreach ~ http://redapes.org
Keep up the great work! Rich
Richard Zimmerman
Director, Orangutan Outreach
http://redapes.org
Reach out and save the orangutans!
February 26th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Richard, great to hear from you! Thanks for the heads-up regarding palm oil. I’m so sorry to hear about the orangutans. Palm oil is dizzgusting anyway. Nobody needs to eat that stuff.
March 14th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I was working with a rubber recycling firm a couple months back and was at Rubber Expo is Cleveland. A guy from Wrigley’s was walking around. Turns out bubble gum uses SBR - styrene-butadiene rubber, made from petroleum - as a gum base. Bubblicious.