Local chemistry teacher James Kennedy has done something very clever – he has given a breakdown of all the chemicals that occur naturally in food. This seems to be somewhat of a pushback to the knee jerk reaction people have when they see lists of ingredients in food and then freak out that it is not natural. Magic thinking 101 seems to kick into gear and they assume that foods that are natural have no chemicals in them at all. WTF they are supposed to be made up of is beyond me.
Hmm clever presentation of facts to lead to a desired conclusion – but really no surprises there. We know all substances exist in nature, nobody invented substances and then synthesised them together to make a poisonous soft drink. But some of them are harmful in certain quantities, or when reacting chemically with other ones. The balance of different substances in edible fruit, vegetables etc has been made by nature to fit the purpose. When we change the proportions and/or the mix of the substances, we look at something completely different.
I think mr chemistry teacher is misleading us a little bit here 🙂
I couldn’t agree more. When we finaly grasp the concept that just chucking in the right mix of minerals and elements etc doesn’t make food, food replacements or even soil for that matter we will all be better off