Suspicions Confirmed
Frankenfood, that's what it is. But who's surprised, anyway? In a way it's no more than I might have anticipated. All those artificial preservatives in off-the-shelf food, to ensure they appear to remain fresh until purchased and finally consumed by a trusting public. In an age when people are busy and no longer have the time to prepare basic foods on their own as they once did, it's inevitable that our pre-prepared food products are infused with chemical preservatives.
And are they effective? You bet. I'm always surprised at the length of time it takes an overlooked, forgotten, plastic-bagged bread product to display mould or any other signs that it's beyond redemption as even resembling something serviceable in the food department. In our house we have a habit of keeping bread in the refrigerator. To maintain its 'freshness' for as long as possible. And because one of us insists on a diversity of bread products no one type of bread is consumed steadily to ensure it doesn't stick around too long.
Necessitating constant rummaging about in there on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator to ensure there are no little bits and pieces of old bagels, English muffins, rye bread, pumpernickel, onion rolls, French bread, Egg-braid bread, or Schickelmeyer's sunflower rye bread left over to rot and moulder. If it's been in there over a week and still looks and feels and smells good - toss it. Although dry French bread is good for toasted bread cubes, and dry Egg-braid is great for French toast.
Now comes word through a little human-interest news story that an 85-year-old woman kept a loaf of white bread (cottonbattenbread) in a cupboard at her home in Ellerslie, P.E.I. for eight months. She had bought the loaf, used two slices for a sandwich, re-wrapped the bread, left her home to live with her daughter nearby for the winter, and returned home in the spring. Where, honestly, she discovered the loaf in what is described as "pristine" condition.
No mould, looked fresh, smelled good, tasted good. "We've been working to create breads for NASA's shuttle program that last that long and haven't succeeded" said a University of Guelph professor in response to the furore over the discovery. A spokesman for the bread manufacturer, Maple Leaf Foods, said preservatives are added to his company's products to deter mould growth, but preservative levels are uniform in most commercially baked goods.
"Bread is a product that is regulated by the government, so there are only specific ingredients that we are allowed to put in there and specific amounts we can put in", he said. Oops. This elderly lady did partake of the loaf of bread back in early November of 2006. It remains now to be seen whether she too may now manifest signs of endurance beyond the date stamped.
As for me, I'm not surprised. That stuff really is Frankenfood of the first order. None for me, thank you very much. I'd bake all of our own bread, trouble is, I'm the only one who'll eat it; my husband is fond of the commercial varieties, even cottonbattenbread.
Ugh.
And are they effective? You bet. I'm always surprised at the length of time it takes an overlooked, forgotten, plastic-bagged bread product to display mould or any other signs that it's beyond redemption as even resembling something serviceable in the food department. In our house we have a habit of keeping bread in the refrigerator. To maintain its 'freshness' for as long as possible. And because one of us insists on a diversity of bread products no one type of bread is consumed steadily to ensure it doesn't stick around too long.
Necessitating constant rummaging about in there on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator to ensure there are no little bits and pieces of old bagels, English muffins, rye bread, pumpernickel, onion rolls, French bread, Egg-braid bread, or Schickelmeyer's sunflower rye bread left over to rot and moulder. If it's been in there over a week and still looks and feels and smells good - toss it. Although dry French bread is good for toasted bread cubes, and dry Egg-braid is great for French toast.
Now comes word through a little human-interest news story that an 85-year-old woman kept a loaf of white bread (cottonbattenbread) in a cupboard at her home in Ellerslie, P.E.I. for eight months. She had bought the loaf, used two slices for a sandwich, re-wrapped the bread, left her home to live with her daughter nearby for the winter, and returned home in the spring. Where, honestly, she discovered the loaf in what is described as "pristine" condition.
No mould, looked fresh, smelled good, tasted good. "We've been working to create breads for NASA's shuttle program that last that long and haven't succeeded" said a University of Guelph professor in response to the furore over the discovery. A spokesman for the bread manufacturer, Maple Leaf Foods, said preservatives are added to his company's products to deter mould growth, but preservative levels are uniform in most commercially baked goods.
"Bread is a product that is regulated by the government, so there are only specific ingredients that we are allowed to put in there and specific amounts we can put in", he said. Oops. This elderly lady did partake of the loaf of bread back in early November of 2006. It remains now to be seen whether she too may now manifest signs of endurance beyond the date stamped.
As for me, I'm not surprised. That stuff really is Frankenfood of the first order. None for me, thank you very much. I'd bake all of our own bread, trouble is, I'm the only one who'll eat it; my husband is fond of the commercial varieties, even cottonbattenbread.
Ugh.
Labels: Peculiarities, Whoops
posted by Pieface @ 6:20 PM
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