Spice Extract
If I sound like Andy Rooney, or seem unoriginal by writing this, so be it. For having mistakenly read the back of a can of Campbell’s Chunky “Chicken & Dumplings” soup I had bought in case I needed it on a camping trip, I found myself confronted by some harsh realities.
First, by buying this can of The Soup That “Eats” Like a Meal, I earned one (1) point value for my school in potentially useful “free stuff”. I need not ask for the catalogue to see how many cans must be consumed, how many points are needed for say a box of photocopy paper, but I must add that Bazooka Joe bubble gum which had little comics inside each wrapper offered a value of a whopping ten (10) points, though I have no idea why they chose a different scaling system. Anyway, the main purpose of my discussion today is to discuss the ingredients.
I do not wish to disparage the product. Essentially there is nothing in an of itself really bad for you inside - but it is the ambiguity of many of the items printed on the label I wish to highlight in list form and in order of appearance.
“NIACIN”: It appears as a fortification in many aspects of the mealy soup: in the ’spaetzle dumplings’, the ‘enriched durum flour’ and the ‘bleached enriched flour’. I wonder why they feel the need or perhaps were given the requirement to mention it so often. Maybe it is one of those pro-cholesterol stunts.
“WHOLE EGG”: I realize they meant to differentiate between egg whites and yolks, but the idea of a single whole egg inside, perhaps shell and all is sort of funny to me today.
“SPICE”: This has been commented on before I am sure. What is the spice? What does it taste like? Where does it come from? It is very spicy or just mild?
“SPICE EXTRACT”: The very essence of the spice itself has been added in its purest form. What is this extract? Does it taste differently from the spice itself? A mystery wrapped in a riddle.
“TURMERIC”: I bring this up as a disambiguation only, for in Grenada they call this spice “Saffron”, which is not related to the flower-related saffron that is very costly.
“THIAMINE MONONITRATE, DISODIUM INOSITATE, DISODIUM GUANYLATE”: These are all essentially nitrogenous bases, some have been given dual sodium molecules. Their purpose I imagine is as preservative or flavor additive. Do we get to add more sodium this way and still get to say “CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF THE FOLLOWING: SALT”?
“BETA CAROTENE FOR COLOR”: This does throw me. Here they indicate the purpose of the ingredient. Why do they do this for some ingredients but not others? Perhaps it is some kind of coloring law? They did so for the turmeric actually, but not for the say the riboflavin. Maybe it starts to sound dumb. Imagine…”MODIFIED FOOD STARCH (FOR THICKENING),” “WATER (FOR THINNING),” “SPICE (FOR FLAVORING).”
Oh no, “SPICE APPEARS AGAIN”. Here it is listed under the “CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF THE FOLLOWING” category. HOW CAN THIS BE? It was previously listed BEFORE it as well. Is it a DIFFERENT spice altogether than that of the first? - Perhaps this is the remainder of the spice now that its essential extract has been taken from it.
“FLAVORING”: I think this is the best one. Is not PARSLEY for flavoring? Or is it only for color? Cannot ingredients have many purposes, including even nutrition or enjoyment? I cannot even imagine what this flavoring might be. Perhaps it is just some kind of chemical extract from a razor clam or something. Thank goodness they didn’t post their rationale for using it!
“BUTTER (MILK)”: This one is odd. Is it buttermilk? Or maybe they mean this is butter - it comes from milk. Why not have it say MILK (COW)?
Oh boy…MILK just keeps coming up again and again. “CREAM [MILK]” is listed. Yes cream comes from milk. But milk from comes the cow as we know. And…uh oh…get this…
“LIPOLYZED BUTTER OIL (MILK)”: This is really pushing it. I do not know of this milk oil, something coming from milk. Maybe it is a trade name, or a synonym for milk itself. Maybe this is what you get when you try to turn butter BACK INTO milk?
And here it is! The last ingredient is “SPICE EXTRACT”! Is this the same spice extract as the first one, or an extract from the most recent (though unnamed) spice? Maybe it is a second-run extract now that the butter oil as been removed? — Perhaps it would go well in a tall, cool glass of butter oil, perhaps with flavoring?
They left a number to call for questions. I am going to pass. There are certain mysteries best left unsolved.
01 Oct 2009 agkistrodon 0 comments