It's made out of OIL! And Silly Putty! Are they trying to KILL US!!1!1!!

[Silent3]

I ran into a GD thread about something called, tertiary butylhydroquinone, or tBHQ. It's a "petroleum based" product. And also dimethylpolysiloxane, an "'an anti-foaming agent' also used in Silly Putty". (This is the article the thread is about: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?entry_id=66729)

These chemicals apparently are found in Chicken McNuggets. (Only American McNuggets, however, not British ones. Which goes to show, I guess, that the evil capitalists are more out of control in the US.)

Not one speck of evidence is brought up that either of these chemicals pose any particular health risks, however. No mention of the quantities of these chemicals being used. We're all apparently supposed to be scared and outraged simply because the stuff sounds... well, you know, so CHEMICAL! And YUCKY!

As food goes, McNuggets aren't the healthiest, most nutritious stuff around, so if you're really concerned about a healthy diet you probably aren't eating them often anyway. I can see many reasons not to eat McNuggets based on nutrition, taste, value for your money, carbon footprint, etc.

I can even sort of see the general argument for avoiding man-made chemical additives, based on a VERY loose argument that so-called "natural" and "organic" foods are less likely to contain substances our bodies haven't had a chance to have evolved to deal with.

The ZOMG! panic, however, and anger at the Evil Corporate Capitalists for having the unmitigated gall to put this stuff in our food, is quite another thing. (One reply, which I thought was going to be tongue-in-cheek at first, was titled "OMFG!!!!", then very seriously went on to ask, "Where the HELL are the regulations?! ...This is beyond SICK.")

The one other person in the thread who tried to speak calmly in the face of chemical terror is, naturally, being accused of being a corporate shill for McDonald's.

[lazarus]

1. I used to work in a chicken slaughterhouse/processing plant

I know where McNuggets come from. I don't eat them.

I do eat chicken, however, and have been called barbaric for doing so. Apparently, I relish the sweet, sweet taste of cruelty.

[TZ]

2. Anything that is a "chemical" is teh evil.

I had to roll my eyes at someone who complained about having to put "chemicals" ie prescription drugs into their body...ARRGH.

[Odin2005]

3. I was far more concerned about the poor-bashing in that thread.

And then there was this crazy post:

Ethnic groups gain the most weight HERE in the good ole USA than in their homelands. They eat the fast foods, which ads seem to target to minorities these days. White rice is refined flour, as is Wonder Bread. They have no fiber and people tend to actually resemble a 'doughy' pallor and shape! You don't need breads, even wholegrains. Stick to quinoa and brown rice from bulk bins, beans, fresh veggies (which are cheap at produce markets, by the way), in-season fruits...The most expensive things are animal products! You don't need them!

:crazy:

[laconicsax]

4. It wouldn't be a 'progressive' forum without poor-bashing.

Posts that reek of privilege are the bread and butter of progressive forums. It's a commonality between progressives and conservatives--both groups tend to resent the poor.

[Odin2005]

5. Food Woos bashing the poor make me gag.

[salvorhardin]

6. Dimethylpolysiloxane isn't an ingredient in McNuggets

It's used (in very small quantities) as an anti-foaming agent in the fry oil. So yeah, in that McNuggets soak up a good amount of fry oil, there is dimethylpolysiloxane in the McNuggets but in tiny quantities. It's used in a lot of things you probably wouldn't think to look for:

DIMETHYL POLYSILOXANE, ANTIFOAM A
Ruth Winter.1978. A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives. Crown Publishers, Inc., New York.
An antifoaming agent for use in processing foods in "amounts reasonably required to inhibit foaming." Used as a chewing gum base, in molasses, soft drinks, sugar distillation, skimmed milk, wine fermentation, syrups, soups, rendered fats, and curing solutions. Not to exceed 10 ppm in non-alcoholic beverages. No known toxicity.

Igoe, Robert S. 1983. Dictionary of Food Ingredients. Van Nostrand and Reinhold Company.
is an antifoaming agent which is used in fats and oils. It prevents foaming and spattering when oils are heated and prevents foam formation during the manufacture of wine, refined sugar, gelatin, and chewing gum. It is also termed methylpolysilicone.
http://food.oregonstate.edu/glossary/d/dimethylpolysiloxane.html