Jell-O is Made From Bones and Hides

We've all gotten those emails saying things like, "Send this on to 10 people in 10 minutes or you will have bad luck for 10 years," or "Forward this to everyone in your address book or you will lose the love of your life." We dismiss these as junk mail, but what about those ones that warn us of food dangers? Do you remember the spinach E.coli scare of 2006? This story happened to be true, and you may have gotten an email about it. So, how do we know which of these stories are true? I personally always check suspicious sounding stories, which my family sends me A LOT of, with Snopes.com. Here are some food myths, mostly true, that you may not have known about.

True

• Jell-O is made from bones and hides: Jello-is made from gelatin, which is made by boiling the bones, skin, and hides of cows and pigs to release collagen. The collagen is highly processed, dried, and ground into a powder.
• Cochineal and carmine, red food colorants, are made from ground up bugs: Love that red lipstick, or those colorful, red candies? You might want to check the label. Cochineal and carmine are red food colorants made from the crushed bodies of the cochineal insect. Although safe, the yuck factor is still there! Kosher foods do not use this food colorant.
• Prepackaged salads and spinach may contain E.coli: An E.coli outbreak from packaged salads occurred in 2005, and, since the source of the E.coli has not been found, the possibility of it happening again cannot be ruled out. The safe thing to do with prepackaged salads and spinach is to wash it off again, even though it is prewashed.
• Sun tea can contain dangerous bacteria: Sun tea is left to brew by sitting in sunlight, which can cause bacteria in water to flourish. Bacteria commonly found in water are given a chance to multiply and contaminate the tea because the sun does not heat the water to a high enough temperature.
• Mold that forms in pancake mix can cause a life-threatening allergic reaction: For this to occur, the pancake mix is probably old and has had exposure to mold. Pancake mix in plastic bags or other packaging that keeps out moisture are probably safe from formation of mold in the mix. Pancake lovers without mold allergies will not have to worry about the potential danger, but those with the allergies should be cautious about eating pancakes made from old mix. Even unopened boxes of mix can form mold, so it is better to be safe and throw out any expired mix.
• Green potatoes are poisonous: Green potatoes contain higher levels of a toxin called solanine, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and central nervous system paralysis when ingested in high amounts. It is unlikely that one person could ingest enough of this toxin for it to be harmful, but be sure to discard potatoes that have green eyes, sprouts, or green-tinted skins.
• Undercooked green onions have caused Hepatitis A outbreaks: Hepatitis A, a liver disease, is usually mild, although it can be sever, and is characterized by jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea, nausea, and fever. An outbreak of Hepatitis A in 2003 was linked to ingestion of raw or undercooked green onions, also known as scallions. I am not sure if the information on this outbreak is up to date, but, as far as I can tell, it is still a good idea to make sure your green onions are thoroughly cooked.

False

• Cooking food in a microwave causes it to become radiated and poisonous: While it is true that microwaves use radiation to cook food, it is not the kind of radiation we associate with poisoning. Radiation used by microwaves is nonionizing, while dangerous radiation is ionizing.
• Cooking hamburger removes the risk of mad-cow disease: The risk of becoming infected with mad-cow disease, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, as it is known in humans, is very low, but cooking your hamburger does not eliminate the risk. The only way to completely eliminate the risk is to burn the meat, essentially making it inedible.
• Eating carrots results in improved vision: Carrots are a good source of vitamin A, which is important for healthy eyesight, but eating them will not improve your vision.

Photo Source: stevendepolo via Creative Commons