A Story About Natural Flavors

Raffi Khatchadourian, Annals of Science, “The Taste Makers,” The New Yorker, November 23, 2009

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/11/23/091123fa_fact_khatchadourian#ixzz0YM9bc3Pt

If you haven't read this yet, do so immediately--only the abstract is available online, unfortunately--you now need a digital subscription to read most of TheNY online, alas, but you can get it from the library--I now do this for most of my mags--avoids the horrible huge pile of mags for the recycling.

ABSTRACT: ANNALS OF SCIENCE about Michelle Hagen, a flavorist at Givaudan, the largest creator of flavors and fragrances in the world. Growing up, Michelle Hagen lived near a factory in Cincinnati that produced what she and her sisters called The Smell. The aroma wasn’t consistent: it was dynamic and unpredictable. Many of the odors triggered specific associations—birthday cake, popcorn, chicken-noodle soup. She never imagined that she would end up working in the factory that made The Smell, but that is what happened. The factory belongs to a Swiss company called Givaudan.

I am totally fascinated by the science of flavor and flagrance chemistry, but in a Green sense this article is interesting as it seems to imply that many products that we don't think of as having flavor additives, in fact do so--it's that pesky "natural flavors" on the ingredients list...

If you like neon-colored sports drinks, or something with açaí or pomegranate or huckleberry on its label, you may well have tasted one of Hagen’s creations

My childhood driving past a factory scent memory was driving across the bridge (the Betsy Ross?) from PA to NJ to get to the shore in the summer--there was a booze distillery just by the highway and i remember how horrible it smelled
.

A later memory was the Dickenson witch hazel factory in Somerset NJ--this is still one of my favorite scents.

Ultimately...created from air...

Sorry to have such a tiny image, but this is the only one I could get to work. If you squint real hard you see an inoffensive acrylic knitted head warmer being sold in The Sundance Catalog for $28.00--not an unreasonable pricefor a fancy catalog, actually.

http://www.sundancecatalog.com/PRODUCT/Index+Shopping/Winter+Warmth/50097.html

So what raised my hackles here?

If you scroll down to "Our Product Story"---

Our Product Story

Acrylic is the generic name for man-made fibers derived from polyacrylonitrile - a liquid ultimately created from air and natural gas. Its chief properties are a soft, woolly hand, wash-and-wear performance, good stability under repeated launderings and good wrinkle resistance.

I love that air and natural gas can combine to make a lovely fiber, don't you? Sounds like fairies-- rather than people in Asian factories-- make acrylic.

(reported by Bonnyred)

A Soap That Says It's a Sunscreen, Sort Of

This is quite an amazing product--miraculous, you might say. A quote from the website--

Bethesda Skincare was born out of our desire to create a company with products that brought healing and restoration to all people. When our company was being formed, it was very important for us that we choose a name that reflected this mission and desire.

During the time of Jesus, there was a pool called Bethesda, located near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, which was renowned for healing all sorts of diseases and ailments - even blindness, paralysis, and incurable skin diseases. From time to time, an angel of the Lord would come and stir the waters in the pool and the first person in would immediately be healed of ailments. People would travel from miles and wait for days, even weeks, just for the slim chance that they might be the one to be healed.

The name Bethesda embodies our mission. Our desire is to bring healing and comfort to everyone who uses our products, even just once. People may have traveled from many miles to sit at the pool after which we are named, but our desire is to bring healing to all the nations - and not just to the "first one in". May our products be your Bethesda.

Wow--quite a mission. I guess they are handing out their products to people in need--kind of Jesus-like. No, not really--their soap is $8. But the price isn't the issue, it's the claim.

Introducing the World's First All-Natural Sunscreen Body Bar with Multi-Vitamins that Nourishes the Body. Bethesda Sunscreen Soap contains a combination of healing and therapeutic properties that moisturizes as it protects the body from the harmful rays of the sun. Talk about getting it all done in the shower!

Ok, soap is a rinse off product--it can clean you-- either gently or harshly, & it can make you happy because it smells great, but it can't do any more than that.

Luckily the Bethesda people know this, because in the succeeding paragraph they state:

Bethesda Sunscreen Soap is NOT a substitute for standard sunscreen products. It is intended for “everyday” use and should not be relied on as the primary source of protection from the sun. Bethesda Sunscreen Soap should be used in conjunction with your regular sunscreen product prior to exposure to the sun.

Amazing coincidence--I, too, use my Storybook Farm soaps in conjunction with a sunscreen.

The Omnivore's Dilemma--Eat It or Polish Your Shoes With It

The newly launched ‘edible shoe cream’ made from 100% coconut not only cleans and polishes shoes when they need it, it’s also a delicious ‘all-in-one’ beauty product that can be used as a lip balm, skin moisturizer, hair conditioner, massage oil and even as an alternative cooking oil. You can even spread it on your toast! Ideal for anyone who won’t put anything on their skin or clothes that isn’t safe to eat.

http://www.pozuusa.com/product_details.php?item_id=141


Well, it's green, it's organic, it's multi-purpose, yet somehow it's absurd. The price is pretty excessive--if you want organic coconut oil to use for any purpose, I'd recommend ordering from here. You can get 7 pounds of organic coconut oil for the same 15 bucks--of course the shipping is gonna be higher...

http://www.columbusfoods.net/

I do actually use coconut oil as a shoe polish--it's excellent--and it's part of my soap recipe, and in my lip and hand balms, too. I have not yet put some on my toast, however.....

The Pee poo Bag--green or not green?

http://www.peepoople.com/

It is green--designed to be, after all--

Single Use
Self sanitising
Biodegradable
Fertiliser after use

According to the site, 40 out of 100 people worldwide have no access to basic sanitation.

The Un Millenium Development Goal 7 Target 10 established in 2002 set up to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation. In figures, that counts for 1,3 billion within 13 years. Unfortunately the progress towards this goal are slow or even negative. One factor is the rapid growth of the number of people living in slums or slum-like conditions.

So PeePoople set out to develop a short term, easily implemented solution--the result is the Peepoo bag.

At first the bag struck me as an elaborate joke--a way to highlight how little we in developed countries care about the poorest--handing poor people a bag and telling them to use it as a toilet seems degrading.

But being forced to eliminate waste where you live is pretty degrading --& living with the waste--the contamination--the disease--what's more degrading than that?

(found at http://www.thedieline.com/blog/ )

WoW! It's really ok to drink bottled water.....

Well, not really--although Poland Spring is working hard to convince us that it is. Don't get me started on the whole bottled water thing.

The US has (or, maybe had, unfortunately, but that's a long and sad topic for discussion at another time) a wonderful , safe system for supplying water to its citizens. Just turn on a tap and you get safe drinking water.

Why anyone would buy bottled water has long been a mystery to me. The power of advertising is great.

But now, at long last, after billions of plastic bottles have been manufactured, filled, transported, bought, used and discarded, there's a bit of a backlash against bottled water.

So Poland Springs has apparently hired Nick Naylor (Thank You For Smoking) to do some explaining.

They now have --

A better bottle for you and our environment!

Our Eco-Shape® Bottle...

• is made with an average of 30% less plastic versus comparable size carbonated and non-carbonated beverages.*
• features a label approximately one-third smaller.
• is more flexible so it's easier to crush for recycling.
• is easier to carry.

I really like the term eco-shape(R)---what does this mean? the shape is good for the ecology? or maybe it's shaped to look like it's good for the ecology...so ambiguous.

(sent by Sylvia)

Milk of Magnesia--for Your Pits

This is strange & interesting--Milk of Magnesia really works as a deodorant. I read about this recently, at the Dish. Of course I had to try it--and it is very effective. No niff even the next morning. And it doesn't make your pits chalky--it dries clear.

I guess this qualifies as Green--a bottle has to last for six months at least--and the bottle's recyclable, which I don't think deodorant containers generally are.

And even though I'm kind of doubtful about the connection of the aluminum salts in deodorant to breast cancer, they are an irritant, and the magnesium hydroxide in MOM is considered safe for ingestion, so I think it's pretty safe for skin application.

I just generally like oddball uses for products so I love this....