There’s a video on YouTube where an American bought several kinds of McDonald’s sandwiches, McDonald’s fries, a burger and fries from a regular restaurant, placed each food item separately in covered jars and kept them there for several weeks. All the food items, except one, started showing signs of decomposition after a few weeks. What didn’t rot? The McDonald’s fries.
First, let’s separate fact from fiction. Fact: I don’t like fast food. I don’t like the unimaginative items on the menu, I don’t like the grease, I don’t like the miniscule objects that are passed off as meat in the pasta sauces, I don’t like the artificial flavors in the brown mush that they call gravy. And yet, sometimes, I get the craving for fast food junk because nothing can be more radically different from home-cooked meals. And, there are times when, just for pure and extreme contrast, I crave for everything on the other end of the food spectrum. That happens about once every two to three months.
Despite my lack of amor for fast food, I can’t be unfair. The man who conducted the experiment claimed that the fries stay in your body that way for that long. One YouTube commenter made more sense when he said that the human digestive system excretes gastric juices which break down the food. Right. Gastric juices mean acid, acid breaks down food and acid was absent from the jar in which the fries were kept. In short, the experiment was not exactly on the spot if it was meant to prove that McDonald’s fries are not digestible.
Next point – moisture. About eight out of every ten people I know who do the rounds of fast food outlets regularly agree that McDonald’s fries are a cut above the rest. They’re crispier, they don’t turn soggy as fast and they’re tastier. I disagree about the tastier part, of course, because I can’t find any natural potato flavor in McDonald’s fries at all. I only taste grease and salt when I eat them. And the same thing holds true for fries in a lot of other food food outlets, and even frozen fries from the supermarkets. I like fries made from fresh potatoes, large cut and preferably with the skin on – real fries made from real potatoes.
So what is my point about moisture? Okay. The thin uniformly cut fries that you can buy frozen in supermarkets have had a lot of moisture removed from them. Why? So that they can be kept longer, so that they cook faster and so that they don’t get soggy as fast as fresh potatoes do. That’s the kind of fries many fast food outlets use. Bags and bags of frozen fries are delivered everyday and these are what go into the deep fryers. If you’re observant, you may have seen the attendants pouring the contents of these bags into the fryers.
Moisture causes anything to decompose faster. That’s why herbs are dried and sold in jars with airtight containers – to prolong the shelf life. That’s why fish are dried and salted – to make them last longer. Take away the moisture from potatoes and the effect is the same – it takes longer for them to rot. You might want to note too that frozen fries in supermarkets already contain sodium. As with dried fish, salt helps preserve food.
None of these, of course, say that fast food items are healthy. They’re not – period. But if we have to show that they’re not, let’s stick with facts about fat content and calories and non-compliance with the recommended food pyramid rather than through muddled experiments.
And it’s not as though the McDonald’s YouTube video is the first of its kind. There was another about microwave ovens that have been circulating in emails about an experiment using water from the tap, on the one hand, and water that had been microwaved, on the other, to water plants. According to the email, the plant that had been watered with tap water grew while the other watered with microwaved water died. The implication, of course, is that microwaving alters the natural state of food. And it ends with a warning that microwave manufacturers won’t tell you things like that.
Again, to separate fact from fiction, I am not a fan of microwave ovens. We gave away ours and we lived without one for years. I only bought a new one because our stove uses LPG, does not have an electric plate and, when we run out of LPG, at least I can heat water in the microwave for my coffee. What I don’t use the microwave for is cooking. Not for any health consideration but simply because I hate the texture of food that has been cooked in the microwave. I even hate bread that has been reheated in the microwave.
But, as with the McDonald’s french fries video, just because I don’t like microwave ovens doesn’t mean I’ll immediately believe every negative claim about it and forward to all my contacts emails such as the one about the plant that thrived and the plant that died.
The thing is, and this is something I’ve been saying for years, everyone has a claim and the claim will always favor whatever it is that the claimant is selling or fighting against. It’s all about business, who’s making money, who’s losing money and how best to get rid of the competition.
You have non-organic farmers in a battle against organic farmers over claims that organic fruits and vegetables are healthier than non-organic ones. There’s the surprising announcement by chocolate manufacturers claiming the health benefits of dark chocolate when business started sliding in this generation of health nuts who stay away from chocolates. You have coffee producers saying that coffee has even more anti-oxidants than green tea when the latter started to take the lion’s share of the beverage market. You get the idea.
The really sad part? We can’t even rely on the expert opinion from the members of the scientific and medical communities because they too have become suspect after news exploded about how doctors allow their names to be used in bylines of studies prepared by people who had been paid by business entities to advance their interests.
What can we believe then? Oh, I don’t know. Me, I have this motto: I do as I damn well please.
This one again, is an eye-opener, Connie. There may simply be so many things that have been taken for granted. But when it comes to health, I am not one to make any comprises. Thanks for this post. I will have to think twice or thrice about those oh so convenient french fries.
And oh yes, I share your view in not being a fan of the microwave. BTW, we may not be aware of it, but in some food shops, they may be using the microwave a lot.
We the consumers should always be vigilant about these especially if it concerns what we take in our bodies. Thanks again, Connie!
“I even hate bread that has been reheated in the microwave”- apir! Na-tetempt na akong magrequest ng bread toaster sa office.
Oh, di ba? Straight out of the microwave, bread turns chewy. Seconds later, it’s a rock.
When i was a young mother and didn’t know any better, I buy french fries in bulk and serve it to my kids as a treat. I cringe now thinking about it! But we still eat french fries, in moderation
And I love your last line Ms Connie, since we don’t know who we can believe anymore because they all have their own agenda, then lets just do as we damn well please
I agree with you Connie, we shouldn’t believe in everything that we read. We should always check the background of the research, where, what, when, why and how.
Nowadays, researches were done to malign and not to help find the truth. In every research we must always consider the purpose, place, time, temperature or even the lowly lighting condition.
Wonderful motto! Me,I always listen to my body. If it says I like ice cream now…I
will hit the freezer pronto.Chicharon,yes…open the bag right away. Chocolate,there’s
always a small bar in my purse,just in case I need a sugar fix.
Like you…I don’t give a damn!
reading your post, i remembered this video posted on facebook on what would happen if you mixed pepsi with raw meat… the camera made a close-up on the raw meat while the narrator poured pepsi on it… next slide may caption ‘two hours later’… sabay dim lights… close up pa rin sa meat… tapos… waaahhh!!! may multo na lalabas! i almost got a heart attack! i don’t appreciate the sense of humor of whoever posted that video. of course it was just a person with ghoulish makeup and matching black wig, not a real ghost. but it was nakakagulat and nakakainis nonetheless.
anyways, i appreciate this post because in this day and age of going green, going organic, going herbal, ek-ek, it is easy to get confused with all the marketing hype and promos which brainwash the ordinary consumer so well, you would almost feel like a criminal if you buy your medicines from mercury drug instead of from healthy options. personally, i have yet to come across hard objective proof that herbal drugs are more effective than western ones. further, the herbal drugs i have tried so far have not been as effective for me and my kids. to each his own… as you said, i do as i damn well please.
speaking of marketing strategies… this may be a little off topic but i always see a lot of cooking gizmos on the home shopping network… steamers, hi-speed marinators, peelers, convection ovens… as a chef, would you ever use any of these products and do you think they are useful at all or more convenient compared to conventional cooking methods?
I stay with the basics. I have a steamer — it’s bamboo. Marinator? I use ziplock bags. Peeler? Yes, I have one — used manually, the old-fashioned kind. Convection oven — that one makes sense. Shorter cooking time and no preheating. As for the rest, honestly, most of those things are just things to clutter the kitchen.
I am glad you brought this up, Sass coz this will alter my attitude towards microwave oven. I used to defend microwave citing that its American inventor died of old age instead of any causes that is attributable to its invention. Since microwave oven is using the same 2.4 giga hertz wavelength in the cellphone, cellphone would seem to be more dangerous that its oven cournterpart due to frequency of usage.
However, the Levitt’s case was an eye-opener not because of the resolution of the case but because of the accepted hospital practice of warming intravenous fluids through microwave with the exception of blood. There is the fact that microwave can alter the composition of the blood which makes your own blood toxic to yourself. Microwave kills red cells releasing large amount of potassium. And we know potassium is one of those introduced by way of lethal injection into a condemned prisoner.
If microwave oven can change your blood makeup, it does too with your food which we ingested and may have degenerative effect in the long run.
Everyone will do everything in the sake of business. Our generation is doing everything in order to make things instant. Speaking of which, the home made fries is still the best among any other fries in town. After all, it contains a special ingredient which is not available in any other fries…it’s love.
The common reference against microwave is the medical malpractice case filed by Wilkinson law firm representing Norma Levitt “who died on the operating table at Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on November 8, 1989, following successful hip replacement surgery. A nurse anesthetic gave Levitt a unit of Levitt’s own blood which had been warmed in a microwave oven located in the employees’ lounge”.
“Wilkinson alleged the negligent introduction of this blood into Levitt’s system was a direct cause of her death minutes later. The defendants argued that Levitt died from a blood clot, rather than the hemolyzed blood.”
Unfortunately, Wilkinson lost the case (trial court dismissed the case against 16 defendants while the jury return a verdict in favor of the defendant in the final 4) and thus Wilkinson was sanctioned later by the trial court and made to pay upon inability to provide sufficient evidence against the 16. The sanction was affirmed by the appellate court.
Levitt’s estate fired Wilkinson and retained another law firm which was able to get a confidential settlement from the final 4.
However, the inherent danger of the microwave is captured in the footnote 1 to the case below.
“Heating blood in this manner destroys the red blood cells, resulting in “gross hemolysis” of the blood, releasing large amounts of potassium. Excessive potassium, when introduced into the body, is often fatal. The practice of warming Intravenous (IV) fluids, other than blood, in the microwave was an accepted practice at Hillcrest Medical Center, as reflected in its written procedures.”
there’s no escaping french fries and microwave s-it’s part of our culture. moderation na lang in everything: fried foods, microwave use, cell phone use. who has time to verify? healthwise, i like to give it the benefit of a doubt and err on the side of health.
Dodong, that poor woman! we’re not even supposed to warm baby’s formula in the microwave!
That is correct, never warm baby’s formula in the microwave. The bottle may seem to be cool but the liquid is extremely hot which can burn the baby’s mouth and throat. The microwave technology is entirely different from traditional direct heating like broiler or oven which warm up both the container and the contents. But not the microwave which gives the false sense of safety because of the cold container. The microwave 2.4 gigahetz wavelength is directed onto the surrounding space which agitates the the polarity of food molecules to a millions per second. This molecular agitation heats up the food but not the solid container. This agitation is more pronounced in liquid or having more moisture content.
I noticed this personally when I microwave for 30 seconds leftover spam and rice. The spam is hot but the rice which was there in the fridge for 3 days is cold like grains. To achieve even heating, I sprinkled water on leftover rice before microwaving. It is the same principle that other Pinoy told me that pandesal works in microwave if you wrap it in slightly wet paper towel.
I will stop using microwave at home since rice cooker (with a warmer), toaster, broiler or oven can do the job. My only problem is at the office where there is nothing other than microwave to heat the lunch baon.
Here is an explanation from unwise microwave experiments on why liquid in microwave can achiveve super heat.
“Things are different in a microwave oven. The water gets hot but the container usually does not. There are no tiny “boiling-bubbles” triggered by a hot stove burner. Without those bubbles to cool it, the temperature of the water can rise far higher than 100C. We call this “superheated water.” ”
And the danger is explosion and burns,
“If some unwitting victim should pour powder into the superheated water, this will carry thousands of tiny air bubbles into the water. Each of these micro-bubbles expands into a large steam bubble, and the result is a huge “explosion” of hot froth. It’s just like dumping ice cream into rootbeer, but the froth can be so violent that the hot water sprays into the air. “
Alren, I agree. Even the most efficient machine cannot replace the human touch.
D0dong, that’s very interesting. If you have a link to the full text of the decision, I’d appreciate it.
Carmen, yeah, who has time to verify? And even for those who like to verify, are people going to spend half their waking time checking and cross-checking everything from the pollution index in the city streets (Don’t go out if pollution index is high today!) to the content of chicken feed ingested by the chicken on the dining table…
ms. connie, microwave instruction manuals also contain strict warnings never to heat liquids (water, milk, coffee, etc.) because the liquids can explode in your face after you take them out of the microwave.
Never to heat them in covered or sealed containers, you mean.
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:QYGEKE81DFoJ:caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl%3Fcourt%3Dok%26vol%3D/appeals/1995/%26invol%3D1995okcivapp123+hillcrest+medical+No.+83555&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Or you can google “HILLCREST MEDICAL No. 83555″ and clicked “cached” (which is the archive) so you don’t have to go through with the logon screen.
Ok thanks.
It’s economics and the free-market ideology. As long as this world is driven by profit-margins, you’d find that truthfulness and human health has always been at the backseat and even the least of society’s priorities.
And the lies in advertisements… urgh!
Oh, I l found my microwave very useful. Firstly, in “rejuvenating” a cold steamed rice and my fried sea foods except prawns. Very handy in everything. I always use microwave in refreshing my siomai and siopao.
Actually, I’m using my microwave in finishing my quicky stake.
BTW, I’m not aware that water boiling point can go higher than 100 deg C. Last time I’ve checked, it’ll be converted into steam beyond that temperature no matter what. Perhaps, we can refer this to Mythbuster.
BTW again, if I’m not mistaken, Sass, this is the first time that I’ve read something in your post a lot of too technical items.
Happy weekend!
Pahabol lang, last time I’ve checked, water has no flash point.
Maybe if you reduce it to purely hydrogen (water is hydro dioxide). Then it is not water anymore.
Just a point of clarification regarding watering plants – plants require oxygen which is present in tap water. If water is boiled or microwaved then the oxygen is driven from the water and plants will suffer if watered with it.
Perhaps this one will help in knowing more about water –
http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Va-Z/Water.html