Staying somewhere with a TV some years back, I came across a documentary about artificial flavourings. Slightly interested, I watched it, and it was quite mind-boggling.
You see, the reason many products can’t claim to be vegan, even though ostensibly they have no animal ingredients in them, is because of the way many artificial flavourings are produced.
One example in the documentary was about artificial raspberry flavour. A slightly creepy guy in a white coat explained how an artificial raspberry flavouring had been synthesized from the anal gland juice of beavers.
How scientists come up with these findings is rather weird to think about. And it is also rather disturbing to think about all the animals that are being messed around with in labs. It’s a strange world, that’s for sure.
Another day, I looked at the ingredients on a can of Coca-cola, and it listed ‘Flavourings’ and provided no explanation as to what the ‘Flavourings’ were. Curious, I dialled the freephone number on the side of the can.
A happy chappy man answered the call, and I asked him, “Hey, I was just curious what the flavourings are that you mention in the ingredients list?” He told me it’s a trade secret. Pushing a bit further, “Okay, but look, I don’t need the exact formula of the secret sauce, but I’d just like to know what it was made from.” But he didn’t tell me, and I don’t think he even knew. And I would guess that hardly anyone on this planet knows.
Funny eh? The world’s most popular soda drink that’s consumed by millions of people every day, and none of these consumers know what the heck is even in it.
You’re best off avoiding eating or drinking anything produced by the mega food and drink corporations such as Nestle, Mars, Pepsi, Coke, Kellogg’s etc.
They don’t really care about your health, and most of their products are toxic in one way or another. It’s all about profit margins for them. Which is one reason why they often cut corners by using artificial or synthesized ‘natural’ ingredients. And their definition of ‘natural’ probably isn’t what you consider to be natural.
© Adrian Connock
