Quote:
Originally Posted by Frosty
I'm mostly railing against the gurus out there that get people all riled up (usually to benefit themselves). A good example is the "Aspartame makes formaldehyde, so therefore a deadly poison" meme.
Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring substance that is in a lot of foods naturally including milk and vegetable juice that our bodies handle just fine. In fact, formaldehyde plays an essential role in our metabolism. It is converted to formate (folic acid) and used to synthesize DNA in the cells. However, since it's toxic when inhaled (or ingested in large doses), the scare-mongers can get everyone would up by shouting "formaldehyde is a poison" or by associating it with embalming fluid for the "ick factor".
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This shit is going to happen when your regulating bodies are so frustratingly terrible at being the central authority on what's real and what's bullshit. If there was a credible organization to strike down exaggeration or false reports, these kind of stories would be debunked within days. Instead, our experts on food are like the NCAA. They let so much bullshit slide and even encourage so much bullshit behavior, that nobody can take their advice seriously.