1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much 3 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 1: for tuning in. 4 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 2: Mommy, Who's who? Mommy? I love that? 5 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: Who's Who's that man over there in the corner, Why 6 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: it's the Willie Wonk of Ridiculous History. Our super producer, 7 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:43,279 Speaker 1: mister Max Williams. 8 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 2: Mm hmmm. 9 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: And over here in a different corner, in this corner, 10 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: in that corner, that's the one. 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 2: I'm in the snow brown And who are you? 12 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: Oh gosh, yeah, I'm I'm Ben Bullen. They call me here. 13 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: We never say our last name. This may well be 14 00:00:59,200 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: a first. 15 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 3: I wonder if there was anyone out there blissfully unaware 16 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 3: of our. 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 2: Last names, and we've just ruined everything for them. 18 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: I think I think people are read onto this and 19 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: hopefully read onto part one of our exploration of the 20 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: preposterous history of artificial flavors now Noel. When we when 21 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: we last left you without a Dope beat the step two. 22 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: We spent a lot of time looking at the strange 23 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: evolution of vanilla and vanilla in which may well be 24 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: my favorite word of the week. 25 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, chilling like a vanilla and villain that's here we 26 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 3: do is yeah, it's so and you know, and we 27 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 3: and we did decide to make this its own part 28 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 3: because the rest of the stuff that we have is 29 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:45,199 Speaker 3: easily it's another episode which you're. 30 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 2: Gonna here right now. 31 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 3: But Vanilla does feel like the kind of foundation on 32 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 3: which the entirety of artificial flavoring is laid, and it 33 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 3: gets a lot more twisted and complicated, and even like 34 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 3: the set in the last episode for the Cliff had been, 35 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 3: there's a little intrigue, perhaps some industrial espionage type stuff, right, Yes, yes, 36 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 3: I did want to offer an apropos of something I guess, 37 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 3: a quick surprise for the top of the show, where 38 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 3: in last episode we started by expressing our wonderment and 39 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 3: appreciation of the Japanese KitKat bars and googling that and 40 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 3: looking for some places you could get those, and seeing 41 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 3: what flavors were available. I discovered that KitKat actually has 42 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 3: a sake, not at that tastes like sake, but a 43 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 3: sake that tastes like kit cat. 44 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,679 Speaker 1: Oh gosh, has science gone too far? 45 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 2: I think it may have. 46 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 3: And this is their description for indulge in Kitkat's latest 47 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 3: and boldest creation sake flavored Kidkat exclamation mark. These Japan 48 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 3: limited edition kitkats are infused with sake powder and see. 49 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 3: Oh man, the Mobius strip just continues because now I'm 50 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 3: looking and seeing that it is in fact KitKat that 51 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,239 Speaker 3: tastes like sake, but it comes in a package that looks. 52 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: Like a bottle of sake. But they do actually have 53 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: alcohol content. 54 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 3: Wow, there's a little caveats that uses zero point four 55 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 3: percent alcohol. Please refrain from serving if you are a 56 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 3: child or have difficulty drinking alcohol, meaning it could be 57 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 3: just enough to trigger you and get you. 58 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 2: Back on the wagon. Off the wagon, which was the 59 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 2: bad one. 60 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: I can't you know, I'm not the expert old wagons. 61 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: But the one thing, you know, this reminds me a 62 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: little bit of context funny story. So Brandy, my girlfriend, 63 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: told me recently. She was reading to me some warnings 64 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: in Japanese about these kind of treats with alcohol in them, 65 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: and there was one that translated roughly to do not 66 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: show to children. Yes, like it's weird, like don't show 67 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: it to them. But we should also say that the 68 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: kit kat is popular in Japan. It could be its 69 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: own episode. Honestly, because of the because of a weird 70 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: thing about language. It goes back to the phrase in 71 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: Japanese kito. 72 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 3: Oh so KitKat has some inherent meaning as is yeah, yeah, 73 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,239 Speaker 3: so in Japanese who pronounce it kito kato, which sounds 74 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 3: a lot like kito katsu, which translates to fri wild 75 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 3: you will definitely win, oh Japanese. 76 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 2: Yeah. 77 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: But isn't katsu also like a style of thinly pounded 78 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: like chicken cutlets. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah katsu 79 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: means winning chicken wins winter winter chicken. 80 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 2: Yeah. 81 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: And this is uh, this is just a brief look 82 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: into how weird artificial flavoring is. Spoiler alert, folks. Uh, 83 00:04:54,400 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 1: chocolate does not naturally taste of sake, which is a 84 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,559 Speaker 1: an alcoholic beverage derived from rice. 85 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 2: Correct, that is right, Yeah, fermented rice. 86 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 3: And we talked at the top of the previous episode 87 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 3: about how those processes that were initially designed to preserve 88 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 3: things ultimately led to like a sea change in like 89 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,840 Speaker 3: flavor expectations and experimentations. 90 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: Oh, flavor Expectations is also a great name for your 91 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: next synth album. 92 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 2: Not bad. 93 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: We've been really searching for a name for a project. 94 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: Anyone out there has any suggestions. 95 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 3: Got a two person kind of electronic dancy experimental project. 96 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 3: Really Charlie struggling beating our heads against the wall, trying 97 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 3: to find a proper name. 98 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 2: But I'm going to put that on the list. 99 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: Ben's for an album name. 100 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 2: I take. 101 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: I think Huckleberry ain't bad though. Huckleberry's not a little goofy. 102 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 2: It's a little white. 103 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: It's a little dancy. 104 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:51,039 Speaker 2: Well dancy, So I don't know. 105 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you know what, we'll work this together off. 106 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 2: Appreciate that, man. 107 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, to the matter at hand, Fellow ridiculous historians, we 108 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: tease this. We want to, with the help of several sources, 109 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: give you what Wisconsin would call the straight poop on 110 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: artificial flavors. They first enter the historical record in eighteen 111 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: fifty one. Modern Synthetic Flavoring and flavor Science. There's an 112 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: exhibition in London called the Crystal Palace. It's a Victorian showcase, 113 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: kind of like the World's Fair with all the world's 114 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 1: hot new technologies. 115 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 2: It's very. 116 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: It's very ted talkie, you know, different. Oh look at 117 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: this innovation kind of things, right, And if you're visiting 118 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: the Crystal Palace, you are also meeting a lot of 119 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: perfume experts from Paris, from London, all sorts of places 120 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: in Europe, and you will visit the stalls and you 121 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: can try candy. You can try candy the taste of 122 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: pear or grape, or apple or pineapple. And the thing is, 123 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: the candy flavor is not coming from the actual fruits. 124 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: It's coming from compounds synthesized in laboratories, all flavored with chemicals. 125 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: All these candies are flavored with chemicals that were discovered 126 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: not on purpose, but on accident by scientists in a 127 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: brand spanking new field called organic chemistry. 128 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, basically byproducts of other experiments that they then kind 129 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 3: of oh, I'm gonna put that in my back pocket 130 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 3: for later, and then the next thing. 131 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 2: You know, this whole new industry. 132 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 3: I mean, because you're right, as a field of scientific study, 133 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 3: organic chemistry is relatively modern. And that's also a pretty 134 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 3: complex field. That is, you know, people specialize in that. 135 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 3: I think there was you could take organic chemistry classes, 136 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 3: like if you are like AP level type smart. 137 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: I have such admiration for chemists. 138 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 2: It's alchemy, man. 139 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, it is the it is the descendant of alchemy 140 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: one hundred percent and I still have nightmares about having 141 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: to calculate moles or whatever they're called. But that joke 142 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: for the chemist in the crowd aside. Could we really 143 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: quickly to sum up what the field of organic chemistry 144 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: is does don't have to do with structure properties and 145 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: kind of synthesizing things based on their molecular structure. 146 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 2: And then the number of you know, bonds or whatever. 147 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 3: They have in order to make something that has similar properties, 148 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 3: which can include flavor. 149 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the scientific study of the structure, properties, and 150 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: reactions of organic materials, which sounds way way more simple 151 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: than it actually is. I genuinely do have nightmares about, 152 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: you know, my time in the trenches of chemistry. 153 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 3: No doubt, and that was never my particular wheelhouse. But 154 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 3: I do you know, know enough, just enough about it 155 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 3: to be dangerous, literally dangerous. If I were trying to 156 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 3: mess with this stuff cold in a lab, I would 157 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 3: probably end up in a bit of a meth labby 158 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 3: explosion any kind of situation act, or you would accidentally 159 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 3: create the artificial flavor of pum quats or something. 160 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean, certainly it's possible. Let's also not forget 161 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: that this was a time end of the nineteenth century 162 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: where there wasn't very much regulation. 163 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 2: Around this brand new field. 164 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 3: So it was almost a little bit more trickery in 165 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 3: certain ways. Like I don't know that it was necessarily 166 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 3: malicious inherently, but it was like they weren't exactly saying, 167 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 3: this candy has zero percent kum quat in it. 168 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 2: You know, this. 169 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: Candy is only red because of this gnarly chemical dye 170 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: that we used to make it that color. 171 00:09:58,480 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 2: Yeah. 172 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: The Crystal Palace ex phibition was very much a large 173 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: scale show and tell, you know, and they're like, well, 174 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: it's fair kind of situation exactly. They're like, hey, look 175 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: at this. Isn't this weird because you can tell this 176 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: is not an actual apple. Let's go to August Hoffman, 177 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: who was a member of the Royal Society, a distinguished chemist. 178 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: He analyzed the chemicals powering these imitation flavors, and he 179 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: made a report to the jury of the Crystal Palace Exhibition, 180 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: and he wrote the following He said, this striking similarity 181 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,720 Speaker 1: of the smell of these ethos to that of fruit 182 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: had not escaped the observation of chemistry, So okay, yeah, 183 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: he was. He also gave people homework. He said, you know, 184 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,439 Speaker 1: if you're smart, you will be the person who has 185 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: to understand the commercial possibilities of how these chemicals taste 186 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: of natural you know, agriculture. 187 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 2: That's absolutely right. 188 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 3: And you know, moving on a little bit into the 189 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 3: future where we get the soda fountain craze, you know, 190 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 3: of the pharmacies where a big part of it was 191 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 3: these young these kids, these show soshas and these greasers 192 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,200 Speaker 3: come in and kicking it at the soda fountain and 193 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 3: get in there whatever it was cream sodas or their 194 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 3: egg creams or whatever. And a big part of this 195 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 3: was artificial flavoring in syrups, which, of course, the connection 196 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 3: between the history of artificial flavoring and syrups are they intersect, 197 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 3: but like syrups were initially made with like real fruit 198 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 3: extracts or real whatever, almost more like a jam or something, 199 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 3: you know. But then because of the reasons we addressed 200 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 3: in the last episode, artificial flavoring presents such an economic 201 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 3: opportunity to no longer have to worry about fresh produce 202 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 3: or things spoiling or whatever. 203 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 2: You can just use this this substance. 204 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 3: And a cream soda vendor told the Massachusetts Board of 205 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 3: Health inspector who was coming to take a look at 206 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 3: his I guess, you know, equipment or whatever for like 207 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 3: a health inspection in the eighteen seventies. That quote, customers 208 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 3: can't distinguish the artificial from the true fruit flavors, and some, 209 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 3: if properly made, actually prefer the imitation. But again, kind 210 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,200 Speaker 3: of don't think they were differentiating. They weren't saying this 211 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 3: is artificial, this is all natural, which then became like 212 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,440 Speaker 3: a badge of you know, branding in and of itself. 213 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 3: All natural, right, only natural. We'll get into the whole 214 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 3: natural flavoring thing, which well, yeah, and check out our 215 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 3: earlier episode. There are so many weird historical sodas for 216 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 3: some extra credit. 217 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: In most cases. In the early days, we see that 218 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 1: the first artificial fruit flavors involved single chemicals or simple 219 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: combinations of substances what we call esther's diluted in alcohol, 220 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:04,199 Speaker 1: and a lot of writers of the time in these 221 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 1: early days of synthetic flavor science, they noted that these 222 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: pleasant fruity chemicals derived from substances that just smell terrible 223 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: on their own, including stuff like fusel oil. Fusel oil 224 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: which was a just terrible smelling waste product of fermenting alcohol, 225 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 1: and you combine them together right, and then they create 226 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: something that is actually enjoyable, And not every experiment was 227 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: a home run. We got to shout out this thing. 228 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: We found on popsi dot com in eighteen sixty four, 229 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: one guy, talking about the new era of flavor science said, quote, 230 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,080 Speaker 1: artificial essences of nearly every fruit are made, some of 231 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: which are absolutely perfect in their resemblance to the real 232 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 1: fruit essence, while others leave a great deal to the imagination. 233 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 1: It's kind of like for every one successful pineapple flavor, 234 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: they had a dozen just terrible mishaps. 235 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 3: One hundred percent, and some of those mishaps or even 236 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 3: perhaps the additives and the ingredients that were not necessarily 237 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 3: the safest for consumers made it out into the market 238 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 3: because we did not yet have the Pure Food and 239 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 3: Drug Act, which is an important federal law that of 240 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 3: course established the FDA. Maybe didn't establish the FDA, but 241 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 3: they definitely were growing together in lockstep. I can't kind 242 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 3: of can't remember the chronology there, but the point is 243 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 3: a lot of these flavors, once they started flooding the market, 244 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 3: there started to be kind of a little bit of 245 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 3: concern right from the public about like. 246 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 2: Ooh is this safe? 247 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 3: Am I being like kind of low key poisoned by 248 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 3: this stuff? 249 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 2: Or is it just gonna taste kind of icky? 250 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 3: Or if it tastes really good, is that because it 251 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 3: has some delightful toxin in it? 252 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is the age of yellow journalism, right of 253 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: the muckrakers, and so chemicals used in quote unquote fake 254 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: flavoring were often associated in the court of public opinion 255 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: with contamination, and food safety was a crucial political issue. 256 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: I would argue food safety is a crucial political issue 257 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: today in the United States. People were eating spoiled canned goods. 258 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: Upton Sinclair did not just make up the jungle on 259 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: his own. He was talking about this huge problem right 260 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: with regulation, and these journalists said, look how nasty the 261 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: production facilities are for your dairy and your meat, And 262 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: people reading this naturally started to become naturally, naturally started 263 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: to become just let it happen. 264 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 2: Man. 265 00:15:55,080 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: Warry of chemical additives, preservatives, flavors, coloring, artificial coloring is 266 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: still a big deal. 267 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 3: Because yellow and a yellow five red for forty Yeah, exactly, 268 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 3: not deadly, but not probably the best to consume in 269 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 3: large quantities a lot like things like saccarin artificial sweeteners, 270 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 3: which is its own thing. Where in certain lab studies 271 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 3: feeding tiny mice absolutely heroic quantities of this stuff sure 272 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 3: can cause them to develop cancer quantities that a human 273 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 3: being would likely to ever consume in a lifetime. Not 274 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 3: saying to discount these studies, but it is a little 275 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 3: bit of a thin thumb. 276 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 2: On the scale kind of situation here. 277 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 3: But did want to add that FDA, Federal Drug Administration, 278 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 3: was in fact created to enforce the Pure Food and 279 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 3: Drug Act of nineteen oh six, so absolutely lockstep with 280 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 3: those those items there. 281 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 1: And it was a very smart thing for Uncle Sam 282 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 1: to do because at this point in history, in the 283 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds early nineteen hundreds, without this regulation, a 284 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: lot of private manufacturers were using preservatives and flavoring and 285 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: coloring not to improve their product, but to conceal damage 286 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: or to conceal contamination. 287 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 3: It's like to make as much money as possible by 288 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 3: using the cheapest, most shoddy ingredients possible. 289 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: Going back to the old story about chocolate milk, right, 290 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 1: you know that one. 291 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 2: You'll have to remind you of that one. But wouldn't 292 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 2: you say. 293 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 3: This is also kind of in lockstep with snake oil 294 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 3: remedies and things like that using crazy amounts of alcohol. 295 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 3: Like I always think of the I Love Lucy Vitamina 296 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 3: veggamin commercial where it really is just tons of alcohol. 297 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 3: But there were folks that were putting forth these remedies 298 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 3: that supposedly could cure all kinds of stuff with absolutely zero. 299 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: Efficacy or backup. But yeah, Talma tell us about chocolate milk. 300 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: So the myth about chocolate milk is that dairy producers 301 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: would get you know, your regular milk, right, you know, 302 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 1: it's white ish, but then they would also get milk 303 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: that had blood clots in it or other fluids. Okay, 304 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: they still want to sell it, so they color it 305 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: differently and flavor it as chocolate. 306 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 2: That's a myth. Oh, this is like pink lemona and 307 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 2: cloud clown pants all over events. 308 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,119 Speaker 1: Yes, So what we're saying is there are problems again 309 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: that need to be addressed. And this nineteen oh six law, 310 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: the Pure Food and Drug Act, had consequences for flavoring additives. 311 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: For the very first time in the United States. The 312 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: law created an imperfect distinction between natural and artificial ingredients. 313 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 2: Or products. 314 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: So products that were flavored with synthetic chemicals had to 315 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 1: clearly proclaim themselves as imitation or compound on their labels. 316 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: And it was meant to protect the consumers. It was 317 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 1: meant to say, hey, if you're buying something and it 318 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,400 Speaker 1: tastes like a strawberry, but it's not made with strawberries, 319 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:13,959 Speaker 1: you should be able to discern that. 320 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 3: And to double back to something I asked in the 321 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 3: first episode, I did just look it up. You mentioned 322 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:26,920 Speaker 3: compound or imitation, but concentrate is also another category, and 323 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,679 Speaker 3: just to you know, put this out there if anyone 324 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 3: was wondering. It appears to be a substance that has 325 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 3: had most of its diluting agent removed, such. 326 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 2: As water from fruit. 327 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 3: So fruit juice concentrate is made by filtering and dehydrating 328 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 3: actual fruit juice to remove the water content. The concentrate 329 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 3: that's left over is then pasteurized and heated and frozen 330 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 3: and transported before the water is added back. So that 331 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:58,920 Speaker 3: isn't technically artificial, but it also has a similar kind 332 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 3: of wrap in a way, the idea of concentrating. 333 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, exactly right, Because again it's the court of 334 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: public opinion or I would even say, the court of 335 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: public comfort, how comfortable are we with purchasing and ingesting 336 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: these things? And you know, the folks in the flavor 337 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: extraction or manufacturing industry at this point, the ones who 338 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: are reputable, the ones who are not trying to grift 339 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: or sell snake oil or dangerous chemicals. They were pretty 340 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 1: on board with this law in nineteen oh. 341 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 3: Six, as they should be, because it's like it levels 342 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 3: the playing field and it makes it where there can't 343 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 3: be bad actors that are going to mess with their customers, 344 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 3: and it allows them to kind of rise above the 345 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 3: fray as being Look, we were doing this all along, 346 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 3: you know what I mean, Like there's no reason they 347 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 3: shouldn't be excited about them and these guys, to your point, 348 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 3: while they supported this nineteen oh six law, they also 349 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,640 Speaker 3: had to weigh. 350 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 2: Campaign. 351 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, a pr blitz, we would call it against the 352 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,679 Speaker 1: Court of public comfort. And they said, you know a 353 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 1: lot of these slurs against our industry are not based 354 00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:20,679 Speaker 1: on facts. Our products are not necessarily impure if you 355 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,400 Speaker 1: think about it, they said, by the chemical definition and purity, 356 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: our synthetic flavors are much purer than. 357 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 3: The thing, the real thing, and what I was getting 358 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:40,640 Speaker 3: at earlier, Ben was they I could see how they'd 359 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 3: be on board because it'd give that they gave them 360 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,400 Speaker 3: an opportunity to kind of say it was these other 361 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,920 Speaker 3: fly by night type operations that were the bad actors. 362 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 2: We've had your best interest at heart from the start. 363 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,240 Speaker 3: Now let us educate you as now the newly minted 364 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 3: kind of like authority on the subject, at least in 365 00:21:57,880 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 3: the marketplace kind of right. 366 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, you're absolutely right, Noll. It was such a 367 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: big deal that they formed a trade group called the 368 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 1: Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association. The first FEMA. 369 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:12,360 Speaker 2: Mm hmm, that's right. 370 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,159 Speaker 3: Not to be confused with the other FEMA, you know, 371 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 3: with the disaster relief and all of that they did. 372 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 3: They joined their powers, you know, they touched rings Wonder 373 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 3: Twins style, only there were three of them, and they 374 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 3: decided to combine their powers. Combined, they are captain Planet 375 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 3: in the form of an organized, very targeted ad campaign. 376 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 3: Did you mentioned already some version of this, but at 377 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 3: this point this was like the big push where they 378 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 3: all combined their powers to combat these negative public opinions 379 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:55,440 Speaker 3: about artificial flavors with terms like adulterants, food poisoners and 380 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 3: drug dopsters. 381 00:22:58,119 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 2: Being flung around, you know. 382 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:03,400 Speaker 1: The public, this idea of like, oh, they're all the crooks, 383 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: a bunch of crooks trying to poison us. Yeah, exactly, 384 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,080 Speaker 1: this was very much a Wild West situation. We'd like 385 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: to introduce you to get ready for this name ridiculous historians. 386 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: Alois Vaughan, I Isakovic's. 387 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 2: Also his company name is dope. Yeah. He founded a company. 388 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 3: He was a chemist and founded this company called Sinfleuur. Yes, 389 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 3: it's very sci fi, very Isaac Asimov. 390 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:32,359 Speaker 1: And he was on board with this nineteen oh six law. 391 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: He was kind of the Steve Jobs of synthetic aromatic 392 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 1: chemical companies, and he said, you know what, the great 393 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: thing about this pure food and drug act is it's 394 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:48,360 Speaker 1: increasing the sale of all my stuff. In nineteen oh eight, 395 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: he wrote the following, Noel, can you give us a 396 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:52,919 Speaker 1: cool voice for this one? 397 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 4: Previously the chemist did not get credit for the work 398 00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 4: he did because many a manufacturer made a synthetic flavor 399 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,640 Speaker 4: and labeled it genuine when it was in reality made 400 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:09,680 Speaker 4: from synthetic substances entirely. Today the product is labeled truthfully 401 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 4: and sells just as well, proving conclusively that the public 402 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,440 Speaker 4: will buy a product just as quickly when labeled properly. 403 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 3: And I think this is interesting because, like I said, 404 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 3: it did even the playing field where at least they 405 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,919 Speaker 3: knew what they knew. Then everything was kind of regulated 406 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 3: in such a way where there weren't any of these 407 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 3: totally bad actors just sneaking horrible stuff into the marketplace, 408 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 3: therefore also contaminating along with the food, the reputations of 409 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 3: reputable companies, lumping them all in together. 410 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, very well. Put Man also Isakovic is advocating 411 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: in the public sphere. He's saying, look, synthetic flavoring isn't bad. 412 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,360 Speaker 1: We are on the precipice of the future. And took 413 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: out to our point about an information campaign, took out 414 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 1: a lot of advertisements to try to win hearts and 415 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: minds in a nineteen thirteen issue of a magazine called 416 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: American Perfumer and Essential Oil Review, kind of a trade publication. Yeah, 417 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: specific I love my subscription lapse. 418 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 2: I really got to get back on this. You gotta 419 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:15,360 Speaker 2: get right on my guy. 420 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: But so he he helmed an advertisement that said the 421 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: following Vanillu. 422 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 2: Deer v a n I L L word Dee you are. 423 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 1: Vanilu door is the only material in existence that will 424 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,399 Speaker 1: duplicate in its entirety the fragrance of the finest vanilla bean. 425 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: In fact, it is something better than vanilla beans an invitation. 426 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,400 Speaker 1: Under the Pure Food Law, they were required to include 427 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 1: the very last part here quote it develops much finer, 428 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: more intense vanilla effects than the finest beans, owing to 429 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: the entire absence of impurities and resinous matter. So they're 430 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,360 Speaker 1: trying to sell it as a positive, but the government 431 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,920 Speaker 1: required them to explicitly point out this was not from 432 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 1: the actual vanilla bean. 433 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 2: That's right. 434 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,119 Speaker 3: I do also like that caveat that, like disclaimer, imitation 435 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 3: is capitalized almost like God is in the Bible, and 436 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,199 Speaker 3: I love that. It also kind of is a feature, 437 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 3: not a bug, because it's an indication that this was 438 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 3: all done on the up and up under the guidelines 439 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 3: of the Pure Food Law. So it had this sort 440 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 3: of built in comfort factor. It's like sort of like, Okay, 441 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 3: we're good because someone's looking out for us now and 442 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 3: no one can just you know, shove anything they want 443 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 3: down our throats. 444 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 1: Yeah. So they're arguing against the idea of the real McCoy, 445 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: which is an episode we should do in the future, 446 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: the Hatfields and the McCoy's. The message here is clear, 447 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: synthetics can be better than the quote unquote real thing, 448 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: and so government scientists have to follow through on the 449 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 1: man dates of the Pure Food Law of nineteen oh six. 450 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: So these g men scientists have to distinguish authentic stuff 451 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 1: from synthetic stuff. And this gets really complicated because vanillin, which, 452 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 1: as we found in part one of this episode, vanillain, 453 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:22,480 Speaker 1: was synthesized in the eighteen seventies, but the synthetic chemical 454 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 1: itself is identical to the molecule found in nature. It's 455 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: kind of like comparing natural diamonds to lab created diamonds. 456 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 1: They're pretty much the same thing. 457 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 3: Which has now become kind of known, right. Isn't that 458 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 3: really wrecking shop a little bit in the diamond industry, 459 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 3: where now they can make lab grown diamonds that, for 460 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:46,160 Speaker 3: all intents and purposes, are just as pretty, just as 461 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 3: shiny and and remarkable as the real ones, but also 462 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 3: don't cause people to lose their lives. And you know, 463 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 3: it just seems like a no brainer. But there's also 464 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 3: part of the weird thing that humans do where they 465 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,359 Speaker 3: only want something if it causes somebody else to suffer. 466 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: Ooh, I am profoundly disturbed by how deep that observation is. 467 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 1: There's something gross, right, you're right. So, speaking of complicated relationships, 468 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,359 Speaker 1: we also know that there was a strange sort of 469 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:28,120 Speaker 1: retro active recognition, so the relationship between a flavored chemical 470 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: in a given additive and the genuine article it was impersonating. 471 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 1: These were often unknown. Perhaps the best example is something 472 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: called methyl anthnihilate. It was widely used to make grape 473 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 1: flavored candy and other you know, sodas and stuff. It 474 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: was used for like ten years before someone found the 475 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: chemical in actual grapes. This is a very true case 476 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,400 Speaker 1: of faking it till you make it. And we know 477 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: that before the late nineteen thirties, people were kind of 478 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: just freestyling on the idea of flavored chemicals. And this 479 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: doesn't mean they were bad. It just means that the 480 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 1: idea of taste is quite complex the science. Everything you 481 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: taste that may have a distinctive you know, mouthfeel, or 482 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,719 Speaker 1: distinctive aroma or flavor, it's going to be the result 483 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: of dozens or hundreds of different chemicals. Each of these 484 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: is usually in the natural world, present in very very 485 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 1: small quantities like parts per million or even less. And 486 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: flavor chemicals also, they're trying to impersonate this very nuanced agglomeration, 487 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 1: and they can be volatile and reactive. It took a 488 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 1: lot of work to do this, but humanity soldiered on. 489 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: As more and more food was produced in factories, the 490 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:58,880 Speaker 1: demand for flavor additives just increased because, like you were 491 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: saying earlier in episode, what processed food has a lot 492 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: of high heat and other conditions involved in its production. 493 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: They change the way the food looks, taste, or smells, 494 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,640 Speaker 1: and they usually change it for the worst. Shout out 495 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: to anyone who's eating an MRI. 496 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, I know, you're always I don't know if 497 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 3: you're singing their praises exactly, you're singing something about them, 498 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 3: if they fascinate you, I know, And I don't think 499 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:26,840 Speaker 3: I've never actually had a chance to try one. 500 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 2: We have to, I do. We should do an MRI 501 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 2: date sometime. That sounds weird, are you in? Yeah, I 502 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 2: don't know. 503 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 3: Probably the condition won't allow it. I think they'll probably 504 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 3: kill him dead on the spot. Whatever is in those. 505 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 2: I can't have any preservative. 506 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 5: They will literally will those things are ninety preservative. 507 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 2: That's like the whole point of an mre. 508 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 5: Right, that's like that's where all the calories come from. Yes, preservative. 509 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 1: Okay, well, will you hang out and watch us? Seat mrs. 510 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 2: That's a little kinky. I don't know nothing weird. 511 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 6: I'm gonna watch you, but we got I'm gonna wait 512 00:30:58,520 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 6: for you all look away. I'm gonna inject you with 513 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 6: condition beforehand. 514 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 2: You can't weaponize the condition. 515 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 1: I can do whatever, though, Okay, all right, I don't 516 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: know if it's you don't have the chops or the 517 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: or the stones. 518 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 2: So I gotta say really quickly though. 519 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 3: But I did promise a taste of some intrigue, and 520 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:22,560 Speaker 3: I just wanted to mention I'd love to just have 521 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 3: a quick, you know, chat about this, the idea of 522 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 3: secret ingredients. Yes, so I found this article from the 523 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 3: Center for Science in the Public Interest from March nineteenth 524 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:39,959 Speaker 3: of this year. Actually, secret ingredients lurk in food hidden 525 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 3: as artificial flavor. In quotes natural flavor and spices. Because 526 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 3: we know the whole lore behind you know, our fabled 527 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 3: Coca Cola company here in Atlanta, the idea that the 528 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 3: secret ingredients for the coke, flavor, the syrup or whatever 529 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 3: can never be all of it, can't be in one 530 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 3: place at the same time, or like the two executives 531 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 3: that possess it, can't be on the same plane or something, 532 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:07,600 Speaker 3: you know, crazy stuff like that, And that's a proprietary 533 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 3: trade secret. 534 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 2: But ah does the FDA know? 535 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:13,080 Speaker 4: They must? 536 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, they're not a wonder. 537 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 3: So there's this loophole apparently that the FDA allows that 538 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 3: allows companies to use terms like natural flavors, artificial flavors, 539 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 3: et cetera. These terms that were baked into the Federal Food, 540 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 3: Drug and Cosmetic Act, which otherwise required specific ingredients to 541 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:38,240 Speaker 3: be like listed, you know, on on the label. They 542 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 3: are allowed to use these catch all terms to disguise 543 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 3: specific ingredients. But then the question becomes, and that's posed 544 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 3: by this article, who decides when a flavor substance is safe? 545 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,959 Speaker 3: And the short answer here is that it's largely up 546 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 3: to food manufacturers to decide to paths to choose. One 547 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 3: is for coming to submit a formal food added petition 548 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 3: to the FDA that includes information that substantiates the safety 549 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:10,200 Speaker 3: of the substance of the ingredients or the FDA can 550 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 3: perform a safety assessment on the substance that I guess 551 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:17,720 Speaker 3: doesn't require them to know exactly what's in it. 552 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: Yeah. And also the idea of the secret recipe depends 553 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: upon not just the ingredients, but the order of operations, 554 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: the combinations right, the temperatures, the applications, So that part 555 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,360 Speaker 1: can still say secret. A lot of the research from 556 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:39,280 Speaker 1: these early flavor companies was proprietary. It was their secret sauce. 557 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:40,720 Speaker 2: It was a black box. Yeah. 558 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 3: And it is the last thing quote from the CSPI, 559 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,720 Speaker 3: which was the Center for Science in the Public Interest 560 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 3: here just saying American consumers are likely laboring under the 561 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:55,880 Speaker 3: false impression that the FDA reviews and affirms the safety 562 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 3: to the flavor additives used in food. The fact of 563 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 3: the matter is that the FDA has largely abandoned its 564 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 3: role in approving new flavor chemicals and has handed its 565 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,440 Speaker 3: authority over to the food companies themselves, which is an 566 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:12,239 Speaker 3: obvious conflict of interest and keeps consumers from knowing what's 567 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:12,920 Speaker 3: in their food. 568 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, and youre's your intrigue there it is. 569 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: You can also speaking of intrigue, you can hear war 570 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,240 Speaker 1: stories from scientists in the trenches of the early days 571 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:28,120 Speaker 1: of synthetic flavoring, Folks like James Broderick, who said when 572 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 1: he began his career as a flavor chemist in the 573 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties, he was on a hunt. He was given 574 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,840 Speaker 1: one of those situations where it's like, this is your mission, 575 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,480 Speaker 1: should you choose to accept it? But instead of overthrowing, 576 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 1: you know, a far flung country, he had to find 577 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 1: a peach flavor made by a company out of Cincinnati 578 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,760 Speaker 1: called Fries and Fries. He and a team of chemists 579 00:34:54,120 --> 00:35:00,880 Speaker 1: tried repeatedly and failed repeatedly to duplicate this artificial peach flavor. 580 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 1: This was like corporate espionage level kind of stuff. So 581 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,880 Speaker 1: there's a lot of weird things here, but we have 582 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:12,520 Speaker 1: to remember that the science of artificial flavoring, the history 583 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:17,360 Speaker 1: of artificial flavoring, like so much great scientific innovation, it 584 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:21,480 Speaker 1: comes through accident. You're aiming for one thing, you hit 585 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,800 Speaker 1: another target. Our buddy Broderick learned that one of the 586 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:31,480 Speaker 1: essential components in this peach flavor he was pursuing was 587 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,600 Speaker 1: made by accident. It was a mistake in the processing 588 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:38,400 Speaker 1: of castor oil, and when they messed up the castor 589 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:42,160 Speaker 1: oil process. The chemist looked around and they were like, 590 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: why does this whole room reek of peaches? 591 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 3: I wouldn't mind that. I like the smell of beaches. Yeah, 592 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,800 Speaker 3: peaches for me, right, peaches for free? Yeah, millions of beaches. 593 00:35:55,160 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 3: And another here's a gross part though. Another secret component 594 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 3: in this peach flavor from fries and fries was apparent, 595 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 3: and fries is great. 596 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:07,839 Speaker 2: I just want that to be a restaurant that only 597 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,879 Speaker 2: sells and yes there. 598 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,560 Speaker 1: One of the other key players in their artificial peach 599 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:22,319 Speaker 1: flavor was an alcohol soaked wedge of cheese that they 600 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:24,360 Speaker 1: left by a basement furnace. 601 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 3: EO, mommy, indeed I can smell it, or just that 602 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 3: description little acrid, I think probably like dirty diaper vibes 603 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 3: would probably be in effect. 604 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:46,440 Speaker 6: Now. 605 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:50,080 Speaker 1: The flavor industry obviously continues in the modern day, shows 606 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,880 Speaker 1: no signs of becoming any less cool nor any less ridiculous. 607 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 2: But noel Max before go the promised banana mystery, The. 608 00:36:58,680 --> 00:36:59,760 Speaker 1: Promised banana mystery. 609 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:00,520 Speaker 2: Gotta do it. 610 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:04,040 Speaker 1: We've got it, like we've all we're adults, we've all 611 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,000 Speaker 1: eaten banana flavored candy. Just out of context. I'm going 612 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,719 Speaker 1: to keep that sentence. I'm gonna post that somewhere. We're 613 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,640 Speaker 1: all adults. We've all eaten banana flavored candy. 614 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:15,760 Speaker 2: Put it on a slap it on a bumper sticker. 615 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:18,800 Speaker 5: I can't eat banana conditions. 616 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, but the candy, No, I can't sure. The candy. 617 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,200 Speaker 5: Is like, literally, it is. 618 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:33,439 Speaker 2: Kryptonite Russian basically. Yeah, it's a group. 619 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 5: Maybe it hits, maybe it doesn't. 620 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:36,520 Speaker 2: That's fun. 621 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:41,320 Speaker 1: It's for the kids, Colin. Let's play a little culinary 622 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:42,160 Speaker 1: Russian roulette. 623 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 2: But no, it is weird, right that. 624 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:45,560 Speaker 3: Like you know, I mentioned at the top of the 625 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:50,560 Speaker 3: show episode one, I like a grape flavored soda, but 626 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,040 Speaker 3: I don't particularly care for a grape and I think 627 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:56,120 Speaker 3: that's largely because of the texture. I don't like the popping. 628 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,440 Speaker 3: But yet I also like caviar and I like boba, 629 00:37:58,719 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 3: So what's wrong with me? 630 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:04,880 Speaker 1: Now? Same deal with banana banana flavor and the flavor 631 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,160 Speaker 1: of a banana, a ripe banana and a banana shaped 632 00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:10,200 Speaker 1: tiny runt, you know, you know the ones. 633 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:14,880 Speaker 2: There's an essence, there's a vibe that they share, but 634 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:16,480 Speaker 2: that's about it, and. 635 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:20,040 Speaker 3: It's almost like an illusory kind of like vibe of 636 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:23,240 Speaker 3: the mind where it's like, because it's shaped like a banana, 637 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,480 Speaker 3: you sort of think it tastes a little like a banana, 638 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:27,800 Speaker 3: but really couldn't be farther from the truth, And it 639 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:29,840 Speaker 3: turns out that it actually goes the other way around. 640 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 3: Modern bananas don't taste the way bananas used to, and 641 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:35,800 Speaker 3: the candy is what they used to taste like. 642 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,279 Speaker 1: Kind of right, Yeah, that's that's the myth. And we've 643 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:44,120 Speaker 1: talked about it in previous episodes. Also next at some point, 644 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:45,880 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to say yes to some sort of 645 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: food you have to you gotta eat, Max. 646 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:52,400 Speaker 5: Yeah, you got some gluten free bread, I got you. 647 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 3: There's some really good gluten free bakeries here in town. 648 00:38:56,520 --> 00:39:00,840 Speaker 3: Hell yeah, gluten free. Yeah yeah, just some gluten free pastries. 649 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,600 Speaker 6: To be completely off topic, but relevant to what we're 650 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:05,640 Speaker 6: talking about right here. When I was actually in New York, 651 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:08,040 Speaker 6: I deviated from the condition because, as both y'all know, 652 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:09,760 Speaker 6: it's not a permanent condition. 653 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,320 Speaker 5: Temporary it comes in. It's just like, well it's good, Well. 654 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:15,359 Speaker 2: It came run. 655 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,360 Speaker 6: No, yeah, it'll it'll It'll go away at one point 656 00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:19,640 Speaker 6: and I'll be back to normal. 657 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:22,600 Speaker 5: And so I ate some street hot dogs in New 658 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:25,399 Speaker 5: York and and I'm still still a live. 659 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:27,480 Speaker 2: I'm just glad that you survived, Max, that's all. 660 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:29,440 Speaker 1: And with this. 661 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,759 Speaker 2: We have to bust the myth. So the story goes, 662 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:36,200 Speaker 2: am I a sucker? Was I suckered man? Because I 663 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:38,480 Speaker 2: think I believed this? Yeah? Give it to us. 664 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:43,400 Speaker 1: So there was an older There are many varieties of banana, right, 665 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,320 Speaker 1: just like there are many kinds of tubers. Uh. The 666 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:50,759 Speaker 1: gross Michelle g R O S M I c h 667 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:53,120 Speaker 1: E L translates to Big Mike. 668 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:53,640 Speaker 2: Big Michael. 669 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:58,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, the Big Mike. The Big Michael was once the 670 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:03,440 Speaker 1: go to banana in the you know, like the days 671 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:09,279 Speaker 1: when United Fruit was overthrowing Latin American democracies. You would 672 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,960 Speaker 1: buy Big Mics if you bought a banana and a 673 00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:15,680 Speaker 1: grocery store. But they got wiped out by something or 674 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:22,440 Speaker 1: they got devastated by something called Panama disease or Fusarium oxysporum, 675 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:28,080 Speaker 1: and it absolutely laid waste to the at scale agriculture 676 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,560 Speaker 1: of Big Mic bananas. And so the myth goes, or 677 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:35,880 Speaker 1: the legend goes, that to keep people on board with bananas, 678 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:40,600 Speaker 1: the producers created a new strain of banana, the cavendish 679 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:43,800 Speaker 1: and this is this part's true. This is probably the 680 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,680 Speaker 1: banana that you see at your local grocery store. It's 681 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:52,840 Speaker 1: entirely made to resist that Panama disease, and it tastes different. 682 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:55,440 Speaker 1: A lot of old school folks will tell you it 683 00:40:55,520 --> 00:41:00,400 Speaker 1: doesn't taste as good. The story goes that artificial flavoring 684 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:05,759 Speaker 1: had already successfully emulated the big mic banana and they's 685 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:11,600 Speaker 1: taken holds right, Yeah, which is why change it up right. Also, 686 00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:14,480 Speaker 1: flavor science is super complicated. Oh, wasn't too much of 687 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:16,840 Speaker 1: a sucker. So yeah, we still call it a bit 688 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:19,160 Speaker 1: of a legend, a myth in an origin story. But 689 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,680 Speaker 1: it does feel like there it does have the ring 690 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,359 Speaker 1: of truth to it to a degree, it does. 691 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:25,560 Speaker 2: But the myth is this. 692 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:29,040 Speaker 1: If we go to an excellent BBC article by Chris 693 00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:33,480 Speaker 1: barrenook Yeah, the Secrets of Fake Flavors from August to 694 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:38,480 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen. This journalist interviews a synthetic organic chemist named 695 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:43,040 Speaker 1: Derek Lowe, and Lowe says the thing is, banana can 696 00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:45,880 Speaker 1: be mimicked most of the way with a simple compound 697 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:51,400 Speaker 1: called isoamal acetate. Many chemists know it as banana esther 698 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,040 Speaker 1: and anyone who smells it immediately goes. 699 00:41:54,120 --> 00:42:00,480 Speaker 2: But na maybe not like the minions, Yeah, become aminion. 700 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:06,799 Speaker 1: So the idea is that maybe this story of an 701 00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:11,799 Speaker 1: artificial impersonation of a banana that has passed, maybe it's 702 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:15,279 Speaker 1: a little bit embellish because the chemist that we can 703 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:20,640 Speaker 1: find as verifiable primary sources say there's not a lot 704 00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:24,640 Speaker 1: of evidence that the artificial banana flavor is based on 705 00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:29,319 Speaker 1: the legendary big Mic. There are still also big mic 706 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:32,000 Speaker 1: bananas that are grown, They're just not at the same 707 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:33,520 Speaker 1: scale as the Cavendish. 708 00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:39,000 Speaker 3: But it is basically still saying that this isomal ascetin 709 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:43,000 Speaker 3: or whatever. When you smell it, it smelled more tasted, 710 00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:47,080 Speaker 3: more like the older, the original. 711 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:48,000 Speaker 2: Variety of banana. 712 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:51,600 Speaker 3: I guess when you smell a banana flavor, a banana scent, 713 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,440 Speaker 3: I think it's psychological though we just associate it, even 714 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:57,200 Speaker 3: though I don't know that I would say it really 715 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,239 Speaker 3: smells like what a banana smells like. It's almost more 716 00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:04,200 Speaker 3: like banana pudding, like it's got a vanilla extra thing. 717 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:05,360 Speaker 2: Layered on top of it. 718 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,080 Speaker 3: I'm trying to just like, how do you describe an 719 00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:11,200 Speaker 3: artificial flavoring that doesn't taste like the food that it's 720 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:11,920 Speaker 3: meant to mimic. 721 00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:15,440 Speaker 1: It's a real tricky thought experiment, right, yeah, yeah, And 722 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,239 Speaker 1: let's end with this thought experiment. I like where your 723 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:20,360 Speaker 1: head's at here, all right, I like where your pallet's 724 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:24,279 Speaker 1: at here. Have you guys ever tried juicy fruit gum? Yeah? 725 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:27,520 Speaker 2: It is juicy. I don't know that it tastes like 726 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:28,000 Speaker 2: a fruit. 727 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:32,560 Speaker 3: This idea of fruity flavoring, though, even that is all 728 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:35,920 Speaker 3: wrapped up in the history of artificial flavoring. Yeah, and 729 00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:39,200 Speaker 3: juicy fruit is good branding because you know immediately what 730 00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,719 Speaker 3: it is, what you're signing up for. And we know 731 00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,960 Speaker 3: this was a great example of good branding and marketing genius. 732 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:47,920 Speaker 6: I just want to jump in and give you know, 733 00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:50,560 Speaker 6: a really old family guy has some amazing jokes, and 734 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:51,680 Speaker 6: there's the juicy fruit jokes. 735 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:55,640 Speaker 5: Is amazing because Peter of juicefruit and his mouth, he's like, oh. 736 00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:56,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, like that. 737 00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:00,520 Speaker 1: They should have they should have aimed for zebra stripe 738 00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:03,800 Speaker 1: gum on that. Oh yeah, I love fred stripe gum. Hey, everyone, 739 00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:06,520 Speaker 1: future Max here credit where credit is due. The joke 740 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:09,480 Speaker 1: is actually for fruit stripe gum, not juicy fruit so 741 00:44:10,239 --> 00:44:13,279 Speaker 1: sorry for slandering your name juicy fruit, but I am 742 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,640 Speaker 1: not sorry. Fruit stripe gum all right, back to the episode. 743 00:44:16,719 --> 00:44:19,720 Speaker 2: And that also has a vaguely fruity flavor. 744 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:23,520 Speaker 3: But you're right, Max, the that's in, Yeah, that's I 745 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:26,560 Speaker 3: think they've come a long way in making the flavor 746 00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:29,240 Speaker 3: of gums last but a little longer. 747 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:32,640 Speaker 2: But it's it's it's meant to be ephemeral. 748 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:35,240 Speaker 3: It's never gonna That's one thing that Willy Wonka himself 749 00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:37,719 Speaker 3: tried to do was to have gum that would never 750 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:38,560 Speaker 3: lose its flavor. 751 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:39,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. 752 00:44:39,239 --> 00:44:43,240 Speaker 1: One thing I personally love about the concept of juicy 753 00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:47,560 Speaker 1: Fruit is that it it's like the pursuit of happiness. 754 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:51,560 Speaker 1: It doesn't specify what it's promising you. It's like that 755 00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:57,080 Speaker 1: that seafood restaurant franchise, Legal Seafood. What the heck does 756 00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:00,800 Speaker 1: that mean? Legal Legal Seafood has it's got to have 757 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:04,920 Speaker 1: some weird commercial where they're saying, you know, you may 758 00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:08,000 Speaker 1: be wondering, is it against the law for us to 759 00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,040 Speaker 1: sell you these foods ass seafood? 760 00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:14,720 Speaker 2: The answer is no, absolutely not. We've done our homework. 761 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,080 Speaker 3: And then wasn't there here in Atlanta for a little 762 00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:19,800 Speaker 3: while a place called like illegal Foods or something like that. 763 00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:22,279 Speaker 2: Ye may like crazy burgers, or it was a pop up, 764 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:23,080 Speaker 2: or it was really good. 765 00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:26,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Stephen Limberg, there you go, friend of the 766 00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:29,200 Speaker 1: past way you know. Oh yeah, I didn't hear about 767 00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:30,680 Speaker 1: that made a mean burger though. 768 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:32,520 Speaker 3: It was a good burger. They would run out kind 769 00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:34,640 Speaker 3: of special burger. They would have make a certain number 770 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:36,880 Speaker 3: of and run out every night. That's how you know 771 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:39,719 Speaker 3: it's good. That scarcity model is a big part of 772 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:42,279 Speaker 3: like food culture, which I think is interesting, you know. 773 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:46,680 Speaker 1: And we went to our friends at the Daily Mail 774 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:49,560 Speaker 1: and Mental Floss to learn a little bit more about 775 00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:53,279 Speaker 1: juicy fruit. What if you make a flavor so artificial 776 00:45:53,680 --> 00:45:57,120 Speaker 1: that it doesn't exist in nature. You have made something 777 00:45:57,360 --> 00:46:00,160 Speaker 1: that is not a natural fruit, but it takes to 778 00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:04,280 Speaker 1: fruit of some sort, and it does indeed taste juicy. 779 00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:06,840 Speaker 1: People have been trying to crack the code on juicy 780 00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:10,520 Speaker 1: fruit for quite some time. One guy in two thousand 781 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:14,080 Speaker 1: and two, big fan of juicy fruit, emailed the parent 782 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:17,560 Speaker 1: company directly and asked, like, hey, hit me to this, 783 00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:19,960 Speaker 1: what is this? Where can I find the fruit this 784 00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:20,880 Speaker 1: gum is based on? 785 00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:22,759 Speaker 2: And they're fny fruit? 786 00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:27,279 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, there, pr folks said the following quote. I'm 787 00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:31,440 Speaker 1: afraid we can't be very specific because, for competitive reasons, 788 00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:35,880 Speaker 1: again intrigue, we consider our juicy fruit flavoring formula to 789 00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:39,880 Speaker 1: be a trade secret. I can, however, tell you that 790 00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:43,480 Speaker 1: the mixture of fruit flavors and juicy fruit is comprised 791 00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:48,680 Speaker 1: of predominantly lemon, orange, pineapple, and banana notes, which is 792 00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:50,320 Speaker 1: a great non answer. 793 00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:54,480 Speaker 3: We haven't even gotten into the question of the ages 794 00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:57,920 Speaker 3: as to whether the different colors of fruit loops taste different, 795 00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:00,920 Speaker 3: or if it's just your brain convincing you that it 796 00:47:01,040 --> 00:47:03,920 Speaker 3: tastes more like lemon because it's yellow, or more like 797 00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:07,360 Speaker 3: a freaking blueberry because it's neon blue, or whatever like. 798 00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:12,160 Speaker 3: There is a whole other psychological component to artificial flavoring 799 00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:14,560 Speaker 3: that we haven't even really touched on too much. 800 00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:16,920 Speaker 2: But I would argue that with juicy fruit. 801 00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:20,560 Speaker 3: The name is where the flavor comes from, almost more 802 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:22,320 Speaker 3: than whatever freaking chemicals in it. 803 00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:25,800 Speaker 2: And the juicy part, y'all, it's just your own spit. 804 00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:28,200 Speaker 2: Sorry not to be gross. 805 00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:32,239 Speaker 3: About it, but it it encourages the production of saliva, 806 00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:35,719 Speaker 3: and therein lies the juicy aspect of it, you. 807 00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:39,719 Speaker 1: Know, yeah, you were the You were the superpower in 808 00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:41,120 Speaker 1: the flavor all along. 809 00:47:41,320 --> 00:47:41,640 Speaker 2: Folks. 810 00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:45,239 Speaker 1: We can tell you that just to sew up the 811 00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:49,760 Speaker 1: juicy fruit thing, when juicy fruit first hit store shelves, 812 00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:55,200 Speaker 1: it was eighteen ninety three. They people believe that the 813 00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:59,880 Speaker 1: prime mover of the flavoring here is something called isoamal acetate. 814 00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:05,080 Speaker 1: So back in this time, in eighteen ninety three, this 815 00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:10,440 Speaker 1: scrappy little substance, isoammal acetate was most commonly produced by 816 00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:15,759 Speaker 1: whiskey distilleries. And at the same time, now I'm doing 817 00:48:15,840 --> 00:48:20,279 Speaker 1: like a Charlie Day conspiracy board. At the same time, Illinois, 818 00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:26,719 Speaker 1: which was home to Rigley, obviously famous for gum and stadiums, Illinois, 819 00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:32,160 Speaker 1: produced eighteen million gallons of whiskey every year. So this 820 00:48:32,400 --> 00:48:36,680 Speaker 1: leads us to speculate that Rigly the company may have 821 00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:42,400 Speaker 1: purchased this byproduct isoammal acetate from these whisky distilleries a 822 00:48:43,280 --> 00:48:46,399 Speaker 1: and then like and then used it to flavor their gum. 823 00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:49,440 Speaker 1: So juicy fruit might be booze based. 824 00:48:50,600 --> 00:48:51,320 Speaker 2: That's fascinating. 825 00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:53,880 Speaker 3: And then just to tie this back into the banana mystery, 826 00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:58,360 Speaker 3: iso ammo al acetate is in fact the chemical compound 827 00:48:58,600 --> 00:48:59,480 Speaker 3: that we were talking. 828 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:02,080 Speaker 2: About as well, that one the banana flavor. 829 00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:04,719 Speaker 3: The idea that the myth is that this was just 830 00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:09,480 Speaker 3: the more convenient way to generate an approximation of banana flavor, 831 00:49:09,560 --> 00:49:12,360 Speaker 3: rather than they did it based on the old you know, 832 00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:15,880 Speaker 3: the old model banana kind of went off the market 833 00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:21,840 Speaker 3: because of that fungus. So isomal acetate is banana is 834 00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:23,360 Speaker 3: known as banana flavor, So. 835 00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:25,120 Speaker 2: It's the same. What right? 836 00:49:25,239 --> 00:49:30,120 Speaker 1: Yep, yep, absolutely correct. This is just the beginning of 837 00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:33,280 Speaker 1: a crazy journey. We can't wait to hear your favorite 838 00:49:33,360 --> 00:49:39,439 Speaker 1: artificial flavors, folks. I think we we anticipated this would 839 00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:43,160 Speaker 1: be a delicious rabbit hole, but maybe not to the 840 00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:46,759 Speaker 1: degree that we have gone into it. And thank you 841 00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:49,960 Speaker 1: as always for tuning in, folks. Big thanks to our 842 00:49:50,080 --> 00:49:54,479 Speaker 1: super producer mister Max Williams, who slid us slid into 843 00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:57,480 Speaker 1: our DMS on the chat and said, as a heads up, 844 00:49:57,600 --> 00:49:59,520 Speaker 1: we are over fifty minutes now, Oh my. 845 00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:02,719 Speaker 3: God, it's not allowed for ridiculous sysy. No, this is 846 00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:05,560 Speaker 3: a bonus episode within the second. 847 00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:07,359 Speaker 2: Part of the two parter. Consider it that way. 848 00:50:07,640 --> 00:50:09,560 Speaker 1: We'd like to keep these bite sized for you, but 849 00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:11,520 Speaker 1: there was just too much to discuss in it Also, 850 00:50:11,760 --> 00:50:15,760 Speaker 1: since the first one was so heavily weighted in the vanilla, 851 00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:18,120 Speaker 1: it made sense to break it up that way. 852 00:50:18,160 --> 00:50:21,360 Speaker 2: Otherwise this would have been the longest ridiculous history of 853 00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:21,919 Speaker 2: all time. 854 00:50:22,200 --> 00:50:27,320 Speaker 3: Huge thanks to Alex Williams who composed our theme, Eve's. 855 00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:31,040 Speaker 1: Jeff Christopher hasiotis big, big thanks to you, well, big 856 00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:35,319 Speaker 1: thanks to gab Loes, yay Aj Bahamas, Jacobs, Doctor Rachel Big, 857 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:40,600 Speaker 1: Spinach Lance, and of course the juicy fruit of our show, 858 00:50:41,080 --> 00:50:43,680 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland aka The Twister. 859 00:50:44,960 --> 00:50:46,520 Speaker 2: We'll see you next time, folks. 860 00:50:53,680 --> 00:50:57,480 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 861 00:50:57,560 --> 00:50:59,680 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.