Food Science, Yo

Bachelor's of Science in Food Science. Accelerated Culinary Arts Certificate from Culinary Institute of America. Please don't hesitate to demand extra sources. I shitpost.

[dorothygale]

pop health science is so annoying bc it'll be like "did you know? eating strawberries will give you mega cancer" and you're like pfft whatever begone influencer. but sometimes then you'll see a reasonably credible article like "Study Shows Possible Link Between Strawberries and Mega Cancer" and you're not usually the type to follow that kind of thing religiously but idk maybe you should consider not eating strawberries? but then there's another article saying "Strawberry/Mega Cancer Study Debunked" and it turns out the original study had a sample size of 3 and was funded by Big Blueberry, and strawberries may have a small connection to mega cancer but only if you are genetically predisposed to mega cancer and eat 50 strawberries every day. so you return to your strawberry eating life. but whenever you eat strawberries in public someone tells you about the mega cancer.

[doctrowho]

i’m glad we don’t have to hunt for our food anymore.. i don’t even know where Sandwiches live 

[cutecipher]

science has always been political. what gets studied. what doesnt. who gets to do the studying. on and on and on.

[deceptive-owls]

they should put me in charge of science...i literally just want to know things

[dank-memes-my-ex-gf-sends-me]

[preserving-tiktok]

[loverboyfae]

ask not for whom the bell peppers

[sea-salted-wolverine]

For those who need to hear it. To be ten pounds overweight is barely noticeable. To be ten pounds underweight is cause for concern if not outright alarm.

The primary health impact of being fifty pounds overweight is medical neglect. The primary health impact of being fifty pounds underweight is organ failure.

Skinny =/= healthy. You can not underfeed yourself into balanced nutrition. You can not subtract your way towards a healthy diet. You can not exercise all the spare calories off because bomb calorimetery is a joke of a scientific model that would have been laughed out of any other field.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

Underneath the ubermensch tones, this feels like a precursor to food safety standards being lowered for meat. They're just tapping into toxic masculinity as a way to repackage what they want.

Americans, if you're able to shop from local processing butchers, especially halal/kosher ones, I'd suggest preparing to make the switch.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

I see in the notes people engaging with the White House's announcement at face value and pointing out this is hypocritical/nonsensical.

Of course it's both.

"The War on Protein" is just a slogan to make it look like the previous administration and the Left in general were/are deliberately trying to keep the nation weak. (This slots in well with white supremacist fears about the Great Replacement, etc.)

This is deliberately to rile up folks and further draw Us vs Them lines. In addition, their current base that actually knows science will be forced to parrot this nonsense as a loyalty test.

It doesn't matter that we see protein added in all sorts of things these days, even bottled water. It doesn't matter that America is the land of burgers, hotdogs, and steaks.

Treat this as an example of how this regime tries to sell its bullshit as "beneficial". See how everything is now a "war", and how America needs to be "strong".

This is most likely propaganda to disguise a campaign to lower food safety standards. Probably also to change requirements for food lunches to favor corporate donors whose food is unhealthy/unsafe.

The formula that worked so well to cast public doubt upon COVID and vaccines is being used here to do the same food safety. Expect to hear that regulations are "unreasonable" and actively hurting America.

Again, do not engage this regime with the surface content of their messaging - treat everything as propaganda and look for who stands to benefit.

[writer-at-the-table]

The FDA unveils a new food pyramid that promotes red meat and protein

Here’s what to know about the new government recommended dietary guidelines and what experts think of them.

Guys, it's not about deregulation. It's about the new food pyramid guidelines. The "war on protein" they're talking about is previous guidelines that recommended limiting red meat and had a lower protein recommendation.

I don't know enough about nutrition science to say if the new guidelines are actually healthy - per the article the response from nutritionists has been "mixed." My guess is no, but my guess on this is worth very little, given I have no training or background in this area.

I agree that the language used is intended to evoke reactions, and plays on associations between meat and strength.

But please stop telling people they can't trust their food to be safe based on vibes and assumptions

https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/01/12/food-pyramid-new/

[so-i-did-this-thing]

But regulatory oversight and testing literally has been cut in 2025. In part because there is an effort to shift regulations at the federal level to the states, many of which are underfunded.

Many things can be happening here at once. In fact, a new food pyramid combined with easing regulations and testing sort of goes hand in hand.

Some events from 2025 and early 2026:

Deregulation is moving through legislation at the state level, such as in New Hampshire. This is currently at odds with federal standards, but only as far as those standards continue to exist, imo.

Pesticide tracking requirements have been rescinded.

The feds hadn't been using this data for years because of lack of funding, but now preventing any future studies via a data blackout is concerning.

Pork and chicken processing speed has been increased. Faster speeds = more chance for error and worker injury.

Key Federal Food Safety Advisory Committees, NACMCF and NACMPI, Have Been Terminated.

CDC Cuts Back FoodNet Surveillance.

Not all of these examples are directly meat related, but it still points to a pattern where public safety has been impacted.

There have been enough listeria outbreaks since 2025 to where I will no longer buy bagged salad.

And from where I sit in federal space and the cuts and sleight of hand I've personally witnessed on my own program - even while not CDC or USDA related - I am inclined to believe many decisions by this administration are to line pockets at the expense of public safety.

Call me paranoid, fine, but as has pointed out in the notes, making at effort to patronize local butchers, especially those from underrepresented communities, is good from a community-building standpoint.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

I'm not done with the connections behind this announcement.

This promotion of protein also ties into rewarding the production of meat, which has climate and labor impact.

Prison labor is tied to some of the world's most popular food brands.

And with immigrants being so under attack in the US, that means a huge source of labor is dwindling, likely to be picked up by prisons. (Tyson foods is a big offender here.)

Meat's environmental impact.

We already know this administration is denying climate change, which is convenient for an industry that contributes so much to it.

This isn't "just" a new food pyramid. It seeks to prop up a system that is already rife with abuse.

Am I saying you should be afraid of your food? I dunno, maybe a little, to where you need to be more keyed into recalls and the like. The quality of consumer goods has dropped so much due to capitalism that it feels naive to assume food won't follow suit.

You definitely should be more mindful of where it comes from and make the choices that are the most positive and impactful for you and your community.

[t4timekeeper]

i’m pursuing a career as a pastry chef and i enjoy making sweets for the people i love. if one more person starts waxing hysterical about the dangers of sugar and fat and calories in response to me making something nice for them i’m gonna become a real life batman villain.

[t4timekeeper]

like they almost always DO want the sweet in question, so it’s not a matter of disliking the gift. but they feel the need to perform this whole display of guilt and shame about it. and it’s super awkward and uncomfortable.

[t4timekeeper]

it’s not black tar heroin. it’s a cookie. i made it with love. it will not kill you. if you don’t want it that’s perfectly okay. but at least have the same grace and manners you would if you were rejecting any other gift, alright?

[viperosedae]

the worst extremely low-stakes consequence of societal fatphobia is when a low-calorie/""""healthy"""" recipe is actually good and suddenly everyone thinks you're sharing it as a diet aid and not because it fucks hard

[viperosedae]

anyway put some frozen raspberries in a bowl and pour just a leetle bit of cold oat milk over it and the oat milk will semi-freeze into a kind of ice cream texture. and now you have fake raspberry ripple ice cream that's 90% raspberries by volume

[hippy-craic]

[anotherblueday]

[the-wanton-house-wife-deactivat]

You’re welcome 🧄

[sivavakkiyar]

thank you potato. I love you potato. Everyone praise the potato

[autumnhobbit]

queen shit (and she was right)

[tilthat]

TIL that the reason lead levels in children’s blood have dropped 85% in the past thirty years is because of an unknown scientist who fought car companies to end leaded gasoline. He also removed it from paint, suggested its removal from pipes, and campaigned for the removal of lead solder from cans.

via ift.tt

[squeeful]

Yep.  It also correlates extremely strongly with an increasing decrease of violent crime.  One of the symptoms of low level constant lead exposure is increased aggression and volatility. 

[kurowrites]

“Unknown scientist”? That was Clair Cameron Patterson.

[solarpunkcast]

Gas companies are still so mad at him he’s “unknown scientist”, know his name

[bogleech]

Daily reminder that health and safety standards like these are what politicians mean when they talk about “deregulation.”

[prismatic-bell]

Patterson died 5 December 1995.

Petition to make his date of death a Tumblr holiday celebrated by talking about cool shit the gas and petroleum industries don’t want us to know about, and fighting to continue his work.

[kittydesade]

Happy Clair Cameron Patterson day!

[ailelie]

Oh, hey, it’s almost Clair Cameron Patterson day!

[prismatic-bell]

It’s tomorrow, everyone!

Remember: we celebrate on his death day because the battle hasn’t ended. He had to put down his weapons. We have to pick them up.

[newfoods]

pushed pork

[a-suspicious-lack-of-bagel]

not a new food. sausages.

[hiveswap]

Everyone say thank you american indigenous people for cultivating corn, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, cacao, pumpkin, squash, and anything i missed. Makes life more meaningful globally

[xiaguangmagpie]

Yes actually I will not shut up about how these foods are from the Americas/cultivated by the people there, and did NOT exist in Asia, Africa or Europe before the 1490s, there was an absolute food revolution going on in the 1500s. Whatever you think is traditional food for your country? Check again, you’ve maybe only been using that ingredient for maybe 500 years. Here is the full list of crops, it is very interesting :))