More "snake oil" and/or WTF products

[wolfie]

It's not that, accountingdrone. It's that the chemical forumula for table sugar is C12H22O11. Basically, sugar is a quarter carbon by definition.

Nope - 42%. Generally, percentage is by weight, not by number of atoms (cf. the NKP numbers on fertilizer - the most common consumer product to give element percentages by weight). Going by the most common isotopes, carbon weighs 12 AMU, hydrogen 1, and oxygen 16. Work it out and table sugar is 42% carbon by weight.

And don't get me started on the whole "vine ripened" nonsense.

"Vine ripened" means it was ripe when picked - limited shelf life, and very fragile in handling. The alternative is to pick them somewhat underripe (but at a stage where they will progress to what looks like fully ripened, rather than rotting, post-picking). This way allows more shelf life (time to ripen in addition to "how long until it starts to go bad"), and they are more durable in handling. They also don't have the full flavour, but to the industrial farms that's not important.

[mathnerd]

Nope - 42%. Generally, percentage is by weight, not by number of atoms (cf. the NKP numbers on fertilizer - the most common consumer product to give element percentages by weight). Going by the most common isotopes, carbon weighs 12 AMU, hydrogen 1, and oxygen 16. Work it out and table sugar is 42% carbon by weight.

If you go by weight, yes. I was thinking in terms of molarity.

[otakuneko]

Ah Vir, you scene stealer you.

Well, Vir, being the good-for-nuthin' Narn-lover he is, probably would offer someone fresh spoo.

But I was goin for G'Kar.

[lordlundar]

Well, Vir, being the good-for-nuthin' Narn-lover he is, probably would offer someone fresh spoo.

But I was goin for G'Kar.

Ah yes, got my quote's wrong. The quote I was thinking of was "I made your favorite, spoo."

[AccountingDrone]

It's not that, accountingdrone. It's that the chemical forumula for table sugar is C12H22O11. Basically, sugar is a quarter carbon by definition.

Why yes I do actually know the formula for sugar, however the 'carbon free' part of the definition is referring to bone based carbon used in the filtration process. I did actually have to know this for a previous job with US FoodService.

[Pagan]

My favorite has been a certain cold remedy's (and I use that term loosely) term "pre-cold".

Andi Osho, who happens to be an English stand-up, was on Craig Ferguson last week and was wondering about some of the strange things we have here in the US. Like what a "pre-cold" is? Why it wasn't just called "healthy"?

According to the product's info, a "pre-cold" is when your throat gets tacky or you start sneezing. Hate to break it to them, but it's already too late by then. You either have a cold or you don't.

[ADeMartino]

Not related to food or drugs, but there was a 'snake oil' product I was supposed to push when I worked in auto parts - and it literally WAS an oil. The deal was this: you were supposed to add this product to your engine oil at every change. Whether this goo actually provided a mechanical benefit or not is up for debate (I'm thinking it didn't do anything special, personally), but the deal was if the engine ever failed; the company that made this sludge would allegedly pay for repairs to the engine. Now, bear in mind that this crud was like $15 for a one-quart bottle - and we're speaking of the late 1980s and early 1990s!

Yeeeeeeahhh, right. The conditions for making a claim were ridiculously narrow. For example, the car had to have fewer than 50,000 miles when usage of the product started, and could not have more than 100,000 miles at the time of engine failure. It also specifically excluded diesels and 'high performance' engines, AND you had to document that you'd been using the product at every oil change (which, by the way, was mandated by the product manufacturer at 2,000 mile intervals). AND you had to send a sample of the oil to the manufacturer so they could verify that it was in use at the time the engine quit.

Seriously, if you have a car with between 50,000 and 100,000 miles and are changing the oil at 2000-3000 mile intervals like you're already supposed to, odds of engine failure are slim to none in the first place.

We were practically blackmailed into pushing this shit - which lead me to believe that, with its considerable price tag, there was a significant kickback involved somewhere along the line. In the four years I worked for this particular auto-parts chain, I was able to sell just TWO bottles. We were finally told to dump it, which I thought was unusual - normally a non-selling product is returned for credit. Nope, the company that made this stuff had dried up and vanished. There was nobody to return it TO. By the time we dumped it, the contents of the bottles had separated into a light-color gelatinous mass (about 70 percent, by my guess), and the rest appeared to be regular motor oil, though very thin. I certainly wouldn't want this shit in MY engine.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

Couple of new WTFs I see advertised regularly...

The 'fruit pop' maker. Basically uses shaped templates to cut multiple slices out of bits of fruit so you can... (wait for it...) stick 'em on a stick like a shish kebab and make 'fruit bouquet presentations'. Because it's sooooooo much cheaper than buying one, you know. Trouble is, I've never actually seen one for sale, anywhere. I can just imagine all this browning, disgusting fruit bits on sticks in the local supermarket. Fruit flies buzzing around in a cloud. Ugh. No. Geez, if you want to use cute fruit shapes to get the kids to eat fruit, use a cookie cutter.

The 'sporting glasses' that are soooooo much better than binoculars, but make the wearer look like a total dork. They're clunky black specs with built in magnification up to a whopping (!!!) 3x. Save yourself all the stress, neck ache and drama of real binoculars, folks, and try these! Yeah, no. I like my lightweight, compact binoculars, and I get better magnification and resolution out of my camera. And I look dorky enough without these things, thank you very much.

[Food Lady]

My favorite line on labels is "chemical free". Uh-huh. Everything on earth can be broken down into its chemical component parts. Ugh.

That's why I don't say I'm going chenical-free in my personal products, but that I'm avoiding unnecessary chemicals.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Not related to food or drugs, but there was a 'snake oil' product I was supposed to push when I worked in auto parts - and it literally WAS an oil. The deal was this: you were supposed to add this product to your engine oil at every change. Whether this goo actually provided a mechanical benefit or not is up for debate (I'm thinking it didn't do anything special, personally), but the deal was if the engine ever failed; the company that made this sludge would allegedly pay for repairs to the engine. Now, bear in mind that this crud was like $15 for a one-quart bottle - and we're speaking of the late 1980s and early 1990s!

<snip>

Slick 50 amirite?

[Seshat]

Bast and I overheard some people talking about having natural, organic food the other day, and started whispering to each other about arsenic (natural), hemlock (natural AND organic - in both senses). I suggested they might want to eat their apple seeds (containing cyanide).

We're bad. VERY bad.

[Catwoman2965]

For me the 'snake-oil' things are all the buzzwords floating around on food these days. All natural, organic, fat free, gluten free... Really people?

Arsenic can be completely organic, is all natural, fat free and gluten free. Does that make it healthy?

And you don't eat it, but so is asbestos. It's mined from the ground! so all-natural. Doesn't mean its not harmful, but I always thought something that bad had to be man-made.

[Catwoman2965]

And sort of in the same vein. I just got something in the mail about a class action lawsuit against Trader Joes, for alleged "mislabeling" of certain products, as "all-natural" and they, gasp, were not. Whatever. Including cookies, cinnamin rolls, and a few other items. Sure, right, uh huh. I'll get right on joining that!

[taxguykarl]

I always thought something that bad had to be man-made.

As one commentator pointed out: Tsunamis and pathogens are natural.

[ADeMartino]

And sort of in the same vein. I just got something in the mail about a class action lawsuit against Trader Joes, for alleged "mislabeling" of certain products, as "all-natural" and they, gasp, were not. Whatever. Including cookies, cinnamin rolls, and a few other items. Sure, right, uh huh. I'll get right on joining that!

One thing I'll say about modern society. Nobody ever has to remind me why I hate lawyers so intensely.