Chobani Yogurt: Now Made Without Science!

songbyrdsweet
songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
in Chit-Chat
I normally don't get fired up about crap on the internet, but I have to address this: http://slate.me/UeZcZL

I am a scientist. I have a deep respect and understanding for and of the scientific method. I am cognizant of its strengths and faults, and I am under no impression that research is without biases or mistakes. That's the nature of science. It is constantly evolving and improving.

Science has extended our quality and quantity of life. Science is how we are all communicating on this website, it's how you commuted to work this morning. It's how you can eat a tropical vegetable like a bell pepper in Maine in December. Food science ensures that you have access to an entire grocery store of shelf-stable fresh and preserved foods that have come from all parts of the US and beyond (or wherever you're located).

Chobani didn't 'get here' with 'nature'. Yogurt isn't found in nature. For whatever reason, it's considered a 'natural' or 'whole' food by many (not looking at you, Paleos). But it is a man-made food. Science combined a lactic-acid producing bacteria with milk and created yogurt. Ta-da!

Here's my big issue: It is very popular to hate and fear science now. People have stopped vaccinating their children, leading to outbreaks of measles. People refuse to buy GMO crops despite the fact that they've already been eating them for years, and GMO foods prevent serious nutrient deficiencies in developing countries by providing things like golden rice, and also ensure that we have access to foods out of season by making them resistant to cold temperatures. People refuse to eat gluten, though many don't actually know what it is.

The media is largely to blame. People trust the media. The media does a terrible job of representing research. Two years ago I was published on an article about the benefits of cocoa extract--that is, a specific polymer of a specific molecule of cocoa. What did the local news publish? A piece on *chocolate*. A consumer reads it and thinks 1) Science can't make up its mind! 2) Scientists can't be trusted! 3) Science can't be trusted!

The rest of the problem is in the rapid transmission of misinformation from one person to the next...through Facebook, news websites, and even MFP. For all the accurate statements here that I have seen founded in science and research, I have seen three that are absolute nonsense. It's frustrating for me as a scientist and it's frustrating for others who are looking for facts and evidence in a sea of misinformation.

Anyway, this is way too long, but in the end it is a plea to educate yourself with primary research sources, discretion, and avoidance of sensationalist media.

PS. Chobani is recalling their lids. :P

Replies

  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
    +1

    I love Chobani but that's just dumb.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    +1

    I love Chobani but that's just dumb.

    Thanks, my link was getting cut off but I finally figured it out...with science haha.... ;)

    It irony is that everyone is up-in-arms about Chobani using milk from cows that are fed GMO corn...and the anti-science movement is exacerbating their loss of customers. The anti-science slogan was a really bad move. They're alienating everyone now.
  • LegendaryOrange
    LegendaryOrange Posts: 2,864 Member
    Thank the FDA for the situation. There is no clarity and we've been left to figure out what is safe and what is not. A lot of people are defaulting to the notion that any food affected by 'science' is likely unsafe.
  • stetienne
    stetienne Posts: 560 Member
    It's not the FDA...there is a whole movement in this country that is anti-science. Sadly.
  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
    They're alienating everyone now.

    Good. More yogurt for me. I figure I've gotta die of something, it might as well be from yogurt consumption.
  • HikariAlta
    HikariAlta Posts: 6
    Amen, sister! Thank you, science for modern food preservation techniques that keep hundreds of thousands from serious food-born illness every year. Thank you, science for modern production techniques that have lessened famine. Than you, science for the medical technology that allows people like me (a diabetic) to stay alive and healthy.

    Science is our friend. Excess is our enemy.
  • LegendaryOrange
    LegendaryOrange Posts: 2,864 Member
    It's not the FDA...there is a whole movement in this country that is anti-science. Sadly.

    To believe it is nothing more than a grassroots anti-science movement is naive. The quality of the food supply in this country has been declining for decades and the FDA has not provided the oversight necessary. The result is a nation who has lost confidence in the food supply.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    Great post!!! Thank you!
  • stetienne
    stetienne Posts: 560 Member
    It's not the FDA...there is a whole movement in this country that is anti-science. Sadly.

    To believe it is nothing more than a grassroots anti-science movement is naive. The quality of the food supply in this country has been declining for decades and the FDA has not provided the oversight necessary. The result is a nation who has lost confidence in the food supply.

    Agreed that FDA should have the backbone to provide oversight...also food should be better labeled...people should stop leaving the "g" off verbs to sound folksy...and I really don't see a need for semi-automatic weapons in a Chipotle. But I was alluding to a bigger issue in this country...one where the FDA is either toothless or gutless because of the climate. And the country would have to be paying more attention in the first place to ever lose confidence in the food supply. Christ, this is the age of the waffle taco.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    I love Chobani... especially the Champion ones that come in a tube... I don't care if it's science or nature.. it nourishes me and sustains me... oh and it tastes good.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    The FDA isn't an omniscient governing body. They DO provide oversight. They regulate food safety (i.e. things at the right temperatures), food labeling (is it making inaccurate claims?), food additives (is something added during packaging or during the heating process?) and they also measure the safety and efficacy of drugs.

    If you take whey protein supplements...guess what? No FDA regulation. Since it's a supplement, they don't regulate unless they can prove it isn't safe. You should be more worried about your supplements and vitamins than your GMO food.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Amen, sister! Thank you, science for modern food preservation techniques that keep hundreds of thousands from serious food-born illness every year. Thank you, science for modern production techniques that have lessened famine. Than you, science for the medical technology that allows people like me (a diabetic) to stay alive and healthy.

    Science is our friend. Excess is our enemy.

    Funny that no one is anti-insulin injections. Where do they think we are getting the insulin? Pancreas donors? :tongue: Thank you for appreciating science!
  • conqueringsquidlette
    conqueringsquidlette Posts: 383 Member
    standing+ovation2.gif
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    standing+ovation2.gif

    Haha, I wish I could 'like' this! :) Love your weightloss ticker.
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    Part of the problem is that we now have a HUGE segment of the population that has nothing but dumb, undisciplined thoughts about things. The internet gives them a voice and the media just amplifies them because they are too stupid to filter it out.

    Remember when they used to report about people that thought the moon landings were hoaxes, and then one day Buzz Aldrin decked one of those jerks, and then the media went "oh yeah", we were being stupid. Now they don't amplify those idiots anymore.

    Maybe when the media realizes that paying attention to anti-vaccine bozos is actually killing children that they will realize they need to stop amplifying these idiots.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Part of the problem is that we now have a HUGE segment of the population that has nothing but dumb, undisciplined thoughts about things. The internet gives them a voice and the media just amplifies them because they are too stupid to filter it out.

    Remember when they used to report about people that thought the moon landings were hoaxes, and then one day Buzz Aldrin decked one of those jerks, and then the media went "oh yeah", we were being stupid. Now they don't amplify those idiots anymore.

    Maybe when the media realizes that paying attention to anti-vaccine bozos is actually killing children that they will realize they need to stop amplifying these idiots.

    According to the CDC there have been nearly 300 cases of measles just this year. They are higher than of the previous 20 entire *years*. One of the most deadly and easily-preventable diseases. http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0529-measles.html
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    On the topic of children dying, here is some actual information on the golden rice project. Golden rice is a GMO--rice with added beta carotene to provide vitamin A. Golden rice would never occur in nature and these individuals do not have easy access to foods abundant in vitamin A.

    http://www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why1_vad.php

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