What is Monosodium Glutamate? Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a salt used to add flavor to food. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. Glutamic acid is an amino acid that occurs naturally in lots of foods, such as tomatoes, cheese, mushrooms, and seaweed. In foods, glutamic acid often loses a hydrogen ion and becomes […]
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What is GM food? GM food stands for Genetically Modified food, and it means any food that is produced using some kind of genetic engineering to alter its DNA. Generally, GM food refers to either taking a gene from one plant and inserting it into another or removing a gene that a plant already has.
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Why do chefs use iron, copper, and ceramic pans? Chefs use iron, copper, and ceramic pans because of the different ways they conduct and store heat energy. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all pan for professional chefs, and they change the type of pan they use for different foods. Each pan has a different set of properties
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What is the difference between brown eggs and white eggs? There is no difference in the egg itself, but brown eggs come from a different breed of hen and are usually larger than white eggs. As with brown and white pasta and brown and white rice, many of us think that brown eggs must be
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What are the Ms in m&m’s? The Ms in m&m’s stand for Mars and Murrie, the two makers of the confectionery. If you have never tried them, m&m’s are a sugar coated chocolate candy made in the USA and sold around the world. They come in many colors and there are different kinds of fillings
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What is pasteurization? Pasteurization is the process of heating food to reduce harmful microbes and slow spoilage, giving it a longer shelf life. The process is named after Louis Pasteur, although people had been using heat to preserve food and drink long before him. We tend to associate pasteurization with the milk industry, but all
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Why do apples ripen other fruits? Apples ripen other fruits because they release ethylene gas. If you have a bowl of fruit on your table, you may find that all of the fruit ripens much faster if you have apples in the bowl. You can also ripen fruit like avocados more quickly if you put
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How do seedless fruit reproduce? Seedless fruit don’t produce viable seeds, so they can’t reproduce, but they don’t need to because they are produced by breeding two different plants that can produce fruit with seeds. These days, we can buy fruit with seeds, and we can usually buy seedless varieties of fruit as well. Watermelon
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What causes a hangover? A hangover is caused by a combination of things, including acetaldehyde poisoning, dehydration, inflammation, irritation of the stomach, low blood sugar, and lack of sleep. As an interesting aside, the word “hangover” only became associated with the morning after drinking too much in 1904. It was used in the Foolish Dictionary,
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Why do onions have so many layers? Onions have so many layers because each layer is a modified leaf that has grown from the center out. When they are first planted, onions grow from a seed. These seeds are produced by flowers at the top of the onion’s stalk. If you think about an onion
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