Questions tagged [food]
Any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the organism.
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Which predator / prey pair of species have the most drastically different body size?
I'm trying to identify which 2 species, one predator species and one prey species that have the biggest size difference. Specifically, which predator hunts the largest prey relative to itself?
I'm ...
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Does cooking kill all bacteria?
So I know that the general rules is that pathogen prone foods such as chicken shouldn't be consumed after 2 hours at room temperature. Cooking meat such as chicken is necesary as it kills the ...
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Why is iodine added to salt? As opposed to fluor or fats/oils like iron and vitamin A?
Is there a particular reason why certain foods are enriched or fortified with certain nutrients? Such as salt with iodine? Or did we just get used to doing things a certain way since we started ...
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What are the common dental traits of fungivorous mammals? [closed]
What are the dental adaptations for eating mushrooms that are commonly found amongst fungivorous mammals?
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Special food for big cat cubs?
For house cat kittens there is special 'kitten food', containing more nutrients than normal cat food in order to compensate for the fact that at pretty much any time of the day kittens spend a ...
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Does refrigerating (but not freezing) bread inhibit mycelium growth?
During COVID, supermarkets struggled to keep things in stock. Bread seemed to be hard to come by for a time. As a result, when I came across the brand I liked, I grabbed a couple extra loaves. I didn'...
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A cup of milk dregs has turned a deep blue color. What is growing in it?
Ok, so yes this is gross and all. But it was too amazing to me to keep to myself. I left a cup with a small amount of leftover milk from "honey bunches of oats" out for like 2-3 days and ...
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Do *Ambystoma macrodactylum* predate on *ceuthophilinaens* like the one I observed?
I observed this Ambystoma macrodactylum within half of a meter of this Ceuthophilinaen under an old board. I can imagine salamanders eating cricket-like things, but this question is far outside my ...
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Can arsenic contaminating calcium carbide enter banana skin during artificial ripening?
Calcium carbide which is used for ripening banana contains arsenic, is it possible for that arsenic to enter banana skin?
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Is double-stranded DNA denatured to single-stranded DNA in retorted canned tuna?
A PCR reaction has a cycle of about 55°C annealing, 72°C extension and 95°C denaturing with short time spans. Retorting canned tuna heats the tuna to 115°C to 121°C for 30 minutes to 2 hours depending ...
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Why are Anisakiasis infections relatively rare in Japan?
In Japan raw fish are routinely eaten in the form of sushi and sashimi, and frequently no freezing or other preservative treatments have been applied. Even so, incidence of illness due to the common ...
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Why would it be unsafe to eat spoiled, but heated, food, but safe to drink spoiled, but chlorine purified water?
To my understanding, spoiled food is not supposed to be consumed even after cooking it, since the heat may eradicate germs, but their toxines may be heat-resistant and thus still active. However, ...
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How do farmers tell if their fruits are sweet without eating them?
A relative of mine tells me that when she goes to buy fruits, she asks the vendor if the fruits are sweet. Surprisingly, the vendor is able to tell (the vendor is apparently willing to divulge this ...
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How to reduce the quantity of (carcinogenic) mycotoxins in oatmeal?
Like all cereals, oat is commonly (nearly systematically) contaminated by several types of mycotoxin (produced by molds) known to cause cancer{1}. Oat is one of the most infected cereals{2}. Unless ...
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What is 'protein' in food?
I know that proteins perform a lot of functions and as a result there are a lot of different types of proteins in our bodies. When I eat food that has x grams of 'protein', what is this? A homogenous ...
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What do decomposers eat if they break down complex substances and make it available for producers?
I have a doubt for which I haven't found the exact answer.
Decomposers break down complex substances into simpler substances and make it available for producers. But what does decomposers get (or eat) ...
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Tiny orange yellow bug in raspberries? What is it?
There's a tiny orange yellow bug in raspberries:
What is it? The fruit was sitting in the fridge for 3 days
Sarah
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Do people need nitrogen from air for health?
Can people breath totally nitrogen-free atmosphere for a long time? I know, nitrogen is essential for life, and in big quantities, but maybe people can take it entirely from food, from proteins, etc?
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What exactly makes red meat (probably) unhealthy?
It seems generally agreed that (even fresh, unprocessed) red meat is at least somewhat bad for human health. But why exactly is this the case? It's difficult to find any attempt at an explanation, ...
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Why can we eat salty food, but can't stomach salty water?
I know that too much sodium is bad for our health. However, it struck me as odd that we like to add salt to pasta sauce or other foods we eat, yet trying to drink salt water can bring on the gag ...
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Do humans have any biological adaptations to eating cooked food?
Humans have been cooking food for at least tens of thousands of years. The presumed reason why cooking took root in nearly all human cultures is that cooked food is easier to digest. However, cooking ...
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Is Pork more prone to carrying higher loads of parasites than Beef?
My friend told me that pork is dangerous due to containing worms.
I told her that beef contains worms too and that's why we cook it.
We went to steak restaurant and ordered "medium" beef.
...
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How much ribose do we eat?
I am wondering how much ribose we ingest as food? (Deoxy)Ribose is found in the backbone of DNA and RNA. So, we eat ribose as part of the nucleic acid found in plant and animal foods. While protein, ...
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Do bees from different continents have different "taste"?
This question was already asked by me at Gardening Stack Exchange, but I was advised to ask it here instead. I see there is already a closely related question: Do animals have different taste ...
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Why does vacuum sealing of foods prevent spoilage from anaerobic bacteria?
I have noted that many purchased food items in containers only require refrigeration after they have been opened, thus eliminating the vacuum seal. Air contains bacteria and fungus spores that enter ...
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Why most small organisms seem not to be interested in any organic matter which has all moisture removed?
On the first glance, it seems that most small organisms do not exhibit any interest in consuming any live or dead organic matter if it is completely dehydrated. Regardless if the food consists of ...
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Why is it (allegedly) dangerous to feed ducks with breadcrumbs and pieces of bread?
I used to go down to the local lake all the time with leftover bread and throw little pieces of it to the hungry duckies, who very eagerly fetched it and ate it while happily quacking away.
I thought ...
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Are earthworms edible?
Just that. It seemed weird for me not to find anything on Google. But I still think that they might be edible.
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A balanced diet with the minimum carbon footprint [closed]
Many studies shows that 1 kg of non-vegetarian food as 3-4 times more carbon footprint than 1 kg of vegetarian food. I think that does not represent the complete picture food from animal sources are ...
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Can aflotoxin presence be inferred from the mild discolorotion at the middle parts of a hazelnut?
Can aflotoxin presence be inferred from the mild discolorotion at the middle parts of a hazelnut?
For instance, how likely is it that the hazelnuts pictured below contain Aflotoxin?
P.S.: these ...
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Optimal bacterial vegetative cell inactivation method(s) after subtilis spores germinated under pressure
I am writing a PhD research proposal and being a newbie in the field I am lost a little bit in the bacterial vegetative cell inactivation methods in foods.
I should propose two main methods to my ...
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What's the role of bromelain in pineapple?
Bromelain refers to one of two proteases found in pineapple and its relatives. Like other proteases, many believe it has therapeutic uses and it's the subject of a lot of research. But what role does ...
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Can viruses stabilize and increase the shelf life of wine and other foods?
When you make wine, you use the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to ferment sugary juices. After you're done, you want to avoid them doing anything by using some chemicals etc. There are also other ...
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Are these spinach leaves?
I often buy baby spinach from the store, and sometimes, in a few bags of spinach I also find these leaves:
They have a different shape than the spinach leaves, they are a lighter green, and they ...
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Does the composition of a meal play a big, or small, role in food's thermogenic effect on the body?
Reading in: "Diet and Health: Implications for Reducing Chronic Disease Risk / Calories: Total Macronutrient Intake, Energy Expenditure, and Net Energy Stores" [NCBI Resources]:
"The thermogenic ...
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Violation of Conservation of energy In food chain?
Food chains use a unidirectional transfer of energy. Plants absorb energy from the sun, then the energy goes on to next tropic level and so on. But in this system, energy source is the Sun.
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Additive property of taste
It might be a dumb question to ask, but I find it confusing.
Is the perception of taste additive?
Or to be more precise, can two tasty food items combine to give a more delicious product?
For me, ...
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Can storing food in a de-pressurized container result in anaerobic bacteria growth?
I was looking for a way to store for longer some products which go bad quickly. I found a stainless steel container made with a hermetic lid that you can remove air through (using a pump) so you ...
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What happens when you cook tree spinach with aluminum?
The Internet is filled with warnings that you shouldn't cook tree spinach(Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) in aluminum, because it will react and create toxins that cause explosive diarrhea when consumed. ...
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How are proteins reused in the body? [duplicate]
Part of what we eat are proteins,
and our body is in part build of proteins.
Are the proteins of the body build based on proteins in food at all?
Are proteins in food directly reused in the body,
or ...
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Is feeding wild pigeons really "weakening the entire species"?
While reading about what foods are healthy for pigeons, I came across the following paragraph: (Source)
Human interaction and improper feeding of domestic and wild pigeons is believed to be one of ...
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How much heme is in cooked pork and beef; why is cooked pork ("the other white meat") not red?
The new video See how Impossible Pork will make you forget about pig meat includes a very short discussion of
the addition of heme to the product to make it taste like beef
the deep red color of a ...
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Which white beans have phosphatidylserine?
Many articles online say that plant foods are poor sources of phosphatidylserine, except for white beans, which have 107 mg per 100 g.¹ ² ⁴ Honestly though, I think they might just be repeating a ...
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Do vitamin enriched foods preserve their value when exposed to higher temperatures?
At what temperatures do different kinds of vitamins are destroyed or lose their nutritional value?
Imagine you went to the store and bought vitamin enriched cacao powder. Then you made yourself a hot ...
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Does body absorb nutrients less efficiently if we ingest the same amount at the same time, opposed to spreading over a larger period?
I would like to understand if ingesting a certain amount of nutrients will result in different absorption from my body, depending on whether I ingest that amount spread over time or everything at once....
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What are the differences between mammal and insect digestion of cellulose?
I know that digestion of cellulose is difficult in mammals and requires a lot of steps. But I am fascinated by the idea of one day achieving human digestion of cellulose.
Which got me thinking about ...
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Why do we need to grow plants to make food?
Why can't we synthesize the nutrients that we need directly from chemical reactions, from energy and simple inorganic molecules found around us? If it's hard, why not try to copy how plants do it?
I ...
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Why are sugars in whole fruits not digested the same way sugars in juice are?
In this paper of the WHO, it is claimed that we should limit our consumption of free sugars:
WHO recommends a reduced intake of free sugars throughout the
lifecourse. [...] Free sugars include ...
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What is the percentage of food that goes to a lamb fetus?
Does any one know the percentage of food eaten by a pregnant ewe that goes to the lamb fetus?
Specifically how much does the mother take for her body from every one kilo of food
and how much does ...
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How can a drink contain 1.8 kcal energy while 0 g fat/carbs/protein?
How is it possible that the Red Bull Zero contains 0 gramms of fat, carbs and protein, but it still has 1.8 kcal of "energy".
I always thought that the human body can gain energy only from 3 kinds of ...
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