The Vent and Rant Thread

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

About the artificial flavors, some time ago I bought some small breads (the ones that are baked in the bakery section of the supermarket) and after I went to look at the list of ingredients and they had almost a dozen ingredients, and it wasn’t even a special bread, but the one ingredient that left me flabbergasted was smoke flavor, I didn’t know that even existed.

That sure comes in handy for those that advertise bread baked in a wood oven, like I believe that a modern supermarket has a wood oven.

You don't use liquid smoke? It's the most important ingredient in homemade beef or turkey jerky..

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

You don't use liquid smoke? It's the most important ingredient in homemade beef or turkey jerky..

Sure...but in bread?

Our family is big into reading ingredient labels, because our granddaughter has a severe egg allergy. While labeling laws have come a long way in the US, companies still do not have to list common allergens. Many companies do, but many still don't, and cross contamination concerns are huge with people with such severe allergies.

She is almost 6, and the allergy is severe and life threatening. She can't even use hand towels that everyone has used. Her first exposure and reaction to eggs at 11 months was immediate. She swallowed one bite, immediately threw up, and broke out in hives anywhere it touched her.

[tempest@de]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

You don't use liquid smoke? It's the most important ingredient in homemade beef or turkey jerky..

Not where I'm from, beef or turkey jerky are not something you would find here, maybe on some section of world cuisine in a large supermarket, but it is not something we do at home. We have however a lot of cured meats, but they are made with real smoke, not with artificial flavors.

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Sure...but in bread?
Our family is big into reading ingredient labels, because our granddaughter has a severe egg allergy. While labeling laws have come a long way in the US, companies still do not have to list common allergens. Many companies do, but many still don't, and cross contamination concerns are huge with people with such severe allergies.

She is almost 6, and the allergy is severe and life threatening. She can't even use hand towels that everyone has used. Her first exposure and reaction to eggs at 11 months was immediate. She swallowed one bite, immediately threw up, and broke out in hives anywhere it touched her.

in the EU the common allergens are listed in the packages, and a few years ago the EU implemented a new law that all restaurants must have lists of the allergens in there food, and they are required to show them to anyone that asks for them.

That being said I don't know how relevant is the fact that the allergens are mentioned because in many packages there is a mention saying something like it may contain traces of nuts how helpful would this be for your granddaughter? It always makes me think that they only write that as a way to discard any responsibility if something should happen, because the package mentioned it.

[Deskisamess]

That being said I don't know how relevant is the fact that the allergens are mentioned because in many packages there is a mention saying something like it may contain traces of nuts how helpful would this be for your granddaughter?

Secondary contamination is a huge problem. For example, the Barilla pasta I buy contains no egg, but is processed on equipment that also produces products that do contain egg. So the mention of that on the packaging is very helpful.

Products with no allergy info at all are just avoided. It would be to everyone's benefit if labeling laws were more direct, especially as they pertain to secondary or indirect contamination, again, especially for the top 8 allergens. Milk, wheat, eggs, fish, soybean, tree nuts, shellfish, and peanuts.

My DIL belongs to a number of allergy web sites and blogs. They are a great source of info. Products also change sometimes with no package notice. So just because something was safe last month, doesn't mean it is now.

Things that carry a certified vegan label are safe, because they contain no animal products at all. But many things are labeled vegan but lack the "certified" stamp.

[wodin]

I'm a confirmed omnivore leaning towards the carnivore side while Susie leans to the vegie side, but our son is a strict vegetarian. He'd be a vegan except he can't seem to give up dairy.

So the meatless meat movement is a quite a boon for us, we can all go to the same restaurant and all enjoy our preferred life style.

[DiapDealer]

Oh, I get meatless meat (with the exception of the aforementioned meat-flavored snacks that aren't actually pretending to be meat). There's numerous benefits. But I can't say the same for vegetable-less vegetables.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Oh, I get meatless meat (with the exception of the aforementioned meat-flavored snacks that aren't actually pretending to be meat). There's numerous benefits. But I can't say the same for vegetable-less vegetables.

Yea, meatless meat has been available in grocery stores for decades (or longer), in restaurants? Not so much.

[Hemmi]

I thought I was odd for not enjoying flavored chips and crackers. Just give me plain. Unless it's Cheez-its and those had better be white cheddar.

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

That being said I don't know how relevant is the fact that the allergens are mentioned because in many packages there is a mention saying something like it may contain traces of nuts how helpful would this be for your granddaughter? It always makes me think that they only write that as a way to discard any responsibility if something should happen, because the package mentioned it.

They do, especially for nuts. They often just put it on the package to avoid liability. My daughter gets into an anaphylactic shock from exposure to nuts, so we are quite cautious.

[4691mls]

I hate the labels with nonspecific warnings like "may contain tree nuts". I need to know which nuts. I am allergic to some of them but not others. It's possible that if they listed the specific nuts they might be the ones I can eat and I might buy the product.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

They do, especially for nuts. They often just put it on the package to avoid liability. My daughter gets into an anaphylactic shock from exposure to nuts, so we are quite cautious.

Allergies are enormous problems.

My SO has an assortment, including seafood, fresh (but not dried) peppers, and meats processed with nitrites. Consuming them produces blinding migraines. (And it's especially annoying to her because the allergies were hormone related, and didn't manifest till she hit puberty. She grew up on the south shore of Long Island and had seafood regularly as a kid. She sometimes clutches my hand and whimpers when we pass places offering soft shell crabs, because she loved them.) The most recent allergy to manifest is wheat - eat it and her kidneys shut down. The problem isn't gluten - she can eat that all day - it's specifically wheat. We look at gluten-free dishes simply because they won't have wheat as a side-effect.

She got a nasty surprise a while back. She takes Glucosamine in pill form to help maintain arthritic joints. The Glocosamine itself wasn't a problem, but the manufacturer making it had changed the materials used to make the pill casing to include shellfish products. She had to find a brand that used only vegetable products in the pill cases.

I'm involved in helping to plan and run hobbyist conventions. At an upcoming one, we have a couple of staff members who can't be in the same room with peanuts. My SO runs the Staff Den that feeds folks working on the event, and already has plans, including signage about it being a peanut free zone, and telling people "If you want peanut butter, we can provided sealed packages of it, things to spread it on, and things to spread it with, but you will have to go elsewhere to do it.

A friend of our from hobbyist circles described a life-threatening allergy to onions. This came as an enormous surprise to his mother, who prepared dishes with onions for him when he was a kid. It turns out his allergy is to a specific enzyme that was broken down by the way his mother cooked them. He found out the hard way the first time he had onions not prepared that way that it was a problem.
______
Dennis

[Hemmi]

I am seriously going to go crazy if I have to listen to my coworker anymore. It's dumbing me down. Why can't we do our jobs with a minimum of chatter?

I don't want to hear how you work all the time yet have no money. News flash, you work about 4 days a week. You either have something you need to be off for or you call in sick. You eat out every single day. You have to leave right on time to get to the mall after work because some store put out their fall stuff and you just have to have something.

You give the coworker next to you unsolicited advice on her love life. She just needs to "be her" for a while and should dump the leach boyfriend. You are codependent on yours though and just don't know how you're going to cope because he's going out of town for a week without you.

I do not care. At all. I just want you to shut up. I can't say that because then you go off crying to the boss how we're all mean to you. We just want you to shut up!

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Hemmi

I am seriously going to go crazy if I have to listen to my coworker anymore. It's dumbing me down. Why can't we do our jobs with a minimum of chatter?

I don't want to hear how you work all the time yet have no money. News flash, you work about 4 days a week. You either have something you need to be off for or you call in sick. You eat out every single day. You have to leave right on time to get to the mall after work because some store put out their fall stuff and you just have to have something.

You give the coworker next to you unsolicited advice on her love life. She just needs to "be her" for a while and should dump the leach boyfriend. You are codependent on yours though and just don't know how you're going to cope because he's going out of town for a week without you.

I do not care. At all. I just want you to shut up. I can't say that because then you go off crying to the boss how we're all mean to you. We just want you to shut up!

Seriously, is it not possible for you to simply tell her that you're focusing on work and you need peace and quiet? How physically close is she to you?

Can you get a white noise machine and run it during the day? Or...?

Hitch

[Deskisamess]

AT&T has the worst customer service there is. We are just finishing up the process of my 88 year old mom selling her house and moving to an apartment. She has a landline telephone, so we needed to get the service transferred. It took me 3 days, talking to a total of 5 people to get the transfer ordered. Because they couldn't find the account, because they were looking in the Uverse and DirecTV accounts. Even though I told each person multiple times I was talking about a landline account.

It took me 20 minutes to get the 3rd guy to understand that I was talking about a land line account. He asked for the account number, which in this case is the 10 digit phone number followed by 4 digits. He kept saying, "That isn't an account number, it sounds like a phone number." Finally he tells me that I've called the wrong number and need to talk to the TelCo division. I called the number on the phone bill. He transferred me...back to the regular phone support nonsense.

Then, on moving in day, the phones don't work. 4 days later someone finally shows up to repair the inside wall connections, and the outside wiring at the pole. It worked for an hour. Now we are back to not working again. I do have the repair tech's phone number, I left him a message, and he did call me back. I explained what a frustrating situation this is, (I know it is not his fault) and he bumped it up to a Forman.

My mom has a little pay as you go Tracfone, but only uses it to call her sister in another state. She really doesn't want a smart phone, or even a decent flip phone. She's almost 89, she just wants a working landline. She knows they are becoming scarce, and the cost is ridiculous now, $50 a month.

Selling the house and moving has been tough enough. This is just getting very old. She was supposed to have service on the 12th of July, and here we are 14 days after starting the process, 10 days after it supposed to be connected, still waiting.

[John F]

Gas stations: if you are going to have pay at the pump, make sure that receipts at the pump are working and have paper.