Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Excessive Negativity, started by RedViking on Jul 19th 2011 at 6:46:16 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanLinking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Needs Help, started by lee4hmz on Apr 11th 2012 at 6:13:39 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanDoes it count as Played for Laughs if a youtuber makes a sponsored video, his sponsor is a snack food, the video just happens to be a video about Fallout so the youtuber says the food is Radiation Free?
Edited by ElodieHirasI feel that "no flavor enhancers" on instant soups that contain yeast is probably false advertising...
There is a fine line between recklessness and courage — Paul McCartney Hide / Show RepliesIf it contains salt it contains a flavor enhancer doesn't it?
Or any sort of thing other than chicken and water..
He's just this guy, you know?I like to leave stuff I consider discussion that's not worth being in the main article here just in case people disagree with me, so here goes.
I removed...
- In general, by the way, whole grain corn is not a particularly good thing; it's pretty low in an amino acid called lysine (which is why it was traditionally served with beans in pre-Columbian times) and it also is a poor source of niacin. Native Americans knew to mix corn with other ingredients and to treat it in a way that liberated the nutrients and raised the lysine level (nixtamalization, or, as we know it better, hominy), but outside the Americas, people living mostly off of corn developed pellagra from niacin deficiency. So... yeah. Whole grain corn is not bad for you, but it's a very different product from other whole grains.
- Note that for most people with gluten intolerance, eating trace amounts (less than 2%) of it can be a good thing, as it prevents more extreme hypersensitivity from developing. But don't let that contradict anything your doctor has told you!
- Something to note about "Gluten Free" is that oftentimes it's to inform that it's certified which means there is no chance of cross contamination. Knowing that a particular product doesn't contain wheat doesn't help much if it's manufactured in an area where wheat is all over the place and could easily have gotten in. This is why you often see "Manufactured in an area that contains wheat/eggs/peanuts, etc" on foods that do not contain these things normally but may be contaminated. While "gluten free" has no doubt become something of a fad, the labeling of food serves more purpose for those who are gluten intolerant than just advertising (though "It can be both"). Still it has to be said that — unlike many other "something free" products — "gluten free" has, according to today's knowledge, no health impact on anyone who is not gluten intolerant. Eating less fat, while not necessary for everyone, is generally a good idea. Eating less gluten — you can, but there really is no need to.
- It might be made of fermented grain, technically. But it's usually not. (About vinegar)
- Similarily, "lactose free" is a large sign on many a product. Which is perfectly sensible, since most of the world's population are lactose intolerant to differing degrees - the European ability to eat and drink milk products is more of a freak of nature than the norm. Still, lactose free cheese, which is often advertised, usually is silly. Except for some very young cheeses, all of the lactose is lost during the fermentation process of any cheese. So if you like old Gouda, go and have some, there's nothing in there. Actually, there may be lactase in there, the very enzyme that lactose intolerant lack, so after eating cheese you are more likely to be able to properly ingest other milk products. Of course, some younger cheeses do have lactose, so it is not all said about it.
- It's also inverted. Perhaps you've seen "0 grams Trans Fat"? There's actual government-allowed leeway here. Up to 1/2 a gram is allowed, still qualifying as "0 grams". If they tweak the serving size (for instance, hot dog quality chili has about 12 servings) you could end up eating a sizable portion thinking it's okay for you. Look instead for the presence or absence of "partially hydrogenated" on the ingredients, and even that isn't a good indicator, as some vegetable oils (canola is reportedly a big culprit) have small amounts of trans fats added to prevent rancidity.
- AFACT, a lobby group of dairy farmers sponsored by hormone giant Monsanto, invoked this trope in a rather controversial case. AFACT tried to have labels stating that milk and dairy was free of bovine growth hormones banned because consumers prefer their milk growth hormone free (there are no hormones in the milk. It is chemically identical, but cows treated with it produce more milk). Their argument ran that the labels were confusing consumers into thinking that there was a health difference, and that the growth hormones were FDA approved so they shouldn't be punished for using them. So far they've been unsuccessful, except briefly (November 2007-January 2008) in Pennsylvania, whose agriculture department banned hormone-free labels on milk. The governor overturned the regulation following controversy. No removing the true claim, but the FDA now requires a counter-claim. Dairy products labeled "hormone-free" are also getting labels saying that the FDA doesn't believe hormone-free has any health benefits over the other kind.
This should keep me for a while.. thanks.
He's just this guy, you know? Hide / Show RepliesSome of that is All-Natural Snake Oil, but the "Lactose-free cheese" examples seem like this trope because it's claiming as a selling point something that is just true of cheese.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.If you feel that it does belong there, fell free to cut and paste it back.
He's just this guy, you know?I wonder where 'vine ripe' fits into this. I've tasted tomatoes that I watched mature on the vine, and they were delicious. I've bought tomatoes labeled 'vine ripe' and biting into them was about as rewarding as chewing a Capri Sun full of tapwater. Someone's got a bullshit interpretation of the combination of the words 'vine' and 'ripe'. One of those words might be correct, but certainly not both. I don't think it's the second.
Hide / Show RepliesThat means what ripening they did on the vine was done naturally instead of artifically.. It means nothing about the actual process.
He's just this guy, you know?Removing this from the bit about organic food:
"The lack of antibiotic treatment causes additional disease in their herds, causing more losses, and also discouraging them from applying proper medical treatment to their animals for fear of it being "inorganic", hoping that it will clear up on its own."
While giving animals antibiotic treatment after they get sick is one thing, many conventional farmers keep their animals on antibiotics all the time. This leads to antibiotic resistant strains developing, some of which can spread to humans.
Hide / Show Replies"Treatment" implies, well, treating sick animals. While overusing antibiotics is probably more unhealthy in the long-run, not using them just because people are afraid of the phrase does merit a mention.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.What about that one cellphone claiming to have "larger pixels", which essentially means lower resolution?
Hide / Show RepliesThat seems closer to Never Needs Sharpening
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.Because of display errors that have been happening everywhere for the past few days. It's fixed now, but if this page or any other vanishes again then please do a null edit to kick it back into shape.
That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.I'm removing the last two:
- A lot of people assume that "extra virgin" olive oil is an example of this trope, when in fact it's an aversion. "Extra virgin" and "pure" olive oils have been considered different products (albeit under different names) for 2,500 years - even Juvenal bitches about being served plain olive oil when his patron enjoys the good stuff. They're even used differently - extra virgin is used for its taste, but pure is used for its frying qualities.
Even though olive oil labellings are far from meaningless, the difference is that "virgin" olive oil doesn't use taste-neutralizing chemical processes that have only been around since the Industrial Revolution. ("Extra virgin" means that batch taste-tested well.) Juvenal was complaining about his hosts using lamp oil, which would have been rancid, not to mention ashen (since it had seen the lamp).
- "Contains no trans fat" is an easy one to get, because trans fat is lab-created and not a natural component of any food.
Sort of true. If you eat a lot of animal fats at a time (on the order of a whole chicken), you'll be taking in measurable trans fat. (There's even some in virgin plant oil, but getting a full gram there would be like overdosing on marijuana.) It's true that most of it comes from hydrogenation, but hydrogenation is a common enough process that it's fairly meaningful. It's not as though they go out of their way to add trans fats, after all.
My posts make considerably more sense read in the voice of John Ratzenberger. Hide / Show RepliesThey used to go out of their way to add transfats, back when they were called "partially hydrogenated," before they were recognized as a problem in themselves. They keep better than true polyunsaturated or true butter, they are not real saturated fats — yes, trans-fat margarine was once considered healthier than true butter — and they sometimes add colors or textures that make them more appealing than the original recipe.
How desirable is trans-fat to manufacturers? A "trace" amount to the FDA is less than 0.5 g. Since the reccmmended max is in the single digits (I think), most Americans are playing chicken with it.
There is a fine line between recklessness and courage — Paul McCartneyI removed a second-level bullet point:
"But keep in mind that the word "natural" actually does have a legit meaning for yogurt, at least in North America: it means "doesn't contain gums or starches", something that's sort of important to know if you're going to cook with it."
The top-level bullet point didn't mention the use of the word "natural" at all. It mentioned marketing using company-trademarked names for substances that exist in the human body. I was also not crazy about the use of "but keep in mind...actually does," as if the original contributor had "forgotten" this fact.
Edited by aznemesisOne I've been staring at lately: There's an advertisement for an anti-aging product (Sculptra Aesthetic) which bills itself as the first miracle medicine which smooths facial wrinkles SLOWLY, as opposed to, y'know, NOTICEABLY. Their slogan: "You didn't age overnight. Why anti-age overnight?" Great coverup for the fact that it just doesn't work quickly, if at all!
I suggest that this page should be divided into "Real Life" ... and then "Fiction" or "Parody" for things like the XKCD comic.
I thought that "100% Canadian Beef is the name of the company" was a myth, and I'm not finding anything supporting it online. Snopes briefly mentions a "100% Beef" company myth here: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/coweyes.asp, as does Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_urban_legends, though neither refer to "100% Canadian Beef" specifically. I'll remove it in the near future unless someone finds supporting info.
Can someone who knows how move this to Made With 100 Percent Pure Grade A Crap?
Edited by Lesath
Removed:
I'm not really seeing any real examples among this. There's just empty branding and actual features that don't have detailed specifics attached to them. The trope is about making promotions that aren't unique to the brand or are inherently worthless. The entry also has bad Example Indentation, so if it gets edited and re-added, that would have to be addressed as well.