The Cellar - Cut out the preservatives!

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt (Post 384848)

Tang?

Tang Ingredients(thing) by m_turner 1 C! Fri Apr 13 2001 at 23:46:48
In order of appearance:
SUGAR
We're talking sucrose here. Every day common granulated table sugar. Sucrose itself is the most abundant pure organic chemical in the world - and is the one that is most widely known by the common man. Sucrose comes from either sugar cane or sugar beets.
Chemically, sucrose is a disaccharide (built of two simple sugars) composed of glucose and fructose.

FRUCTOSE
Fructose is a hexose. 'Hextose' refers to the number of carbon atoms in the ring, in this case 6. Fructose is found in fruits and vegetables. In many cases, the fructose we consume comes from corn syrup. Fructose itself is twice as sweet as sucrose but has only half the calories (its only half the sugar). Fructose also has the property that it is not absorbed into the blood as quickly as other sugars, especially when there is little glucose. This has significant implications for diabetics.

CITRIC ACID (PROVIDES TARTNESS)
HO2CCH2C(OH)(CO2H)CH2CO2H . Try saying that three times real fast. Shoot, just try saying it three times. However it is said, it is known for a 'tart' taste. This acid is found in citrus fruits (and thus the name) and can be extracted by adding lime (calcium oxide, not the fruit) to for calcium citrate. Citric acid can also be obtained by fermenting glucose with the aid of the mold Aspergillus niger or synthesized from acetone or glycerol. Citric acid is also a key part of the critic acid cycle that is one of the metabolic pathways responsible for releasing energy from sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids.

CALCIUM PHOSPHATE (PREVENTS CAKING)
Calcium phosphate is commonly used in baking powder and is a stabilizer in food. It also prevents caking. This is often found in instant soups, cocoa, powdered milk and such. The other option for an anti-caking agent is silicates and sodium ferrocyanide which is used in salt, garlic and onion powder. It all depends on taste - I am quite glad calcium phosphate was used.

POTASSIUM CITRATE (CONTROLS ACIDITY)
If you've noticed, there is a fair bit of acids and forms of acids in Tang. Thats part of what gives it 'tang'. Granted, its nowhere near the point where it gets to eating away the paper cup you drink it out of, however it is considered a 'bad' thing to have the flavor be one that bites too hard or gives heartburn.

ORANGE JUICE SOLIDS
Beyond a food derivative, there isn't much information as to exactly what orange juice solids are. They've got some potassium in them, but beyond that there isn't a whole lot of info on it.

ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C)
On the flip side, it is trivial to find too much information on the Vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is a water soluble vitamin that cannot be stored in the body - it gets constantly flushed out. For this reason, it is necessary to have a source of vitamin C in one's diet. This was often a problem with long sea voyages and lead to scurvy amongst sailors. The British Navy implemented a plan to bring along citrus fruits leading to the name 'limey' for their sailors which still sticks today. Another source of vitamin C that has come into vogue recently is that of wheat grass. Pine needles can also be a rich source of vitamin C, although much less appealing in taste.

NATURAL FLAVOR
Natural flavor - you see it everywhere. Even the Altoids tin that I have lists 'natural flavor', and yet it is not well defined anywhere. For example, the Kraft FAQ says this about the "natural flavor" in Caprisun:
The ingredient "natural flavor" is a fruit extract. For example, wild cherry natural flavor ingredient would be wild cherry extract. The actual natural flavor proportions are a trade secret of the flavor suppliers.
Your guess is as good as mine.