Has your food been chemically altered? New database of 50,000 products provides answers
May 2022, phys.org
From the lab that brought you the Food Network (not the television channel), aka the Foodome:
This new database is like x-ray vision for food processing.
Since concentrations of different nutrients in food follow a fixed pattern, and a mathematical formula, machine learning can tell how much that food has been changed from its natural state.
One example is some orange juices that are labeled "natural" but are actually divided into three different chemicals before being stored separately and remixed later.
And we care about this because ultra-processed foods have been associated with poor health outcomes. Also we care because their study showed that 73% of the U.S. food supply is ultra-processed.
They're calling it the "dark matter" of food (chemical components not listed in the nutrition facts), and we now have a public database on 50,000 food products selected at random from stores in the U.S. So they just ripped the hood off, Scooby Doo style.
Each food is given a score from 0 to 100 (ultra-processed to less processed), and users can compare different products. For example, Triscuits with a hint of sea salt have a score of 89, original Cheez-Its score 57, and whole wheat Ritz crackers score 29. Meanwhile, reduced fat Wheat Thins received a 3. Meanwhile...
Online Database:
via Northeastern University Network Science Institute: Giulia Menichetti et al, Nutrient concentrations in food display universal behaviour, Nature Food (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-022-00511-0
Post Script:
Menichetti's findings take a step toward a better understanding of all food chemicals. In her paper, she observes that natural nutrients exhibit common patterns, well captured by a single equation.
The finding is unprecedented, Barabasi says. "The very existence of this formula was the most surprising thing," he says. "No one has even realized that that is possible."
(Albert-László Barabási blew up the world of network science as far back as 2002 with his book Linked, which explained for a general audience novel phenomena at the time like Friendster and the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.) Note the reason the formula is such a big deal is because nobody had any idea it existed, and it wasn't until a massive computer digested tens of thousands of scientific articles about food that it just burped out this thing. And now, this thing allows us to bust right through that silky veil of marketing to see what's really in that food (or should I say "food product").
And now, on the other end:
'You are what you eat,' and now researchers know exactly what you're eating
Jul 2022, phys.org
Untargeted Metabolomics - to understand how what we eat translates into products and byproducts of metabolism, using an unprecedented catalog (based on the Global FoodOmics initiative) of the molecule signatures created by consuming food or by processing it in our gut.
This is a big deal because most food science is based on questionnaires, which suck, because we suck at paying attention to what we eat, and suck even more at telling the truth about it.
via Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California San Diego: Rob Knight, Enhancing untargeted metabolomics using metadata-based source annotation, Nature Biotechnology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41587-022-01368-1
Also see:
Nutriome–metabolome relationships provide insights into dietary intake and metabolism
Jun 2020, Nature Food
Image credit above: AI Art - Sandwich Horror - 2022
Prompt: cosmic horrors on my sandwich, close up of sandwich, by zdzislaw beksinski, by dariusz zawadzki, by john jude palencar, gothic, surrealism, cosmic horror, lovecraftian, cold hue's, warm tone gradient background, concept art, first person view, scene in dining room, beautiful composition. https://lexica.art/prompt/d2903f03-1f03-4519-bf0d-584ac8c98fb1
AI-Generated Food Image Gallery:
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Sandwich Dripping with Diamonds - a crystal hamburger centerpiece, digital art, dramatic jewelry photography. https://lexica.art/prompt/ae4a1bcb-c54c-47bc-8cdc-2a1d2225e0f5 |
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| Eating Sandwiches Twice - amazing very detailed photorealistic painting of a beautiful woman enjoying a delicious mean. vibrant in color, very funny, personal, positive, visually pleasing and engaging. high resolution. high quality. hq hd. trending on artstation. https://lexica.art/prompt/c131cf2a-3743-4d8f-a219-2931d09a6515 |
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| Holy McDonald - An extremely psychedelic portrait of McDonalds, surreal, LSD, face, detailed, intricate, elegant, lithe, highly detailed, digital painting, artstation, concept art, smooth, sharp focus, illustration. https://lexica.art/prompt/4a33f9e6-4b56-4dd8-8f10-b67cbb424ec7 |
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| Painting of a Sandwich by MC Escher - a painting of a sandwich by m. c. escher. https://lexica.art/prompt/38d0c3f1-5ff6-4cfd-bfb0-1fe2f06304f2 |
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Eating Disorder - “eating disorder” https://lexica.art/prompt/a65a7ad9-92f1-42b1-b7a9-9e21eaa5493a |
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Anatomical Diagram of Instant Ramen Cup - Maria Sibylla Merian - 2022 - anatomical diagram of instant ramen cup, by maria sibylla merian [the entire series is amazing honestly]. https://lexica.art/prompt/82394ec7-df9a-4834-b567-d433775279ff |
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