9 votes

What is Junk food? When doctors advise to avoid junk food, what does that mean?

Junk food is a somewhat generic term that basically includes calories from food that has no real nutritional value, or is so loaded with artificial flavors, added sugars/fats that it overwhelms the ...
  • 6,560
7 votes
Accepted

Is Glue on Chocolate and other Wrappers Safe/ Edible?

It can be trusted as safe as much as the regulations that it comes under can be trusted to make it safe and producers following said regulations. Materials and articles that come into contact ...
6 votes
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What is the best cooking oil for a person with ischemic heart disease?

To make it simple: There are two types of fat: unsaturated ("good fat") and saturated and trans fat ("bad fat"). Current dietary guidelines (American Heart Association, WHO) suggest that saturated ...
6 votes
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What are the health risks of drinking Diet Coke while chewing Mentos?

There is a myth that drinking Diet Coke while chewing Mentos causes your stomach to explode, though this has been disproved by MythBusters and Snopes. Both sources say that the reason for the ...
  • 7,738
6 votes
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Does tea cause gags?

I haven't found any studies that would directly link retching and the consumption of tea. However, this would be a rather narrow research, so the lack of it is no surprise. Your doctor told you that ...
  • 2,823
6 votes
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Can of soup with negative pressure (slightly implodes) on opening: Safe to eat?

One method of food sterilisation involves vacuum-sealing. This is why there was negative pressure in the can1 and why the lid got sucked in as soon as it was able to move. Bacteria creating positive ...
  • 6,722
6 votes
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Do fridges really keep things fresh?

Your milk and chicken both have bacteria in them. If you leave them at room temperature, those bacteria will grow rapidly. Some may produce toxins that will not be inactivated by cooking. The greater ...
  • 3,178
5 votes
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How dangerous is it to eat the worms inside fruits?

Fruits (both fresh and dried) should not contain bugs. Their presence indicates that the fruit hasn't been preserved well, or that their producer has made some other mistake. They may be unsafe to ...
  • 589
5 votes
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How much mercury is contained in sea salt?

In general, the answer seems to be no, it does not contain a meaningful quantity. Refer first to this answer in Seasoned Advice. Although not peer reviewed, this article appears to be a credible ...
  • 9,564
5 votes
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Are consumable goods from stores safety tested?

No, products that comply with FDA guidelines are not tested before being offered to the public for sale. It is impossible - literally* - to test every batch of ice cream, spinach, frozen hamburger, ...
5 votes

What is rock salt? Is it helpful for diabetics?

Rock salt is no different from sea salt or table salt, chemically speaking, as all of them consist of nearly-pure sodium chloride (NaCl) The UK Consensus Action on Salt and Health organisation has ...
  • 211
5 votes
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Baked potato okay after sitting in the oven all night vs. Botulism or other risk?

You could probably leave a baked potato sitting at room temperature for days and it would still be safe to eat as long as it wasn't contained in a sealed container. But notice I said "probably." That'...
  • 9,564
5 votes

Is it risky to eat at most 12 ounces of canned sardines weekly for about two months?

Like you mentioned, 12 ounces of sardines a week fits under the FDA's guidelines, so it should not be harmful to the adult that you described. Sardines contain a lot less mercury than many other fish ...
  • 251
4 votes
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Does some food increase pollen allergy symptoms?

There are foods that won't increase your pollen allergy symptoms, but instead cause them. This is a condition called Oral Allergy Syndrome, also known as Pollen-Food Allergy Syndrome.1 This is caused ...
  • 7,738
4 votes

Can virus and bacteria survive in soda water? (carbonated water)

Jaundice isn't caused directly by viruses. It's caused by a buildup of bilirubin in the blood. Clasped in the hemoglobin molecules in your blood cells is a pigment called porphyrin, which is not ...
4 votes
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Rodents falling from the ceiling at Chipotle restaurants, what to do?

You actually need to ask this question? If rats are falling on your food in the restaurant then they're running amuck in the kitchen eating and crapping on your food. So the answer is: Find the ...
  • 9,564
4 votes

Does daily intake of hibiscus juice increases the risk of impotence in a male?

There is a very bold distinction in terminology to observe between impotence – or erectile dysfunction –, and fertility or changes to the testis and spermatozoa. The study in question does not say ...
  • 6,827
4 votes
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My fruit punch Gatorade has a new warning label saying that it is genetically engineered

FDA guidelines for GenMod Foods FDA regulates the safety of food for humans and animals, including foods produced from genetically engineered (GE) plants. Foods from GE plants must meet the same food ...
  • 156
4 votes

I poured out a bulging milk carton - am I in danger?

Extremely unlikely. This is simply unpleasant but not dangerous. The gas is mostly carbon dioxide released by bacteria in the milk fermenting the lactose sugar. Other products of the fermentation ...
  • 2,341
4 votes

Why was orcein banned in Europe?

Searching for Orcein on the EU website: https://op.europa.eu/en/ returns this publication, amongst others: REPORTS OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FOR FOOD. First series. (European Commission). The ...
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3 votes
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Is there any food restrictions after dog bite

That is myth. According to the World Health Organization: There are no dietary restrictions during the course of vaccination.
  • 9,564
3 votes

Is eating refregerated home cooked food daily bad for health?

Prepared food is typically good for 3-4 days in the refrigerator food safety guidelines Frozen is is even longer. It would be cooled (not frozen) in a normal refrigerator. Healthy depends on ...
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3 votes
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Can basil affected by Fusarium wilt be eaten safely?

What you have on your basil is a strain of Fusarium oxysporum, obviously a strain pathogenic to plants. Apparently, other strains of F. oxysporum can cause onychomycosis (nail infections) and ...
  • 146
3 votes
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Genetically Modified Banana?

One could argue that the vast majority of foods we eat contain some ingredient that is in some sense "genetically modified". There is not, as yet, a widely accepted legal definition of GMO. See the LA ...
3 votes

Does eating too much cocoa have harmful side effects?

Cocoa powder is rich in the nutrients iron, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorus, and also contains significant amounts of theobromine and caffeine. Overdose information about many of these is hard ...
  • 2,002
3 votes

Can I continue to eat a cereal my cat ate out of?

This really isn't any different from asking if it is safe to share food with another person after watching them eat from the same bowl. If you have a weak immune system, as with anything else, it is ...
3 votes
Accepted

Does daily intake of hibiscus juice increases the risk of impotence in a male?

The tea preparation used in the study was described: Cold Hibiscus extract was prepared by soaking 15 g of Hibiscus calyces in 500 ml of cold distilled water at 4°C for a whole day. The boiled ...
  • 6,084
3 votes
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Is it safe to eat raw flour in Europe?

The FDA's guidance on raw flour comes after an E. coli outbreak was traced to raw flour. Other outbreaks have been noticed since, in the US and Canada. The UK has the same guidance to not eat raw ...
  • 12.9k
3 votes

Is outside food really safe to eat during COVID-19 outbreak?

I think what they are intended to convey is that they feel that the cooking process will destroy any virus found in food so cooked food should not be a source of infection. Of course that is subject ...
  • 13.2k
3 votes
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Is outside food really safe to eat during COVID-19 outbreak?

I would tend to think of coronavirus stability from a biophysics point of view. The virus is a small droplet of water inside a lipid membrane, with some proteins in the membrane and a bunch of ...
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