🚀 go-pugleaf

joel "vo" plutchak writes:

> P.S.  Is it true that McDonald's "shakes" are not called milkshakes because of
> a definite lack of anything resembling a dairy product?  (I don't really want
> to know; it's just something to think about.)

	"Seaweed Shakes" would be more like it, since the major constituent of
fast-food shakes (besides water) is carrageenan.  Carrageenan is a gel-forming
polysaccharide extracted from seaweed called Carrageenan or Irish Moss.  It's
a white/gray powder which is virtually tasteless and odorless, and whose gel-
forming abilities are truly amazing.
	I once demonstrated how to make a McShake at a party by taking 500 ml
of water, adding 20 gr of carrageenan powder, 50 ml of milk, along with 20 ml
of Hershey's syrup.  After mixing in a blender, the finished product was really
indistinguishable from the McDonald's product.  Needless to say, there is damn
little milk required to simulate a milkshake.  While McDonald's does not post
their ingredients, they generally are posted on chocolate milk containers where
carrageenan is the most common thickening agent in use; take a look some time.
	Another thickening agent commonly used in food products is xanthan gum,
which is made from the lips of young xanth's...

	Larry Lippman
	Recognition Research Corp.
	Clarence, New York
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