Charles Perry wrote:

> The best example of a corporate rolling incremental food disaster
> that I can think of is Chicken Mcnuggets. ... One cost saving step at a
> time, they devolved from what appeared to be chunks of whole
> muscle meat to a bleached emulsion of skin, gristle, connective
> tissue, various binders and possibly some meat. From the taste
> there could have been feathers included too, for all I know.

Chicken lips, too.

> Really awful stuff the last time I tasted them a few years ago.

But there's a consumer movement swinging the pendulum back around to
"all white meat chicken." Which is different from "100% white meat
chicken" but it's an improvement and of course, what I question is the
sodium and fat levels... anyway, while it's in the corporations'
interests to de-educate the consumer until we accept total crap, they
WILL adjust to market demand. Look at the "low-carb" offerings they're
making to jump on the Atkins bandwagon.

> I fear that similar things will happen to the "brown and serve"
> bread wholesalers when they are consolidated into large corporate
> entities. After all, no one expects gourmet taste from something
> in a Wonder Bread wrapper.

It's amazing what they can do with flavoring agents. Totally boggles
the mind. You know that civet cat musk extract* is a key ingredient to
raspberry flavoring?

*anyone who's had a house cat with impacted anal glands knows about
this.

> Now, I am aware that cheap food provides good nutrition for
> millions in this country and really is a blessing for those with
> limited means and the rest of us too.

Cheap food, yes. Fast food, no. Not *good* nutrition. Much too high
in saturated fat. Much too high in sodium, as well as sugar. Certainly
will keep body and soul together, but at a high cost down the road. On
the other hand, I know a couple with a macropsychotic diet and their
infant was showing signs of "failure to thrive." Underweight,
uncoordinated for his age, just not where he should be, even at the
lower ends of the bell curve. When the pediatrician finally inquired as
to what they were feeding him, he firmly stated, "I don't care about
your beliefs. Take this kid to McDonald's twice a week, he needs the
saturated fat for nerve and brain development!"

B/