My Mom and the Dorito Effect-Part 2-Grill Marks and Consistent Taste

 

My Mom and the Dorito Effect, Part 2

Grill Marks and Consistent Taste

    With the backdrop of my Mom's observations on canned tomato soup forty something years ago the decades have seen a great deal of prepared and fast food "taste consistency" that can boggle the mind and bring into question the "ingredients list."

Hamburgers at your favorite chain, say McD's for instance, look, taste and smell the same whether you buy them in New Jersey, Florida, California, Washington state or anywhere in between. This is quite different than your backyard burgers that tend to vary depending on a number of factors including who is flipping the burgers on your grill.

What happens at the chains that burgers don't vary in taste, juiciness, grill marks, flakiness, smell or even how well done they are? At least 15 years ago information started appearing in the media that those "grill marks" on hamburgers and chicken at many fast food chains are painted or branded on using a combination of sugar, fats, oils, smoke flavoring and other chemicals. Much of the "grilled chicken" is actually cooked with a burst of hot air and never even touches a grill or flat top. Apparently consistent taste and appearance ("at least I know what I'm getting") ranks higher than great taste and nutrition to many and the prepared and fast food industries rely heavily on this preference.

To be continued...

 

 

My Mom & The Dorito Effect

      Forty or so years ago my mother, Diana Smith, announced that we would no longer be buying canned tomato soup.This was very upsetting to me as Campbell's or even Pathmark brand tomato soup with its super starchy taste was always a favorite on a cold, wintry day or as an occaisional treat.

  My Mom's reasoning was that the store bought canned tomato soup always tasted the same while homemade tomato soup's taste varied by type of tomato used, ripeness of the tomato, even time of year the tomatoes were purchased. My Mom was not sure what was being done to the soup, possibly adding corn starch or maybe a chemical but she was sure this was not healthy and if we wanted tomato soup she would be glad to make it from scratch.

To Be Continued shortly...

Thank you to my wonderful patients who once again have voted to give me the honor as one of New Jersey Family Magazine's 2015 New Jersey's Favorite Kids Docs! The greatest honor and respect a parent can give to me is the responsibility of caring for their child.
Thank you,
Dr. Andy