Did foods taste nicer with E numbers and what not?

Daithi McGee

So I put on an Oxtail soup this evening, by Baxters I might add, and it tasted sh1t. No additives and no E numbers it proclaimed. Clever marketing in these days.

I was so upset by the lack of bread dipping taste that I poured it down the sink and tried a Cambles condensed version. Better but just not the same as I remembered back in the 80's.

Did food really taste better back then and was it down to E numbers? Or has my taste buds just given up

I keep buying packets of scampi fries every now and then hoping they will be like little angels on my tongue, like they were... but sadly it has not happened in years. Back in the day you could tell someone had a packet of scampi from 10 feet*

Does food taste less due to certain ingrediants being pulled or is it just me?


*may vary from person to person

mike65

I know what you mean, but beware cos as your older taste buds give up and are less sensitive.

Slidey

Scampi fries....

Smells like gee in a packet...

Blush_01

They've fu(ked with everything. Where did the freaky feet go, huh?

AlmightyCushion

Monster munch don't taste the same any more.

jester77

Meanies ftw, still the same

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

slideways wrote: »

Scampi fries....

Smells like gee in a packet...

Tastes great though. I love scampi fries. Yet hardly anywhere sell them Wholeseller for 25 quid or something...

Terry

Mercury tastes slightly different.

If you're a smoker, then everything tastes different.

Biggins

Your getting old LOL.
Your taste buds are becoming less sensitive.

Just wait for the fun part when your 80 and sucking delicious semolina through a straw from a bowl.
O' the fun!

On a serious side, in some products the "E" contents are still there but in order to get around the EU laws of having to name all the "E's" they re-word the internal stuff for looking good reasons.
Remember the Mars/Snickers bars that used to have a heap of "E's" listed on the side of the wrapper - read it today and you will see things listed like "Soya Lecithin", an "E" re-worded and another nice collective term called "Emulsifiers"! Same crap!

Still the same product and taste, still the same contents in most cases.

The_Minister

Blush_01 wrote: »

Where did the freaky feet go, huh?

Those were amazing.

But they always had one ****ed up toe.:mad:

Damn Lidl, importing Chernobyl Ice-cream

Biggins

The_Minister wrote: »

But they always had one ****ed up toe.:mad:

You dated Naomi Campbell? :eek:

admiralofthefleet

slideways wrote: »

Scampi fries....

Smells like gee in a packet...

wrong, just wrong. wash your mouth out with oxo cubes in hot water

Thrill

I always prefer my grub with a number of e's in it. Tastes much better

BraziliaNZ

Has anyone ever had "Cheese Flavoured Moments", as advertised on the back of Scampi/Bacon fries? They've eluded me to this day

Tar.Aldarion

You ate **** soup from a packet, that's why it tasts bad. Make good soup and it tastes fantastic. Do you think chefs add E numbers?

brendansmith

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Make good soup and it tastes fantastic.

The OP did! Thats how you make soup! Pour satchet into mug and add boiling water.

That is how you make soup!!

Whos this wan lads ay?:rolleyes:

S.I.R

i think all food tastes better on E, but why stick it in a food ??


like jigsaw whos too lasy to walk down the street to get skins ? :rolleyes:

TPD

E numbers are not inherrintly a bad thing. Without E948 we'd all be dead. Remember that.

Actually that reminds me of a Penn and Teller episode where they got hundreds of signatures in aid of banning Dihydrogen Monoxide from bottled watter. Some people are idiots.

Daithi McGee

julep wrote: »

Mercury tastes slightly different.

If you're a smoker, then everything tastes different.

Anything with Mercury in it is usually nasty. Best staying away from all that tbh.

I'd say me being a very heavy smoker has a lot to do with the aul buds for the tasting not being fully operational but I am sure that there has still been some sort of diminishing taste returns over the years from the manufactures themselves via all these modern laws removing E such and such.

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

You ate **** soup from a packet, that's why it tasts bad. Make good soup and it tastes fantastic. Do you think chefs add E numbers?

Tar me old china plate! Not seen you about in a while. Twas the tinned stuff I know it is just a step up from the packet ****e but during these creditcrunchtastic recessionary times a man has to go that extra lenght at work to make sure there is food on the table for the McGee clan and as such there is no time for fancy soup making activities when you come in from work at 8 or 9 in the evning

Cheerilee

E numbers were such a buzz word in the 80's
Examining packets of sweets and counting how many E numbers were in the ingredients.. can't remember the really scary one that was in Fanta Orange and Skittles that made kids go hyper and stick forks in the furniture

Irish Halo

E numbers are not inherrintly a bad thing. Without E948 we'd all be dead. Remember that.

Actually that reminds me of a Penn and Teller episode where they got hundreds of signatures in aid of banning Dihydrogen Monoxide from bottled watter. Some people are idiots.

Sense.

E numbers are just a way of easily identifying chemical compounds used in the manufacture of food.

As someone said it's just a "scary" buzz word from the 80s and 90s that means nothing.

Also if things which you perceived as having e numbers like children's snacks and sweets taste worse now it is because you have grown up probably and theoretically eating a load of junk food aimed at a child's palate isn't suited for you.

Most of the food we buy in the shops has e numbers from salt to ready cooked meals, they just may not say contains E###.

The problem could have been the fact it is only 3% Beef and 1% Cooked Oxtail Meat.

Wagon

I think if you stuck enough Es in anything it would taste good.

seamus

The whole e-numbers debate started because manufacturers started putting E-numbers in the ingredients on foods, so one or two conspiracy lunatics decided, "OMG, they're using sekrit codes to describe what they're putting in our so that they can poison us and use mind-control drugs".

This reached fever pitch and I can remember teachers ranting on in school about the dangers of eating E numbers.

So companies didn't change their recipies, instead they just dropped the E-numbers from the packets.

So for example, back in the 80s, the ingredients on a pack of crisps may have read like this:

Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Whey Powder (from Milk),Dextrose, Flavour Enhancer: E621,
Wheat Flour, Garlic Powder, Anti-caking Agent: E551

Now they just write:

Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Whey Powder (from Milk),Dextrose, Flavour Enhancer: Monosodium Glutamate,
Wheat Flour, Garlic Powder, Anti-caking Agent: Silicon Dioxide.

And for some reason nobody cares :rolleyes:

javaboy

seamus wrote: »

So for example, back in the 80s, the ingredients on a pack of crisps may have read like this:

Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Whey Powder (from Milk),Dextrose, Flavour Enhancer: E621,
Wheat Flour, Garlic Powder, Anti-caking Agent: E551

Now they just write:

Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Whey Powder (from Milk),Dextrose, Flavour Enhancer: Monosodium Glutamate,
Wheat Flour, Garlic Powder, Anti-caking Agent: Silicon Dioxide.

And for some reason nobody cares :rolleyes:

Actually the hysteria over MSG>hysteria over E numbers at the moment so they would probably leave it as E621.

seamus

javaboy wrote: »

Actually the hysteria over MSG>hysteria over E numbers at the moment so they would probably leave it as E621.

I severely doubt that most people who are hysterical about MSG even know what it stands for , so they wouldn't pick it out of a line-up

pablomakaveli

Anyone else think Smarties now taste horrible with the natural colourings in them. I just can't stand to eat them anymore.:(

TPD

seamus wrote: »

I severely doubt that most people who are hysterical about MSG even know what it stands for , so they wouldn't pick it out of a line-up

I view MSG as Chinese salt. If pressed I'd say theyre about as bad as each other for your system. Anyone know where MSG can be bought in this country? Need some for spring rolls but I'd feel a bit weird buying food from ebay.

Rovi

TPD wrote: »

Actually that reminds me of a Penn and Teller episode where they got hundreds of signatures in aid of banning Dihydrogen Monoxide from bottled watter. Some people are idiots.

Here we go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzLs60ZaNW4

Alun

TPD wrote: »

I view MSG as Chinese salt. If pressed I'd say theyre about as bad as each other for your system. Anyone know where MSG can be bought in this country? Need some for spring rolls but I'd feel a bit weird buying food from ebay.

You can easily get it in any of the Asian stores.

Blisterman

Chinese supermarkets are your friend. You can buy a big sack of MSG goodness for next to nothing.

TPD

Must take a trip into one soon. I'd have thought it would be banned by now.

seamus

TPD wrote: »

I'd have thought it would be banned by now.

Why? There's nothing wrong with it.

Executive Steve

S.I.R wrote: »

i think all food tastes better on E

clearly you've never done any so!

:pac:

TPD

seamus wrote: »

Why? There's nothing wrong with it.

Is there not a whole big health scare about it? Producers being proud to say they use no MSG?

AlmightyCushion

TPD wrote: »

Is there not a whole big health scare about it? Producers being proud to say they use no MSG?

There is a difference between a health scare and a health risk. No scientific study has shown MSG to be a health risk. Some reports do indicate that it may cause asthma to get worse though.

Tar.Aldarion

Daithi McGee wrote: »

Tar me old china plate! Not seen you about in a while. Twas the tinned stuff I know it is just a step up from the packet ****e but during these creditcrunchtastic recessionary times a man has to go that extra lenght at work to make sure there is food on the table for the McGee clan and as such there is no time for fancy soup making activities when you come in from work at 8 or 9 in the evning

Try some stuff from teh plastic tubs, already made, you just heat it. A good rule is the sooner it goes off the better it is(I like the rankin tomato one). Or just get takeaway soup from some place with good soup, usually the same price as a shop.

Seifer

Fruit pastilles and jelly tots have been ruined by natural flavourings.
On a similar note, the Natural Confectionary Company "sweets" I've tried are disgusting and I pity the poor kids growing up now being force fed them.

nobodythere

Maybe you're just **** at makin soup

Tar.Aldarion

Seifer wrote: »

Fruit pastilles and jelly tots have been ruined by natural flavourings.
On a similar note, the Natural Confectionary Company "sweets" I've tried are disgusting and I pity the poor kids growing up now being force fed them.

Jelly tots are still fantastic, haven't had a pastille in a decade.

dr.bollocko

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Jelly tots are still fantastic, haven't had a pastille in a decade.

You're missing out big stylee. Pastilles absolutely rule.
Although so am I as a smoker.
Giving up on monday.
Giving up on monday.
Giving up on monday.
/smokes.
/wonders whether or not to click the link under terry's avatar.

On a side note though, what with the whole fresh soup being about a million times better than ****ty tinned soup, is it difficult to pick up an oxtail to make your own oxtail soup?
(That last bit wasn't aimed at you Tar, mod of V and V )

Tar.Aldarion

Even if it isn't 'oxtail' is just beef stock/tail so it wouldn't be too hard would it? Dunno.

dr.bollocko

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Even if it isn't 'oxtail' is just beef stock/tail so it wouldn't be too hard would it? Dunno.

Aww.
You mean you don't boil the back bits of an ox in a pot for a while?
How fun would that be in fairness?
Though I think you need real oxtail to really make a real oxtail soup. Mmm. Oxtail.

galwayrush

What about Whisky and Whiskey ?:D

dr.bollocko

galwayrush wrote: »

What about Whisky and Whiskey ?:D

That American Whiskey absolutely sucks in comparison with a nice single malt. Or a bottle of ole Hankey Bannister.
Although what is the deal there? Irish Whiskey right? Scotch Whisky? American Whiskey?

4zn76tysfajdxp

E is a letter not a number, you silly billies.

Sharpshooter

dr.bollocko wrote: »

That American Whiskey absolutely sucks in comparison with a nice single malt. Or a bottle of ole Hankey Bannister.
Although what is the deal there? Irish Whiskey right? Scotch Whisky? American Whiskey?

Scotch whisky, often called simply Scotch, is a type of alcoholic beverage made in Scotland. (The Scotch and Canadian spirits are spelled "whisky"; the Irish and American ones "whiskey"). The main distinction in the flavour of Scotch is from the use of peat in the distilling process. The name whisky is a transformation of the word usquebaugh, itself a transformation of the Scottish Gaelic uisge beatha spelled uisce beatha in Irish Gaelic, literally meaning the "water of life".

This explains it better than I could.

Daithi McGee

Irish Halo wrote: »

Sense.


The problem could have been the fact it is only 3% Beef and 1% Cooked Oxtail Meat.

Just checked dude and you are right. 3% beef and 1% Cooked Oxtail meet. I feel robbed. I bet back in the 80's and early 90's it was a higher percentage? If not I will dream it was. A pre offal dream if you will.

Emilia Hollow Socket wrote: »

E is a letter not a number, you silly billies.

Be more funny. You know you want to. /b/

grasshopa wrote: »

Maybe you're just **** at makin soup

I never over heat stuff so I doubt it. When I do make my own soups, time permitting, they are wubbly. My stews are much sought after but that is a whole other story.

Pride Fighter

jester77 wrote: »

Meanies ftw, still the same

I dont know why you are smiling, they are full of trans fats and will aid in giving you a coronary.

rubadub

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

You ate **** soup from a packet, that's why it tasts bad. Make good soup and it tastes fantastic. Do you think chefs add E numbers?

Almost every chef I see on TV adds in E numbers, especially in soups.

Think is many recipes have not changed they just list them now because of ignorant idiots. The likes of McDonalds are extremely open in their ingredients lists, often listing names and E numbers alongside them of almost everything. So people moan and are shocked saying OMG there are 100 ingredients in there. Yet if they went to the supermarket, bought the bread, meat, ketchup, mayo, mustard, pickles, etc and totted up all the ingredients it is probably the same. Esp. if they listed stuff properly, like not just say "breadcrumbs", but break it right down like McDs do.

nobodythere

rubadub wrote: »

Almost every chef I see on TV adds in E numbers, especially in soups.

Think is many recipes have not changed they just list them now because of ignorant idiots. The likes of McDonalds are extremely open in their ingredients lists, often listing names and E numbers alongside them of almost everything. So people moan and are shocked saying OMG there are 100 ingredients in there. Yet if they went to the supermarket, bought the bread, meat, ketchup, mayo, mustard, pickles, etc and totted up all the ingredients it is probably the same. Esp. if they listed stuff properly, like not just say "breadcrumbs", but break it right down like McDs do.

I'm lovin' it! (Shill!)

Tar.Aldarion

rubadub wrote: »

Almost every chef I see on TV adds in E numbers, especially in soups.

Think is many recipes have not changed they just list them now because of ignorant idiots. The likes of McDonalds are extremely open in their ingredients lists, often listing names and E numbers alongside them of almost everything. So people moan and are shocked saying OMG there are 100 ingredients in there. Yet if they went to the supermarket, bought the bread, meat, ketchup, mayo, mustard, pickles, etc and totted up all the ingredients it is probably the same. Esp. if they listed stuff properly, like not just say "breadcrumbs", but break it right down like McDs do.

That's a joke, like everything is an e number. Try and have tomato soup without E160d