Did you know…?

Did you know…?

Did you know that fruit ripening is a chemical reaction? Fruit produces a substance called ethylene. This substance stimulates enzymes to mature. The enzyme pectinase, for example, breaks down the “glue” between the cells, making the fruit softer. Apples and bananas make a lot of ethylene, if you put this fruit in a fruit bowl next to a pear, the pear ripens faster.

My name is Merel Rijnen, owner Food Dynamics. Curious about more facts? Have a look!

• Did you ever wonder why crackers have those little holes? These are applied at the factory, before the baking process. To prevent the dough from ‘bulging’ too much in the oven. It is precisely these holes that keep the cracker nice and flat.

• Tomato ketchup must not flow faster than 0.015 meters per second, in order not to be rejected.

• Peanuts are no nuts at all! Even though they are called peanuts, the peanut belongs to the legume and grows underground like a kind of crazy carrot.
• Why does chocolate sometimes have a white haze? When chocolate gets warmer than 25 degrees, the cocoa butter starts to migrate to the surface of the product. When the product is cooled, the cocoa butter crystallizes and forms a layer of fat crystals on the product. And this is what causes that white haze.
• Did you know that you have to taste something 10 to 15 times before you get used to a flavor? But that of course, does not mean that you will find everything super tasty.
• Why are potato chips bell pepper, packed in a blue bag? Smiths was the first to market potato chips in 1958. The company logo was in red and blue. They used the red for their first product: natural chips. And when later the bell pepper variant followed, they decided to use blue for that packaging.
• Did you know that cola is much more acidic than lemon juice? And why don’t we taste that? The fact that we do not notice this, is due to the large amount of sugar or sweeteners that are added. Phosphoric acid is added to cola, and this causes a very low acidity.
  It is not clear why phosphoric acid is in cola, the recipe is simply a secret. It does act as a preservative, it is so acidic that hardly any yeasts or fungi can grow in it.

• Did you know that the Mars bar is called a Milky Way in America?

• Did you know that E numbers are not that bad? Simply put, E-numbers are substances that improve the properties of foods. E-numbers come in the form of flavor enhancers, dyes and preservatives. A substance must first undergo a long process before it is labeled with an E-number. The substance must not be harmful to your health. You can actually see an E-number as a guarantee of security.
  All E-numbers are approved by the European Union, so there is no reason to think they are bad for you. Are you still afraid of E-numbers? Then I can reassure you: a large proportion of E-numbers are natural. For example, a banana is very healthy, but it naturally contains a number of E-numbers: thickener E460 and E300 (vitamin C).
• How is it that, meat turns brown, such as a packet of roast beef? The color is determined by myoglobin, which is the protein of the muscle. Myoglobin contains iron atoms. When these iron atoms are bound to oxygen, the meat turns red. But when no oxygen can reach the product, and is therefore no longer bound to myglobin, the product turns brown. When you remove the product from the packaging or separate the slices of roast beef, oxygen can be bound and the meat turns red again.

You may also have a fun fact for me? I’m very curious!

Welcome to my world…, the world of Food Dynamics…, a world called food technology.