+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

What Your Banana Would Like Like If It Came With An Ingredient List

Jan 21, 2014, 04:03 IST

James Kennedy

The idea that there is a difference between "natural" chemicals - like those in fruits and vegetables - and the synthetic version of those chemicals produced in a laboratory is a common misconception.

Advertisement

Marketers often feed off consumer's concerns that "man-made" chemicals are bad. But the fact is that all foods (and everything around us) are made up of chemicals, whether they occur in nature or are made in a lab.

Australian chemistry teacher James Kennedy wanted to dispel the myth that chemicals are bad for us. He created an ingredient list for natural products, like the banana above, to show that there many chemicals in our food's natural flavors and colors. And some of them have long, scary sounding names, too. We first saw the graphics at io9.

"There's a tendency for advertisers to use the words 'pure' and 'simple' to describe 'natural' products when they couldn't be more wrong," Kennedy writes on his blog."As a Chemistry teacher, I want to erode the fear that many people have of 'chemicals' and demonstrate that nature evolves compounds, mechanisms and structures far more complicated and unpredictable than anything we can produce in the lab."

You can see two more "all-natural" posters below, and head over to Kennedy's blog to check out all of his great infographics, like a table of esters and their smells.
James Kennedy

James Kennedy

You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article