Everything but the herb
WHO would have thought it? An investigation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into popular herbal medicines has found that as well as having no proven medicinal benefit, 80 per cent of the products have no herbal content, either.
reports that tests on certain brands of remedies such as Ginkgo biloba and St John’s Wort found that the pills contained rice flour, asparagus, dried radish, wheat, beans, peas and carrots – but no detectable levels of the herbs listed on the label.
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US authorities have issued four national retailers with cease-and-desist orders. Feedback is reluctant to see the tablets go to waste, and can’t help but point out that the discredited supplements would form the basis of a fine minestrone soup.
Monterey Lumberjack
A CONTRASTING form of fakery: reports that a separate investigation by the FDA has discovered that Parmesan cheese is more than it seems.
Like many other pricey white powders, grated Parmesan in the US was found to be cut with cheaper substitutes, such as cheddar, or even wood pulp.
Although cellulose is permitted as an anti-clumping agent, one brand was found to be almost 9 per cent wood. Once we’ve made our herbal medicine minestrone, at least we know what to do with the empty cardboard boxes.
A bittersweet app
MORE food foibles: posh snack sellers are distraught to find that the UK government’s , designed to help people monitor their sugar intake, is laying bare the calorific content of their artisanal snack bars and sodas.
According to , the app “fails to distinguish between natural and refined sugars” – a nutritional distinction that Feedback suspects may exist largely in the minds of upmarket shoppers.
Helenor Rogers, whose company makes toasted grain breakfast snacks, complained to the newspaper that the Sugar Smart app “puts granola in the same box as Coco Pops”. Perish the thought.
Mixed doubles
FRAMES of reference: Ian Turnbull applies quantum theory to the age-old question of whether a glass is half-empty or half-full, arguing that its state depends on the presence of a third party (27 February).
Ron Pursell interjects with a counter-observation. “Surely the definitive answer is that the glass is actually the incorrect size?” writes Ron. Feedback is left to conclude that there’s no such thing as the wrong amount of beer, only the wrong person to drink it with.
Quantum cables
TERMS of reference: Derek Bolton reminds us that we blamed quantum properties for the need to flip a USB connector over more than once to plug it in (13 February).
“That would make it a spin-½ entity,” he informs us. “These require a 720-degree rotation to return to the original state.” However, Feedback notes that spin-½ entities can rotate without becoming tangled – whereas everyone knows that USB cables, like headphone wires and power leads, can become hopelessly tangled with no apparent movement at all.
“Andrew Taylor reports that his phone company is offering a landline phone that blocks “up to 100% of nuisance calls”. But certainly no more than that, he assumes”
Boy oh boy
EDF Energy’s drive to engage young girls in science is back in the news – after a competition the company ran as part of the campaign was won by a 13-year-old boy.
Readers will recall that the nuclear power utility had found itself in hot water after its tactlessly-named “Pretty Curious” campaign assumed that the way to court science-minded girls was through the medium of fashion and make-up (17 October 2015).
An exasperated Petra Boynton wonders if the campaign “is completely mismanaged, or they’re trying for the ‘let’s create controversy’ promo technique”.
Metal fatigue
THE rise of the robots has suffered a setback. The newspaper reports a key victory for humans, with car-maker Mercedes-Benz forced to trade in some of its mechanical minions for flesh-and-blood staff.
What swayed the decision is the new S-Class saloon, boasting a dazzling array of optional extras. This makes adaptability and flexibility the order of the day on the production line, giving humans the edge over robots, which must be programmed and recalibrated for each new design.
There’s no mention of what will become of the redundant robots, but perhaps it’s time for them to unionise to secure their future in the face of creeping de-automation.
Viennese swirl
LONG-STANDING readers will be familiar with Feedback’s keen interest in unusual units. But even familiar ones can yield unexpected stories.
While investigating the origin of the litre (a quasi-SI unit of volume, approximately 1/2,500,000th of an Olympic-sized swimming pool), Feedback discovered the existence of Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW).
Stripped of salt, aquatic life and other impurities, a jar of VSMOW is considered to be representative of all water on Earth, in terms of the proportions of its hydrogen and oxygen isotopes – although it must be said that at almost , it is uncharacteristically expensive.
Feedback is certain this is not the limit of strange scientific standards – do let us know of any others you happen to know about.
