Category: Zymology

How Flames Were Artificially Produced for Opera Productions During the 18th Century

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During the 18th century within opera and theater productions, stage doors which would lead a character to Hell achieved simulating the flames of Hell with brandy which would be placed into a container and lit on fire due to the fact that during the period, brandy was the brightest glowing flame available because of it’s high alcohol content. Once the brandy was burning bright, a powder referred to as “lycopodium” was blown across the flames to create an intense illumination, creating a fireball of sorts. It was in truth a very dangerous special effect to achieve because of the wooden sets, the actors involved, and the enclosure of the theatre itself. Most of those who performed the pyrotechnics for operas and plays during this period were ex-military, often soldiers who understood how these chemicals worked in depth as rocket technology was at the cutting edge of warfare during the era

Bakers and Grocers Using Additives to Increase Profit Margins During the Victorian Period

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Profit margins were incredibly thin for Victorian bakers so to stretch flour as far as possible, they would add all sorts of additives to adulterate the end product (e.g. clay, plaster of Paris, sawdust, chalk, and alum, the same chemical used to clean swimming pools during the modern day etc.). Alum had both bulking qualities and acted as a bleach for the flour, so alum despite it being the most dangerous additive, was also the most popular supplement during this period. Victorian grocers would use tactics like watering down milk to stretch it as far as possible, going even further than bakers when it came to food tampering. Grocers would often add red lead to cheeses like Red Gloucester cheese, add iron sulfate to pickles to make them appear more green, spruce up old vinegar by adding sulphuric acid, add poisonous Prussian blue to tea leaves, and mixed mercury with children’s candy to enhance its color

American Cheese Manufacturer Kraft Producing Kraft Singles and Kraft Slices With Ingredients Which Are Not Cheese

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The Kraft Singles and Kraft Slices product lineup Kraft is renowned for are not entirely comprised of cheese. For this reason, Kraft cannot use the term “cheese” upon the product label within North America which is why these products are typically labeled as “Kraft Singles” or “Kraft Slices”. This is also the reason why Kraft Singles and Kraft Slices often display the phrase “pasteurized prepared cheese product” which is due to the fact that cheese within the North America must contain 51% cheese to be legally considered cheese and Kraft falls short of this threshold with these particular products

The Country With the Most Vegetarians Per Capita and the First Notation of Vegetarianism Within Western Literature

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The country with the most vegetarians per capita is India, with 39% of the country identifying as vegetarian and/or vegan, a value which equates to 276,000,000 (276 million) people. This is primarily due to the dominant religion within India which is Hinduism, a faith which 79.8% of the country subscribes to, and to a lesser extent, Sikhism, a faith which promotes vegetarianism and is subscribed to by 1.7% of the country. Mexico trails India for the second spot internationally with 19% of the country identifying as vegetarian and Brazil takes the third spot with 14% having adopted this diet. The first time vegetarianism is mentioned within recorded western history is by the Ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras around 500 BC, however it is unclear if this is the first recorded text worldwide

The Reason Beer Bottles Are Brown and Green

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Alcoholic beverages like beer are brown in color because clear glass allows ultraviolet light to penetrate which can alter the flavor profile. Bottles inevitably became tinted brown to prevent ultraviolet light from achieving full penetration. After World War II, green bottles became popular due to shortages of brown glass