Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: Carolyn on 23/04/2008 04:44:24

Title: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: Carolyn on 23/04/2008 04:44:24

Just when I've finally started to like carrots I received the following email:

Did you know this about 'baby' carrots?


The 'cute' cocktail carrots that you buy in grocery stores come from
deformed crooked big carrots. They are put through a machine to become
small cocktail carrots. This part everyone knows.
After they are cut to size they are soaked in large vats of water
mixed with chlorine to preserve them........ The same chlorine you use for your
swimming pools. The reason for this is because they don't have the protection of
the skin so they use a good amount of chlorine.
Notice that after you have stored them in the fridge for a while ,a
white film forms on them.....it's the chlorine coming to the surface.



Does anyone know if this is true or is it bs?

Title: Re: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: neilep on 23/04/2008 12:08:42

I have to say that I can't confirm or deny that but I have seen baby carrots pulled from the ground as they are !...there's plenty of piccys out there and as far as I know the ones I have bought have never been treated with chlorine !! You'd think it would say so somewhere wouldn't it ?....wouldn't it affect the taste ?




besides, they also make nice butt plugs !!


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Title: Re: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: Andrew K Fletcher on 23/04/2008 12:36:28

Many pre packed salads contain chlorine also :(

Title: Re: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: rosalind dna on 23/04/2008 12:41:09

Did you know that carrots were originally Purple and White ones but the Dutch growers bred the carrots to be the orange ones that we know today.

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/maroon.html

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi25.tinypic.com%2Fe22yc.jpg&hash=333d703b6d519f96b76d1ea7b460b3cb)

BTW, I am trying to learn how crop pics.  (It's only my 7th try)

Title: Re: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: neilep on 23/04/2008 19:07:13

Re: Rosalinds excellent post above I am reminded of this that I posted a few years ago !...which is nice !!




Thanksgiving menus typically include root vegetables. Although some of those vegetables can
 be slightly exotic—from kohlrabi and rutabaga to ginger—many are familiar standbys, such
 as carrots. Long, fat, and orange, they make good snacks, add moisture to cakes, and
sometimes serve as the nose on a snowman's face.

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv185%2Fneilep%2Ff5596_1944.jpg&hash=5134794e1e9d112d357c01d7d2e1ef74)
High beta-carotene carrots developed from lines initially
bred at the USDA's Madison, Wis., laboratory.
USDA



Orange was not the carrot's original tint, however. A native of western Asia, this
cool-season member of the parsley family started out in various shades of white,
yellow, and purple. It took on orange shades only under the hand of 16th century Dutch
horticulturalists, according to researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.

In recent years, other USDA scientists have enhanced the now-familiar orange carrots
 by breeding lines with elevated concentrations of the pigment beta-carotene—a material
 from which the body fashions vitamin A. The result: Most U.S. carrots now offer about
 75 percent more beta-carotene than they did 25 years ago.

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv185%2Fneilep%2Ff5596_3263.jpg&hash=61a836c537e47ff77cc2fe9b523c3836)
In some cases, such as the purple carrot shown above, the deep hue goes all the way through the root.
In other instances, the intense color tints only the outer edges of the root (below).


However, plant geneticist Philipp Simon and his carrot-breeding colleagues at USDA's
Vegetable Crops Research Unit in Madison, Wis., didn't stop there. They've been breeding
carrots in a rainbow of antique hues, including red and deep purple, to survive in U.S. soils
and appeal to American flavor preferences.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv185%2Fneilep%2Ff5596_4171.jpg&hash=4b5ea132e93dbf96988b6f85f96e2649)
Some carrot slices doing synchronized line dancing yesterday

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv185%2Fneilep%2Ff5596_2582.jpg&hash=0d07e0200c8fcc7e8c6cb4cc32117d0b)
A sampling of USDA's nontraditional carrots.
Stephen Ausmus


Red carrots have proven a particular challenge. Many haven't proven too tasty without heavy
cooking—a problem since the vast majority of U.S. carrots is eaten raw. Most imported red
carrots, from Asia, fall prey to the root-rot fungus Sclerotium rolfsii that's present in most U.S. soils.



SOURCE:SCIENCENEWS>ORG

Title: Re: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: Carolyn on 23/04/2008 21:01:29

awwww heck!  Now I'm craving carrot cake!  It's one of my most favorite things!

Title: Re: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: Make it Lady on 23/04/2008 21:34:31

My favorite website of all times is about carrots. Check out the Kids activities.
www.carrotmuseum.com

OH, just realised that Rosalind has already been there. It is well worth a visit as it is very crazy.

AND, they have recipes too Carolyn.

Title: Re: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: neilep on 23/04/2008 22:24:11

I was once addicted to Carrot Juice !

I still love it !!

It turned my knees orange !!..it really did.....I went to the doctor.....told me I had to stop drinking so much of it !!

Title: Re: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: Karen W. on 23/04/2008 23:57:44

Yep happened to a co worker of mine too!.. LOL He had handsome orange hands and a face which was a tad orangish in tone.Hee hee...

Title: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: neilep on 30/04/2008 14:56:19

SORRY ....about the missingness of this thread !!

Title: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: Karen W. on 30/04/2008 15:01:03

Thanks Neily!

Hey I just found out my fresh carrots from the store are loaded with sodium... 45 mg per 3 ozs.. Is that from a chlorine bath?????

OH Know... Neily did you mean what I think you mean about this here Thread???

Title: Did you know this about baby carrots?
Post by: Karen W. on 30/04/2008 15:22:17

BTW  that salt thing applies to the long individual carrots also... It is weird  I say just weird!