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Faking Food: Synthetic Biology

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Faking Food: Synthetic Biology
Introduction
The purpose of synthetic foods is to imitate the original food itself. Artificial food coloring, artificial flavoring, and direct food additives are a few examples that fall under the category of synthetic foods. Food additives used by corporates ensure freshness, additional nutrition, and enhancement of taste, texture, and appearance (Overview of Food Ingredients, Additives & Colors, 2004). Whether these chemically made compounds are unhealthy for the human body or not is an ongoing controversy. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have banned various food coloring additives from being used in commercial products, all of which was synthetically made to produce a variety of hues. There are assorted …show more content…

Many of these additives have been banned in countries such as France, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and several other European countries. Red 40 is the most popularly used and consumed food additive (Colors To Die For: The Dangerous Impact Of Food Coloring, n.d.) In a study called Developmental toxicity and psycho toxicity of FD and C red dye No. 40 (allura red AC) in rats. by 5 expert scientists, it was concluded that Red 40 lowered the re productivity success rate of numerous male mice. They also noticed reduced weight of both parent and offspring, a decrease in brain weight, and lower survival chances of newborn mice. Center for Science in Public Interest, claims that the “dye causes hypersensitivity (allergy-like) reactions in a small number of consumers and might trigger hyperactivity in children” (Vorhees, C., Butcher, R., Brunner, R., Wootten, V., & Sobotka, T., …show more content…

Taking into account all limitations, the purpose of the experiment is to test whether food dyes Red 40 and Blue 1 impact the growth of Pleurotus ostreatus, a white oyster mushroom. Humans are closely related to the fungi kingdom than any other (We’re All Related: 12 Things You Might Not Know About Human DNA., 2013). They both belong to a super-kingdom know as Opisthokonts, a combination of the animalia and fungi kingdoms (Opisthokonta, n.d.). Before a mushroom blooms and after it rots, mycelium, a network of white filaments, grows and spreads. Mycelium, like humans, inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. By studying a photomicrograph, Paul Stamets, a mycologist, concluded that the microfiltration membranes of the mycelium are theoretically externalized stomachs and lungs. In other words, the microfiltration membranes are also extended neurological membranes (Stamets, 2008). Henceforth, the white oyster mushrooms are the best substitution for humans for the purpose of the

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