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Show JFood for Thought By 3ary Lee Did you ever stop to think when you open a package of cake mix or a box of crackers why the package is designed as it is? For example, the lining of a box of cornflakes differs from a box of cookies which in turn differs from other containers con-tainers for, say, flour, rice or gelatin. Actually designing containers contain-ers represents a great many hours of planning and experimentation. experi-mentation. Packaging engineers, engi-neers, chemists, and food manufacturers man-ufacturers sometimes spend years producing just the right package for a product. Far from being just a case of eye-appeal, today's food packages perform many functions. func-tions. They must protect the food from any dust or dirt; the loss of flavor, texture, color ; all spoilage, and bacterial bac-terial contamination. Even substances used in the making of the packages come under extensive testing. The type of paper, kind of ink and adhesives used also are examined ex-amined carefully under expected ex-pected conditions of storage and use. Containers, too, must have the approval of the U. S. Food and Drug Administration. Administra-tion. Thousands of years ago primitive man probably wrapped some meat in green leaves to keep it clean or perhaps per-haps to keep it from drying out. In any event, this original packaging might have sparked the first seasoning of food since the leaves could have given a new flavor to the meat. Nowadays any cook worth her salt knows that seasoning is essential to make food more appetizing. In fact, it's been said that food without seasoning season-ing is like talk without reasoning. reason-ing. Imagine how dull life would be if those 3,000 taste buds on your tongue couldn't detect sweet, sour, salty or bitter flavors. But did you know that texture tex-ture also helps you distinguish the full flavor of food ? Velvety, smooth, rough, tender or oily textures influence the degrees of flavor. For example, the size of sugar crystals will vary the sweetness of the sugar. That's why granulated or brown sugar seems to taste sweeter than fine powdered sugar. And of course, your sense of smell also adds to flavor impressions. im-pressions. You know how tasteless taste-less food seems when you have a bad cold. But salt and many spices have been used for centuries cen-turies to preserve food as well as add flavor. Hats are slated for a big year, too, and some of them are "fun" hats. Broad-brimmed Capone hats from the 1930s, and cowboy black high-crowned high-crowned Indian hats for Western West-ern fan's are two favorites. Maxi-scarves long enough to wrap around your throat or your waist and leave the ends flowing have been borrowed from the girls. Maybe they shouldn't have been. "We are going to have tax reform, but it should not be mixed up with the surtax." John J. Williams, Senator. |