I feel compelled to point out that water is composed of 2 parts hydrogen, (a highly explosive component resposible for the Hindenberg disaster), and 1 part oxygen, (a substance who's presence in its purest form makes even poorly flamible substances react explosively when exposed to high temperatures). Ahh...That must be why you have to keep this stuff cool.

Oh, and TomK - thanks for the hj/bj tip.

Just so you know, Polysorbate 60 is used as an emulsifier as well in sex lubricants. It is NOT the lubricant it is the substance that keeps the oil and water mixed properly as well as keeps essential oil products in that state for a longer period of time.

So your picture labeling Polysorbate 60 as lube is infact WRONG. It is a component in some sexual lubricant's and it is infact in this case used as an emulsifier just like it is used in cool whip.

If you don't understand chemical properties of food components or how they interact with each other it is difficult to be a informed consumer.

As well the product you label as wax/hemmorrhoid cream is infact used inconjunction with the Polysorbate 60 to help compliment the emulsification of the liquids. They use cetyl alcohol or sorbitan stearate (in this case Sorbitan monostearate)

Again, if you don't understand chemicals and how they work do not comment on the chemicals in foods. both those chemicals are safe for human consumption and are not the main component in either of the products you mentioned.

Ignorance breeds fear. And fear robs you of your will to succeed.

Anyways you can get sheepskin[for people alergic to latex] condom and then you have a new flavored lube..

Man, that's the second time I've said that on Consumerist. This is getting weird. More kittens, less condom-eroding oils!

Yeah, you're right. People do love the hoogie-boogie. I still don't think that was the intent of the article, though. It really doesn't come across as serious.

(Margarine is bad, though, but it's bad because it is gross. And it's usually haunted. But not because of any molecular similarity to plastic.)

I kinda like the mouth feel of cool whip better than real whipping cream, personally.

People will take this sort of analogy at face value, and they do.

It's making the very valid point that this product is not food in any meaningful sense, and it costs over twice as much as the real food it's designed to replace.

It's a cute little fluff story about overpriced, nasty-tasting non-food. No even remotely reasonable person could interpret it as serious scientific analysis or anything like that.

Just because something is chemically similar to or can be made from another compound doesn't mean it is that compound. gg John Dalton.

Now, I'm completely against processed foods because they're horrid and make a lot of people sick -- but there's enough real science about that so that we don't need to go around making things up.

Everybody's got their thing....

Spokesman:...New Shimmer is both a floor wax AND a dessert topping! Here, I'll spray some on your mop.. [ sprays Shimmer onto mop ] ..and some on your butterscotch pudding. [ sprays Shimmer onto pudding ]

[ Husband eats while Wife mops ]

Husband: Mmmmm, tastes terrific!

Wife: And just look at that shine!True classics have something to say to all generations. :D

We are slowly moving towards a society like in Soylent Green. What is sick and disheartening is you have people like KevinQ who enable companies for putting in this crap into what we eat.

anybody remember that 80's movie The STuff?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090094/

Sciency stuff you don't understand. Floor wax is bad to eat. Ahh!!! i just fed my kids cool whip.

It's a slightly irreverent little article highlighting the fact that this isn't really something we'd normally think of as 'food,' which is something that I like to see pointed out. I hope this is just one of a series.

As far as the science behind the product, Wired should really take into account that these ingredients are also in many of the foods they consume already, not just the "Whip."

Was it a slow day at the office for Wired to delve out of there area of expertise?

I would be more impressed if they

Now at least you know that whenever your partner wants some oral sex, at least it can taste good for you.

Cool whip is good lube for a hand job thats followed by a bj.

More specifically, it's really dumb and ignorant of science to push this kind of crap.

I could just as easily say that orange juice is a toxic mixture made from a potentially lethal solvent (dihydrogen monoxide) and a powerful industrial grease cleaner (citrus extractitives) and a toxic chemical (the dangerous monosaccharide levulose responsible for one of the most debilitating medical conditions (diabetes), and implicated in the chelation of minerals in the blood.

All I'd be proving is I don't have enough respect for my readers to not pass along bullshit to them, or that I don't have the editorial discretion to vet science before talking about it.

This is the sort of scare mongering that trades on people being ignorant. The worst sort.

I am not particularly shitting on you for posting this. Instead, I'm disappointed by Wired magazine, which claims to be about tech trends but reveals itself to be promoting claims that will frighten a public afraid of and uneducated in chemistry and science. I'd expect this from supermarket tabloids, or the drudge report, not from wired.

Show me something that suggests Polysorbate 60 is actually bad for me (and not just that it's a "precursor to antifreeze" - that's a bullshit phrase). Otherwise, you're just trying to make people fearful for no reason.

K