Superfluous!  

It sounds like a good thing, doesn't it?  Well, the true meaning of superfluous is to describe an excess...having more than is appropriate.

So, for me, when looking around at the world, I see a lot of things that are less than necessary.  The other day I was scrutinizing a free package of seasoning that came with my lunch.   Not surprisingly (for me these days, nothing is surprising) there was titanium dioxide in this little pouch intended for me to eat.

Now, I'm not making any judgment on the safety of the titanium in the food, (nature itself, has many poisons.)  And, for some purposes, we can rightly use and enjoy this gift that we have.  Clearly, "chemicals" and additives aren't entirely bad.  There are genuine uses for them, and a number of food additives occur in nature. 

But, that does not include whitening a seasoned cheese topping!

What bothers me, in this instance, is that this addition is not necessary.  No one needs or cares that their food appear more white.  Seriously, do you?  If so, you need to rethink that concern.  In addition, this is a substance that is either mined or manufactured.  At present, the world consumes about 4 million tons of it annually.  True, if I did the math correctly, there's about 130 years of titanium compounds left on earth.  It will though run out.

And, these things have to come from somewhere, shipped to their destination, mixed into an end product, and then shipped from one user to another, and then ultimately either thrown away or digested and unused by the body.

So, noticing this excess, I spent quite a while examining a variety of product ingredients lists and was again shocked but not surprised by what I discovered.

I give you but two examples:

Pickles: Yellow 5

Multi-Vitamins: Polyvinyl Alcohol, FD&C Yellow 6, Aluminum Lake, Povidone

As though we need our pickles and vitamins colored?  What, like people aren't going to eat or take them if they weren't fluorescent?  And, its not as though these products cannot be made without such excess.  For those of you mainstream shoppers take a look at Claussen, and Nature's Way, and see what you think.  In the bigger picture, take a look at what you buy, and for you business-people, examine what you're putting out.  And, how about full disclosure?  None of this inert ingredient stuff.  If companies like Ecover can do it, you can too!

Ask yourselves, is this necessary?

From my viewpoint and personal quest toward minimalism, it behooves us all to simplify.  So, you can bet that I'm going to send out a spate of email to highlight the waste that these companies are engaged in.  Afterall, wouldn't you rather have your cake frosting sans polyethylene glycol?  If so, try making your own, or you can try something like Dr. Oetker's products.