The 59 flavors of a strawberry shake (not a joke)

Posted Apr 24th 2006 7:58AM by Nicole Weston
Filed under: Science, Dairy, Newspapers, Did you know?, High-fructose corn syrup

I have made strawberry milkshakes at home before. I like them thick, so I use strawberries and ice cream, sometimes thinning it with a touch of milk. Occasionally, I will add in some chocolate. Other people like to use yogurts or add sweeteners, like honey to their shakes. Chances are good that no one makes a McDonald's-style shake at home, though. Why? According to the Guardian, that shake has 59 ingredients, most of which are verging on unpronounceable and found in the "artificial strawberry flavoring."

That milkshake probably contains the following: "milkfat and nonfat milk, sugar, sweet whey, high-fructose corn syrup, guar gum, monoglycerides and diglycerides, cellulose gum, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, citric acid, E129 and artificial strawberry flavor."

That flavoring, on the other hand, has:

"amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphrenyl- 2-butanone (10% solution in alcohol), ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, undecalactone, vanillin and solvent."

Yum.
:puke: :puke: :puke: :disappoin

eww..good thing i go to burger king the few rare times i ever want a chocolate shake..:rolleyes:

i like shakes of a different kind...

hhm. dont really want one now!

Nice chemical cocktail there....gotta love getting ketone and other solvents in your shake!

Sad that it's cheaper to put a shot of chemicals in your drink rather than actual ingredients, to get a certain flavor.

McD's is evil.

who cares. it still tastes good

meh, when i go to mcdonalds i dont expect to eat anything that was naturally cultivated other than the mealworm burgers

who cares. it still tastes good

Ethlyene glycol tastes good too; :eek: but it's poisonous.

Ethlyene glycol tastes good too; :eek: but it's poisonous.

Only if you're not tough enough.

Only if you're not tough enough.

:cwm27: If you drink enough poison it doesn't matter HOW tough you are.

:cwm27: If you drink enough poison it doesn't matter HOW tough you are.

You and your crazy "claims" Fred...

If you drink poison you'll die.
Swimming with Great White Sharks will get you ate.
Never smoke while pumping your gas.
Don't kick a cop in the nuts.

:rolleyes:

God, I must be insane to hold those opinions..... :icon16:

Never smoke while pumping your gas.

a lit cigarette cannot ignite gasoline. but lighting a cigarette can.

I'm not a chemistry freak...but what's particularly bad bout the ones in bold? I know chemicals aren't good for you (especially those from the way the sound), but why in particular are they bad?

I'm not a chemistry freak...but what's particularly bad bout the ones in bold? I know chemicals aren't good for you (especially those from the way the sound), but why in particular are they bad?

Google is your friend. "MSDS" is the government Material Safety Data Sheet, which is required for chemicals:

Methyl Benzoate:
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/m3146.htm

isobutyl anthranilate
http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/IS/isobutyl_anthranilate.html

hydroxyphrenyl- 2-butanone
https://fscimage.fishersci.com/msds/31874.htm

Rum Ether:
http://www.adv-bio.com/msds/Rum%20Ether%201206.pdf

Methyl Benzoate:
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/m3146.htm

isobutyl anthranilate
http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/IS/isobutyl_anthranilate.html

hydroxyphrenyl- 2-butanone
https://fscimage.fishersci.com/msds/31874.htm

Rum Ether:
http://www.adv-bio.com/msds/Rum%20Ether%201206.pdf

Everything the body needs.

Everything the body needs.

:lol:

I'm not a chemistry freak...but what's particularly bad bout the ones in bold? I know chemicals aren't good for you (especially those from the way the sound), but why in particular are they bad?
well chemicals aren't always bad. i mean if you read ascorbic acid you might think it's something bad but it's just vitamine C, or nicotinic acid is niacin. Sodium bicarbonate is just baking soda. your body needs all kinds of chemicals and some of them have complicated names that have to be listed on the back of something. it's just that mcdonalds can name every chemical in their shakes because it's not made from strawberry juice or anything simple like that.

Google is your friend. "MSDS" is the government Material Safety Data Sheet, which is required for chemicals:

Methyl Benzoate:
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/m3146.htm

isobutyl anthranilate
http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/IS/isobutyl_anthranilate.html

hydroxyphrenyl- 2-butanone
https://fscimage.fishersci.com/msds/31874.htm

Rum Ether:
http://www.adv-bio.com/msds/Rum%20Ether%201206.pdf


Wow. I don't understand. how do they pass FDA approval when they all are poisonous to the body in their pure forms?

:cwm27: If you drink enough poison it doesn't matter HOW tough you are.

actually, thats not technically true. drink too much and your system fights it to where you puke it most if not all out and you end up a little sick.

Wow...thats alot of chemicals...the new thing I learned today...





Sonic Milkshakes FTW! :sunglasse

frostys rule! :thumbsup:

Wow. I don't understand. how do they pass FDA approval when they all are poisonous to the body in their pure forms?

i guess they're not so bad when all mixed together. like they cancel each other out or something, maybe.

the best is when you have a tub of hagen daaz vanilla, let it melt and pour it in a glass. that's easily the best.

well chemicals aren't always bad. i mean if you read ascorbic acid you might think it's something bad but it's just vitamine C, or nicotinic acid is niacin. Sodium bicarbonate is just baking soda. your body needs all kinds of chemicals and some of them have complicated names that have to be listed on the back of something. it's just that mcdonalds can name every chemical in their shakes because it's not made from strawberry juice or anything simple like that.

yup the names dont mean much by the way they sound. don't judge a book by its cover.

you might think that ethyl ethanoate is something dangerous. (if i remember correctly) it's actually pineapple flavour, found in (amazingly enough) pineapples. naturally occuring.

i guess they're not so bad when all mixed together. like they cancel each other out or something, maybe.

Like what constitutes cheating with a threesome.

yea, two wrongs make a right.

eh....all i have is steak n shakes, don't really care since a lot of what i drink is chemicals anyway

I would imagine most of those "odd" ingredients are preservatives. What, you think they put things in there for absolutely no reason? Oh, to poison you? Come on guys, it's not like the shakes are actually formulated in-house at your local mcdonalds. All the stuff they sell is pre-packed and shipped to them and all they do is prepare it for you. They need those ingredients in there so that the stuff doesn't rot while being shipped across the country.

That is, IF the said ingredients are actually preservatives

On that note, McD's milkshakes taste like shit.

All the good stuff a growing boy needs.




After reading all that, I'm scared to ask what goes in their chicken nuggets...

After reading all that, I'm scared to ask what goes in their chicken nuggets...

Probably the same stuff that goes in Ching Chow's Chinease Chicken.

All the good stuff a growing boy needs.




After reading all that, I'm scared to ask what goes in their chicken nuggets...
i love their chicken nuggets. i just had some like 10 minutes ago for dinner actually. i think knowing what's in them besides "all white meat" might kill it for me. :rolleyes:

Probably the same stuff that goes in Ching Chow's Chinease Chicken.


Alley cat? :uhoh: