foamy texture - why?

simonineaston

Hi folks, just curious about this one - it's not life or death - at least, I don't think it is!
You'll remember not so long ago, the food industry developed a technique to add water to meat, to increase its volume and weight, and now that tecnique is largley discredited - we've all got wise to bacon that oozes white residue when cooked and then watching the rashers shrink to half their uncooked size. We buy dry-cured bacon now and have gone back to enjoying our bacon sarnies!
Well now I've been wondering if the same industry has figured out another volume booster - so many prepared products have a foamy texture in the mouth, for example hummus, fish pates, ready-made canapes and so on. I'm suspecting that the industry is now making sure they create an aerosol out of this sort of product so that the volume is maximised, and then following their usual sleight-of-hand practices, by adding extra salt, sugar and flavourings to maximise the taste, while at the same time, keeping the actual quantity of the key ingredient down to the minimum possible. I'm not saying I mind too much - I've just had some very reasonably priced smoked salmon pate from Morrison's, on toast and very nice it tasted too, but it was so insubstantial - it melted away on my tongue, leaving the impression that although it tasted of smoked salmon, there wasn't actually much salmon in there!
Any thoughts?

iammumtoone

I noticed this the other day with hummus it was like eating mouse! Then I realised the problem I had accidentally picked up the low fat version :eek: i assumed they had pumped air in to give the impression you were eating more than you actually were.

Next time I went back to the 'normal' version and it was fine.

PasturesNew

I see egg/mayo sandwich filler on the shelves, then come home and make my own - and as I look at my 2-3 eggs worth I always think "in the shops they'd make that look 3-4x the volume".

Tiddlywinks

In good old OS fashion, the best way to avoid these 'add-ins' is by preparing the pates, hummus yourself.

Then you absolutely know what's in it, when it was made and can tweak it to your tastes.

Edited to add: Pastures - great minds think alike .

Mr_Singleton

simonineaston wrote: »

Any thoughts?

Don't buy processed food?

Mr_Singleton

iammumtoone wrote: »

I noticed this the other day with hummus it was like eating mouse! i assumed they had pumped air in to give the impression you were eating more than you actually were.

Hummus is sold by weight so unless the pot you bought was the size of a bathtub I don't think the air thing is a goer!

Callie22

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Hummus is sold by weight so unless the pot you bought was the size of a bathtub I don't think the air thing is a goer!

It's not inconceivable that they've reduced the weight but kept the pot the same size, and increased the volume of the hummus by adding more air. I'd imagine it's happened to a lot of products under the guise of 'shrinkflation'. People wouldn't notice a reduction of 10-20g per pot if the pot's still the same size.

What I've found recently is that a lot of products have just started tasting odd - I wonder if rapeseed oil is being used more as lots of things seem to have developed a weird 'cabbagy' taste. It's particularly noticeable in crisps and things, I don't buy them often but recently the few I have bought just haven't tasted right.

iammumtoone

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Hummus is sold by weight so unless the pot you bought was the size of a bathtub I don't think the air thing is a goer!

true but thats what it taste like, in the name of research I looked it up

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=260083981
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=260083981

Second ingredient on low fat version is water, that must have been the difference. Also full marks to Caiile22 second ingredient in full fat version is rapeseed oil.

Pop_Up_Pirate

As above, don't buy processed foods.

They are produced with profit in mind, not health, and non of them can be considered 'healthy' with their added preservatives etc.

We don't buy anything that contains more than one ingredient.

The_all_new_me_2

If the Hummous had the texture of mouse then it might be that it hard started to ferment.

troubleinparadise

The_all_new_me wrote: »

If the Hummous had the texture of mouse then it might be that it hard started to ferment.

Fermentation might give the texture of mousse, but I hope that you wouldn't find a mouse in a pot of hummus... 🐭