@odianosen I think that’s why they want to “be able to pronounce” the ingredients. They want to know the words and the ingredients to protect their children from things that should not be fed to babies. If they don’t know the word, they skip the item and find one that has ingredients they recognize so that they can make a more well-informed and though our decision regarding the risks and benefits of the ingredients used in a product.
@sunrise1471 Came here to say this. Most ingredients have several different names. I’m really into skincare ingredients and I can easily say Evening Primrose. Oenothera Biennis is a little tougher. I will still be using Oenothera Biennis.
@genxjeff It’s an old school bs belief. I’m from the nutrition space and we sort of laugh because many ingredients and chemicals in foods and products are spelled this way to make it easy to pronounce. So while it’s not bad because it’s a big word, many people accidentally tell us they can’t read as well.
@genxjeff Pick a fruit or vegetable and look up a list of its chemical constituents, and it’ll be full of words you can’t pronounce either. Doesn’t mean they’re bad for you.
@genxjeff “When it comes to my child’s health and well-being, I follow the advice of our pediatrician. I don’t consider input from individuals who are not medical professionals specializing in pediatrics. Thanks for your thoughts though!”
@genxjeff As a chemist, I can pronounce many complex chemical compounds. There's something to understanding what's in your food, sunscreen, cosmetics,etc. But pronunciation isn't the line...
@brendanjamesstephen I'm not a chemist, but I have experience with medication and have found the etymology very fascinating and important, but it's only a name we use. It doesn't have all the info attached needed for decisions.
I'm always surprised when people don't seem to care about etymology, and just freak out at long words.
@brendanjamesstephen As someone who started professional life as a biochemist/protein scientist, yeah. Also, the preservatives used in lab cultures overlap sometimes with food preservatives so I know what some of them do (not that it's usually the same taken out of lab context)
As I like to tell my doctors: I know only enough to be dangerous, not helpful.
@brendanjamesstephen I expect learning what something is also helps you pronounce it?
Like, the "no ingredients I can't pronounce" people are basically saying, "I understand this ingredient so little, that I don't even know how its name is said, so I shouldn't eat it or put it on my face."
