As a black woman, I have had more than my share of Kool-Aid. Red, Blue, Purple, Clear, Pink, Yellow. If you name the flavor and color, I've probably had it. Kool-Aid is fairly simple to make, one pack of powder, water, sugar, and stir well. Voila! You have a pitcher of colored fluid. What is Kool-Aid exactly? What is a soft drink exactly? Why do people drink this stuff?
In a quest to make my own lip moisturizer, more on that later, I bought two packs of kool-aid to add color to my shea butter. The kool-aid added a nice burgundy color to my shea butter and to my finger. That made me wonder, what is this stuff.
Cherry(Red) Kool-Aid-citric acid, calcium phosphate, Red 40, Salt, Artificial Flavor, Asorbic Acid, Artificial Color, Blue 1.
citric acid- is used as a flavoring and preservative in food and beverages, especially soft drinks (kool-aid) Citrate salts of various metalscare used to deliver those minerals in a biologically available form in many dietary supplements. The buffering properties of citrates are used to control pH in household cleaners and medicines. Citric acid is used with sodium bicarnote in a wide range of for ingestion, personal care, and cleaning.
calcium phosphate- A colorless deliquescent powder used in baking powders, as a plant food, as a plastic stabilizer, in glass, animal food, as a plastic stabilizer, toothpaste, ceramics, rubber, fertilizers, plastic stabilizers and as a food supplement.
Red 40- is a red azo dye that goes by several names including: Allura Red, Food Red 17, C.I. 16035, FD&C Red 402-naphthalenesulfonic acid, 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-, disodium salt, and disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-2-naphthalenesulfonate. Allura Red AC was originally introduced in the United States as a replacement for amaranth in food coloring.
Salt- (why is salt in kool-aid?) also known as table salt, or rock salt, is a mineral that is composed primarily of sodium choloride. It is essential for animal life in small quantities, but is harmful to animals and plants in excess. Salt is one of the oldest, most ubiquitous food seasonings and is an important method of food preservation.
Artificial flavor- (very vague label) Flavoring substances not identified in a natural product intended for human consumption, whether or not the product is processed. These are typically produced by fractional distillation and additional chemical manipulation naturally sourced chemicals or from crude oil or coal tar.although they are chemically different, in sensory characteristics are the same as natural ones.
Food coloring- (I need to do a post on this) is any substance, liquid or powder, that is added to food or drink to change it's color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking. Due to its safety and general availability, food coloring is also used in a variety of non-food applications, for example in home craft projects and educational settings.
People associate certain colors with certain flavors and the color of food can influence the perceived flavor in anything. For this reason, food manufacturers add dyes to their products. Few people know that seemingly "natural" foods such as oranges and salmon are sometimes also dyed to mask natural variations in color. Color variation in foods throughout the seasons and the effects of processing and storage often make color addition commercially advantageous to maintain the color expected or preferred by the consumer.
Blue 1- It is a synthetic dye produced using aromatic hydrocarbon from petroleum. It can be combined with tartrazine to produce various shades of green.The dye is poorly absorbed from the gastro-intestinal tract and 95% of the ingested dye can be found in the feces.
It also reacts with certain bile pigments to form green feces.
Can I get a collective, Ewww. Disguisting. Who eats this stuff and why? I know why, it's only a quarter per pack but this is just nasty.
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