Comments on: Freaky non-stick coating keeps ketchup flowing

By: Maneki Nico

Maneki Nico — Sat, 26 May 2012 00:37:00 +0000

Spishak Cholestra – 10% less anal leakage.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 25 May 2012 21:48:00 +0000

There’s plenty of time to shoot down people’s dreams later; why can’t we take a position that science/engineering/making is awesome until proven otherwise?

Well, there are the tiny issues of morbidity, mortality, fetal anomalies, etc. that have followed the launch of all kinds of exciting new science projects. Why is it that science folks always seem to be champions of skepticism….except when it involves releasing new products to the public and the environment without adequate study?

By: Jeremy Mizell

Jeremy Mizell — Fri, 25 May 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Some douche bag DMCA’ed the video.

By: bkad

bkad — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:37:00 +0000

I can understand that, but I try to remember the news (and especially more activist sites like boing boing) have a strong negative bias. No one publishes news stories like, “food additive used for decades, still completely safe” or “regulatory agency rejects dangerous product, approves beneficial one”. And they shouldn’t; one doesn’t need to give bonus points to people for doing their jobs correctly. But the news does support an availability heuristic.

Beyond that, and this is personal opinion, I think science and engineering is awesome. This idea makes me really excited. I think of possibilities. There’s plenty of time to shoot down people’s dreams later; why can’t we take a position that science/engineering/making is awesome until proven otherwise?

By: bkad

bkad — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:27:00 +0000

That was my understanding too, but rather than blame the consumers, I would blame the developers and regulators who did not test the product in realistic consumption scenarios. Thankfully, though, the stuff is still on the market… just hard to find.

By: Dean W. Armstrong

Dean W. Armstrong — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:38:00 +0000

It’s because we’ve been burned many times before by corporations who have captured the regulators who should be protecting consumers, instead of allowing plenty of chemicals that have been banned for consumer use elsewhere, or without proper safety testing. We’ve become cynical to anything, because of past and continuing experiences.

By: Robert Cruickshank

Robert Cruickshank — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:06:00 +0000

I was going to pull that one out, but I can never keep the difference between shear thinning and thixotropic straight in my head. Wikipedia, at least, says ketchup is both.

By: Stephen Anderson

Stephen Anderson — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:25:00 +0000

It will never sell. The labels keep slipping off.

By: Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:15:00 +0000

Well, I must say I’m slightly perplexed when I find a bottle of viscous fluid WITHOUT the exit placed at the bottom these days.

By: heng

heng — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:36:00 +0000

non sequitur anyone?

By: CaptainPedge

CaptainPedge — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:06:00 +0000

Brava!

By: chaopoiesis

chaopoiesis — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:23:00 +0000

Switching from inside to out, this shows great promise as … um… permanent lube.

By: Fnordius

Fnordius — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:18:00 +0000

I think the cost of this new coating will make it less attractive for disposable containers, but for something like a condiment container for the table? Sure!

I think this has non-food usage as well, for storing other thick, sticky, gooey stuff as well. More efficient vats and pipelines in factories, for example. Or water traps under the sink that are more resistant to letting gunk grow in them (as long as you don’t scratch the coating, which is a given, alas, so scratch that idea). Ketchup is just a clever demo fluid.

But you do highlight an interesting trend, that BoingBoing has been attracting a certain Luddite faction recently among the rest of us happy mutants. I think the recent rash of articles about not using soap, not washing jeans or using hands instead of utensils is to blame.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:32:00 +0000

The problem is that economy size containers come with a pump top, which not only makes it impossible to get the bottom half inch of what’s in there, but also holds a fair amount of goo hostage. I’ve taken to pulling off the pump top and transferring things to honey squeeze bottles.

By: Godfree

Godfree — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:57:00 +0000

It’s… Super hydrophobic fabric expialidocious! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious…

By: Red Monk

Red Monk — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Is it just me or dose the normal ketchup seem to be flowing a bit to easy?

By: Donald Petersen

Donald Petersen — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:57:00 +0000

Mmmm! Sure goes down smooth!

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:56:00 +0000

Great. Now you can have an entire bottle of ketchup on every burger.

By: Patrick McGorrill

Patrick McGorrill — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:35:00 +0000

They say the coating can get scratched off by harder materials. http://www.liqui-glide.com/sample-page/ But maybe it could work if you have a set of wooden utensils? Depends on how hard this coating is I guess.
I wonder if it might react somehow to very warm foods. And it would definitely make it much more difficult to keep a heap of food on your plate as you carry it from the kitchen to the table. But, man, I would love a mixing bowl or two with this stuff, for sure.

By: parfae

parfae — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:12:00 +0000

Can we put this on dishes, and never wash them again?

By: lava

lava — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:24:00 +0000

Oh great, now my kid will empty a whole ketchup bottle on the dinner plate.

By: PNWchemist

PNWchemist — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:12:00 +0000

Chem 121 lectures are replaying in my head.

By: DrDave

DrDave — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:42:00 +0000

Word of the day: thixotropic

By: travtastic

travtastic — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:12:00 +0000

I used the last of it making this morning’s unobtanium smoothies!

By: Donald Petersen

Donald Petersen — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:04:00 +0000

Where did I put that can of Universal Solvent?

By: Aloisius

Aloisius — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:39:00 +0000

Good lord when did BB turn into a Luddite support group?

Sure, we need to make sure their substance is non-toxic, but that doesn’t minimize the sheer greatness of this. Just thinking about all the wasted food/energy/etc that will be saved is amazing.

That said, for the hypochondriacs, think about the number of surfaces manufactured food touches, many of which are cleaned and treated with industrial products, before it reaches your mouth.

By: bo1n6bo1n6

bo1n6bo1n6 — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:56:00 +0000

I need this…. Now.

By: nox

nox — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:55:00 +0000

I thought it was that they hadn’t anticipated how much people would eat.

Olestra’s fine in moderation.

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:48:00 +0000

Does nobody eat food that comes in squeeze bottles from the past couple years or use shampoo/etc. that costs more than $1?

They’ve already invented better nozzles to control the flow of a substance from the bottle. I guess it’s easier with a squeeze bottle, but with a little tweaking you could easily get one of these new nozzles to squirt out the substance in amounts controlled by how hard you tap the bottom of the bottle.

In any case, this is a nightmare for me – ketchup that just won’t stop flowing. Ketchup is not the only thing that tastes vile to me (anything with vinegar does) but it holds a special place on my list of foods I avoid, because I’ve been avoiding it since I was a kid. It’s my food arch-nemesis.

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:42:00 +0000

You just need to combine this with a good nozzle tip. There have been lots of really cool nozzles in various products coming out the past few years – ones that somehow prevent the tip from getting covered with stuff, ones that are very controllable and which prevent the tip from getting covered, etc.