Comments on: Chemistry: FAIL

By: Not Confused

Not Confused — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:35:48 +0000

@Andre Sckeron, and confused.
Umm, this is a joke. Take it as such. All marketing sucks to begin with. They prey on the popular fads to sell a product. There is no such thing as carbon neutral. Our mere existence produces carbon emissions, not to mention the trucks required to haul the product to and from. Anyway, funny and good post, keep it up…

By: open RIOT

open RIOT — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:35:48 +0000

It´s the footprint not the product.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:55:01 +0000

*see back panel for details

By: confused

confused — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:17:04 +0000

Why has no one else questioned your ability to understand chemistry? H22O11 is nowhere similar H2O. Okay so besides that, “carbon free” has nothing to do with removing the bond between the carbon and oxygen. It just means that they have a “neutral carbon footprint” if you buy into all that crap.

By: Lolynic acid

Lolynic acid — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:26:14 +0000

Ha! This is doubly funny as it is both carbonfree and organic. Organic as was pointed out means carbon based. In chemistry terms, all sugar is organic. Even saccharine is organic. Great find. It is odd how our society doesn’t question these terms “ORganic” must mean its good for you. Its some classic stuff. I want to produce Cyanide tablets and market them as Organic (for they are).

By: fireflie

fireflie — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:47:10 +0000

That’s almost as bad as “chemical free.” XD

@Andre: Apparently, brand names are Serious Business. XP

By: Andre Sckeron

Andre Sckeron — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:48:50 +0000

This post is stupid and uninformed, that certification talks about the manufacturing process, not the actual composition of the product… It’s not a fail at all… also, CarbonFree is just a brand, just like Apple… Apple is then a meaningless phrase? No, is just a brand…
Read before making fun of everybody else…
Brian Angliss fail!

By: Offsets gone wild: Domino’s Certified Carbonfree Sugar! | Climate Vine

Offsets gone wild: Domino’s Certified Carbonfree Sugar! | Climate Vine — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:39:19 +0000

[...] commenters, such as our friends at Scholars and Rogues in “Chemistry: FAIL,” have mocked pointed out informatively that: The chemical formula for sucrose, aka sugar, is [...]

By: Offsets gone wild: Domino’s Certified Carbonfree Sugar! | Eco Friendly Mag

Offsets gone wild: Domino’s Certified Carbonfree Sugar! | Eco Friendly Mag — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:14:06 +0000

[...] commenters, such as our friends at Scholars and Rogues in “Chemistry: FAIL,” have mocked pointed out informatively that: The chemical formula for sucrose, aka sugar, is [...]

By: Brian Angliss

Brian Angliss — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:24:09 +0000

The fault lies as much if not more with Carbonfund.org as with the sugar manufacturer (and as Terry pointed out above, Florida Crystals products are hardly alone in this particular absurdity).

“Carbon-free” is a meaningless phrase in this case, as with most cases. “Carbon neutral,” however, would actually mean something.

By: pk5000

pk5000 — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:17:00 +0000

Florida Crystals® products are the very first sugar products to be certified CarbonFree® by Carbonfund.org. This label indicates a product’s carbon footprint was rendered neutral through greenhouse gas cutting measures.

What is CarbonFree®?
Florida Crystals® Organic and Natural sugars earned Carbonfund.org’s CarbonFree® certification after a rigorous life cycle assessment (LCA) performed by Europe’s premier carbon management consultants, Edinburg Center for Carbon Management (ECCM).

ECCM determined each product’s complete carbon footprint by assessing the primary inputs of planting and growing the sugar cane, through the harvesting, milling and packaging processes, to the product’s final delivery to store shelves. The CarbonFree® label indicates each product’s carbon footprint was rendered neutral through greenhouse gas cutting measures, specifically, through Florida Crystals’ production of renewable energy.

By: vet

vet — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:34:34 +0000

Does that mean that if you start with carbon and then add water, you’ll get sugar? Now there’s a marketing opportunity.

By: Ubertramp

Ubertramp — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:41:04 +0000

I dunno about the economics of the sugar industry, but I do remember that they burn the entire sugar cane field every year prior to harvest. That’s how they did it in Hawaii, anyway. Ash would fall outta the sky all over the island for days. I could only imagine what it’s like harvesting stuff in that sort of environment.

By: Natasha Chart

Natasha Chart — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:31:34 +0000

Lex, Unfortunately the Brazilian sugar industry is big on debt slavery, too, much like Florida tomato growers. I was bummed to find the article, but not very surprised, industrial food production is heinous almost everywhere.

By: Ubertramp

Ubertramp — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:22:24 +0000

Rho, I would have thought you’d know ALL about fairy dust.

By: Ubertramp

Ubertramp — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:20:45 +0000

I dunno. You could end up with a bag full ‘o ozone and hydrogen peroxide.

By: Terry

Terry — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:33:30 +0000

Hmmm, now there’s a thought: selling dehydrated carbon-free sugar at the S&R store…sounds like a winner to me.

By: Brian Angliss

Brian Angliss — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:13:56 +0000

Dehydrate carbon-free sugar…. snort.

By: Brian Angliss

Brian Angliss — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:11:56 +0000

I realize it’s a certification, but it’s still absurd. On this planet, life is carbon-based (thus the original use of the term “organic,” as in “organic chemistry”), and so molecules created by life are nearly all carbon-based as well. Sugar is such a molecule, so calling it “carbon free” is a misnomer.

It’s like calling a tree “carbon free.” That would mean it was what, silicon based?

By: Ubertramp

Ubertramp — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:40:56 +0000

I wonder if it comes in a dehydrated form?