Bromatology - Erudition in Nutrition

Now this would be my kind of bromatology
(photo by House of Switzerland)

BROMATOLOGY

Noun. Rare. Early 19th century.

[from Greek bromat-, broma food + -OLOGY.]

The science of food; a treatise on this.

Have you ever wondered who does all the research and compiles all the nutritional information that goes onto a food label? No, neither have I. But I can tell you who does it - a bromatologist, that's who. And what a career! Tell me - who wouldn't want to be a food scientist? Tasting ice-cream all day, writing a practical thesis on what's just the right amount of peppercorn sauce to go with your fillet steak, and then washing it all down with a treatise on beer. Lots and lots of beer. That's what food science is all about, and if it's not, it should be.

Comprehensive food labelling sure does kill the romance
(photo by J.Dickert)

Except it's not. Trust scientists to suck the fun out of everything (even food) - they don't even use the wonderfully obscure word bromatology to describe their work, preferring instead to use the tastelessly lucid term Food Science (sometimes with Technology tagged onto the end). The never-ending party people at the Institute of Food Science & Technology define their discipline in a manner too mind-numbingly dull to replicate here, so let's just say it encompasses materials, nutrition, sensory studies, enzymology, microbiology, pharmacology and toxicology (so no double-dipping the celery at their Christmas parties).

Testing peanut butter. Sounds fun, but clearly it's not
(photo by UGA College)

Personally, I feel that these guys could do a lot to improve the prestige of their profession (perhaps gaining some much needed meat cred). Firstly, more tasting, and more eating of foods generally as part of their studies. Secondly, drop the needlessly open and transparent terms for your work - you're bromatologists, schooled in the dark arts of aristology and philopastryphy (that kind of works), so stand up and be counted as such.

Are you a bromatologist?

Do you actually read all that stuff they write on the labels?

Do you work in an ice-cream factory?

Do please leave your most sinfully delicious comments below.