The Metal Claw Hiding in Your Food

Have you ever seen "calcium disodium EDTA" on an ingredients label and wondered what it's doing in your food? As it turns out, ethylenediamene triacetate is an important preservative that's helping to preserve your food. It's totally safe, and really interesting chemistry besides.s

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[shorty]

EDTA is a tetraacetate, not triacetate. Best wishes from a chemist and long term fan 😘

[TLguitar]

You thought water can be toxic? Just wait until you hear about dihydrogen monoxide!

[avowitharms]

Sometimes I forget that chemistry is a thing that happens in 3D because I'm always seeing chemicals drawn on a page, but it's sp cool that this stuff 'hugs' around metal ions

[zeroreyortsed]

I've tried to explain this very issue to some people. My go to simple explanation for people with no knowledge of chemistry, is that sodium is a metal that explodes if you throw it in water, and chlorine is a poisonous gas. But, if you combine them. It's a mineral that you can't live without.

[BruceBoyde]

I work in the flavor industry, and it would make peoples' heads spin if the "natural flavoring" had to be broken out by ingredients. I think people mistakenly believe that "natural flavoring" means it came from the implied fruit or whatever, when in reality natural flavors are made in labs just like the artificial and N&A ones. Just with flavor/aroma chemicals broken down from natural sources rather than being outright synthesized.

[sagenmiau]

wow! i work in a lab where EDTA is the anticoagulant we accept for our tests! it's nice to see what it's all about!!!

[forcivilizaton]

Fun fact, EDTA is also used in full water analysis when it comes to titration.

[catc]

My favorite chemical bonding analogy involves pets:

Ionic = dog, after you adopt it from the shelter, it’s yours.
Covalent = cat, divides its time between your house and neighbors.
Polar covalent = cat has preference for your house.
Nonpolar covalent = cat spends equal time between your house and the neighbors.

[KDaisy]

Thanks to the post-bacc chem class I took YEARS ago, I knew the video was about EDTA just by reading the title. Thanks, Chemistry professor.

[lancecorey]

I was told that EDTA is calcium disodium ethylene diamine TETRAacetate, just like the chemical structure that was displayed. When EDTA is used to remove heavy metals from the blood, it is administered by IV over several hours. It is done that way since roughly 5% is absorbed when swallowed.

[jaybeemhardscrote]

I just love it when people are like 'oh no, CHEMICALS spooky!' I don't know when or how this started but we now have whole generations where chemicals = bad.

[AccidentalNinja]

Also an anticoagulant additive to blood draw tubes.

[tsuribachi]

Huh, isn't EDTA EthyleneDiamineTetraAcetate? Calcium + disodium would be +4 so you need tetraacetate (-4) to balance it.
Also, the synthesis method whether chloroacetic acid or formaldehyde+cyanide method should add 4 carbolxylic group.

Edited: the picture at 3:26 does show 4 carboxyl groups

[judeangione]

OMG best metaphor / analogy whatever for types of bonds, using a business model. Got it!

[yungtrashlord]

i did not even know that edta is used in edible stuff, i literally just used edta earlier to do a complexometry reaction

[willmcconnell]

EDTA is also useful in DNA Extraction buffers for sequencing or like workflows

[Diva_]

Is called a fork, the metal claw hiding in my food, thumbnail...

[alexrogers]

Hell yeah a chemistry episode. More chemistry videos pls

[arifhossain]

Its less of a claw and more of an electromagnet

[crimsonraen]

Huh, that's nifty! Thanks for the video, y'all!