On Thursday, August 4, 2016 at 4:59:28 PM UTC-4, dsi1 wrote:

> A guy from a hundred years or more ago would probably plotz if he could get his
> hands on a Happy Meal or a Hot Pocket.

Well, yeah. We're genetically programmed to prefer fat and sugar.

> The reality is that foods in the era before refrigeration, preservatives, and
> modern processing, were more dangerous - the Jews and Muslims knew this and
> made certain foods and practices taboo.

Although it's a happy coincidence that Kashrut and Halal regulations
make food somewhat safer (and may have actually developed through trial
and error--mainly error), their main result was to differentiate who
was in the tribe and who was out of the tribe. Many of the taboos
in Kashrut have nothing to do with food safety. For example, eels are
no more or less safe than carp, yet because they have no discernible
fins or scales, are forbidden.

Cindy Hamilton