Comments on: Reference Question of the Week – 8/28/11

By: Monster Librarian

Monster Librarian — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 15:24:14 +0000

Ha ha! I love when people call in with “important” questions, which when all the research is finally done and the question is answered, they say something like, “huh, that’s interesting.”

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:42:53 +0000

Does anyone remember the campaign in the 90′s to get Betty added as a character? The line was that the company thought she was too skinny to be a vitamin and she would break, which was hard to believe because all the characters were different sizes on the show but all about the same size in the bottle.

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:27:37 +0000

@Amelia: A friend of mine in college was allergic to Yellow #5, and reading the ingredients when she was around was routine.

@Monica & @Emily: I agree, and I think, especially with medical questions, what people expect heavily influences what they find. For example, if if doesn’t seem that bad, the idea of taking one small vitamin a day is no big deal; however, if you’re convinced they’re dangerous, the cumulative effect of taking one every morning for years and years seems deadly.

@Jude: thanks, and I still maintain I need an editor. Actually, I had originally used the word “replacing,” but that sounded strange to me, so I used “relieving” instead – with the typo. Now it’s fixed.

By: Jude

Jude — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:48:24 +0000

I like thinking about you “reliving” a coworker. Sounds intriguing.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 04:51:01 +0000

I think nutrition/food questions are very difficult. It’s hard to get a non-biased answer. Even if you do go to peer reviewed literature, many of the studies are funded by companies with a stake in the outcome. And what’s “good” for a person is a pretty individualized answer. Plus there’s a medical aspect. It’s an area where people need help, and it’s tough to provide!

By: Amelia

Amelia — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:36:23 +0000

There are people who are allergic or intolerant to Red #40. I knew a guy in my first few years of undergrad who was allergic to it, so he really had to watch everything he ate.

By: Monica

Monica — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:08:03 +0000

Dino was my favorite and purple was the tastiest. Purple Dino was the best! The vitamins are so small that I would think that the effect of the dyes and aspartame would be negligible, especially compared to all the junk out there with no nutritional value… Very interesting question, though!

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:14:10 +0000

I was always trying to get the dog (Dino). But if there was a pink/redish vitamin in the morning lot, I didn’t have any choice: as the only girl, my brothers would give it to me immediately, even if it was a character I didn’t want. Ah… hard times!