"Avoid ingredients you can't pronounce."

[Cranberry]

I don't think it makes any sense. The difficulty of the pronunciation has nothing to do with the safety of the ingredients. If it did, "acai" or "ananus sativus" would be dangerous ingredients, but "rattlesnake venom" would be safe.

[gamanit]

True but overly processed ingredients are often difficult to pronounce

[shpritz]

The bottom line is stick to the basics: flour, water, sugar, carrots and ONIONS!

[Cranberry]

"Allium cepa" is not that easy to pronounce.

[LunchBreaker]

The bottom line is stick to the basics: flour, water, sugar, carrots and ONIONS!

Why? Xanthan gum is safe and helps with texture. Agar-agar as well. Highly recommend.

[shpritz]

I have never used any of the above mentioned ingredients ... and I don't plan to either. My old fashioned recipes worked for many years and there is no reason to change anything.

[LunchBreaker]

Xanthan gum, agar-agar and other non-traditional ingredients are great. They are especially useful in diet or otherwise modified recipes where you need to replace an ingredient that contributes to the texture.

[Arc]

Mute people can't eat?

[virtuosointraining]

I agree with the sentiment that is behind the expression (most of the time), but it doesn't make sense. Some people are very good at pronouncing things, while others barely know how to pronounce the words I used in this post.

[shpritz]

One of the magazines I read this week (forgot which) is actually doing a feature on simple recipes with simple ingredients...so there are more in this camp than you think.

[Yankel The Goat]

It's not only ingredients that people can't pronounce. Some people are convinced that MSG is little worms that eat at someones brain, but it seems like they are the ones that are affected by it.