Chemical Warfare

Not long ago, my social networks filled with a fascinating little meme on the subject of chemicals and human health. In Facebook posts and Twitter links, a wide range of my contacts pointed to a series of infographics breaking down the exotic list of chemical compounds found in everyday, “all natural” foods like eggs and bananas. Each info­graphic featured an iconic image of the comestible in question above a list of ingredients running to the dozens of lines. Who knew bananas were so full of phenylalanine and arginine? What to make of the traces of formaldehyde in eggs and the “benzene & benzene derivatives” lurking in the shells? There is “butylated hydroxytoluene” in my blueberries? Should I be worried about that?

The infographics turned out to be the work of a mischievous Australian chemistry teacher named James Kennedy, who was riffing on the anti-­chemical hysteria that...