Almost all our food has preservatives added. This is to stop food from going bad. But do preservatives really stop the growth of bacteria?
You will need: salt, white vinegar, clear drinking glasses, chicken bouillon cube, measuring cup, measuring spoon, masking tape, marker.
- Dissolve 1 chicken bouillon cube in 1 cup of hot tap water.
- Pour the mix into 3 glasses. Each glass must have the same amount.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt to a glass. Use the masking tape to label the glass “salt.”
- Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the 2nd glass. Label it “vinegar.”
- Label the 3rd glass “control”, because it won’t have a preservative.
- Place the 3 glasses in a warm place. Leave them for 2 days. Discover which glass is cloudier.
What Happens: The glass with the vinegar is clearer than the others. The “control” is the most cloudy.
Why:
- The cloudiness is made from large amounts of bacteria.
- The other two glasses have preservatives: therefore, are clearer than the control.
- This is because the preservatives slow the growth of bacteria.
- Vinegar stops the bacterial growth the best.
- Food preservatives are important to help stop food from going bad. They stop the growth of molds and bacteria.