---
title: "What food and drink things are made of"
description: "8 food and drink objects broken down component by component, with the reason behind each material choice."
url: https://atoneplace.net/made-of/food/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Food and drink — what they are made of

8 food and drink objects, broken down.

| Object | Made of |
| --- | --- |
| Marshmallow | Sugar syrup whipped full of air and held there by gelatin, which comes from animal collagen. |
| Chewing gum | A base of synthetic rubber, wax and resin that you never swallow, carrying sweetener and flavour that you do. |
| Chocolate | Ground cocoa solids and cocoa butter with sugar, plus a trace of lecithin — the fat does the rest. |
| Gelatin | Collagen from animal skin and bone, broken down with acid or alkali and dried. There is no plant version. |
| Cheese | Milk protein clotted by an enzyme, drained of whey and salted — four ingredients and a lot of time. |
| Bread | Flour, water, yeast and salt — plus, in most factory loaves, enzymes, emulsifiers and a mould inhibitor. |
| Potato chips (crisps) | Thin potato slices fried in vegetable oil, seasoned with a maltodextrin-carried flavour powder, packed in nitrogen. |
| Tofu | Soy milk curdled with a mineral salt and pressed — cheese-making, with soybeans instead of milk. |

- [Marshmallow](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/marshmallow/) — Sugar syrup whipped full of air and held there by gelatin, which comes from animal collagen.
- [Chewing gum](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/chewing-gum/) — A base of synthetic rubber, wax and resin that you never swallow, carrying sweetener and flavour that you do.
- [Chocolate](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/chocolate/) — Ground cocoa solids and cocoa butter with sugar, plus a trace of lecithin — the fat does the rest.
- [Gelatin](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/gelatin/) — Collagen from animal skin and bone, broken down with acid or alkali and dried. There is no plant version.
- [Cheese](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/cheese/) — Milk protein clotted by an enzyme, drained of whey and salted — four ingredients and a lot of time.
- [Bread](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/bread/) — Flour, water, yeast and salt — plus, in most factory loaves, enzymes, emulsifiers and a mould inhibitor.
- [Potato chips (crisps)](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/potato-chips/) — Thin potato slices fried in vegetable oil, seasoned with a maltodextrin-carried flavour powder, packed in nitrogen.
- [Tofu](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/tofu/) — Soy milk curdled with a mineral salt and pressed — cheese-making, with soybeans instead of milk.