July22008

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Urban legends discussed as of late...

There is nicotine in Tim Horton’s coffee - FALSE.

Here in Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for the monitoring and labelling of all food products in the country. I contacted them about this, and they were quick to inform me that this urban legend is certainly not true. They pointed me towards a list of additives that are acceptable under the Food and Drug Regulations. This list is several pages long, and nicotine is not anywhere to be found. At least the part of the story where Tim Horton’s keeps the nicotine levels ‘below regulation standards’ is clearly not true. NO nicotine is allowed in food products whatsover. (Source.)

Tim Horton’s coffee isn’t made from coffee beans - FALSE (most likely).

I couldn’t find anything on this, no matter what I searched.  Must not be true then.  I did find one guy wondering about the ingredients but nothing conclusive.  Tim Hortons claims that they use “100% Arabica beans”.  Can anyone find anything else on this?

You can’t have an epidural if you have a lower back tattoo - FALSE.

“The tattoo pigments do not stay “loose” within the dermis or connective tissue, but are rapidly assimilated by macrophages during the healing process. Many of these pigment-laden macrophages stay in the dermis, and the dermis only, for the life of the tattooee. The amount of pigment that is used in the tattoo process is quite miniscule, also. The pigments are made of inert metal salts and different structures of a phenolphthalein base, and allergic problems are nearly nonexistent. You should have no concern whatsoever in placing a needle through a tattoo and into the spinal or epidural space, as the pigment particles are “fixed” and stationary within the dermis, and cannot be mobilized by the needle or migrate along the needle track. There is really no danger at all in inserting a needle through tattooed skin.  (Source.)

Another site did say it was undetermined and made a snarky comment about women with lower back tattoos being temptresses like Eve, but the quote above is from a Harvard doctor so I’m going to believe him.  And the women rejoiced!

Snopes.com is a great site for finding info on urban legends - they research them and provide answers from normally reputable sources.  They seem to have done something to their site to prevent me from cutting and pasting, which is why they’re not a source I used above.

Any favourite urban legends out there?