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Comment by zentiggr | Hacker News Reader

Not a proper comparison... The beneficial chemicals in the aloe have no need to be processed at all, cracking a leaf and squeezing out the gel is sufficient.

Crack wheat, sure the kernels are edible and quite healthy - but that's a far cry from bread.

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Often things need to be processed or treated to make better and more consistent products. Consumers are also fickle about appearance. You can make powdered sugar by grinding up confectioner's sugar, but the stuff you buy in the store has cornstarch added to prevent clumping. Shredded mozzarella has a powder coating to prevent it from sticking together.

Fresh aloe from the plant doesn't need to worry about mold or spoilage. Something shoved into a bottle, shipped on a truck, and expected to consistently squeezed out of a tube (without drying out or getting gunky) probably needs additives or treatments that change it in order to be safe.

Truth. The American consumer is very sensitive, especially to consistency. If your product changes color, or settles out weird or does anything to shatter the belief that one bottle is exactly like the next one, you've got a big problem.

Case in point - I had a friend who was recently trying to be all organic and stuff (like, crazily) ...

He got mad because he came home with a jar of peanut butter that was organic.. and natural... (and delicious) but he was actually upset because the oil separated... like, actually upset, and wanted to take it back, and did not want to eat it... he thought it was gross...

Yeah... natural is gross and processed is good... 'Murica

Yup. I remember reading about a smoothie like product that had some additive, a known inflammatory, that did nothing but keep it from settling out. It's only purpose was to save the consumer from shaking it before opening the bottle and had some obvious downsides (it also made it look prettier on the shelf). After a/b testing it the consensus was to leave it in.

The article indicates aloe vera gel is typically produced by drying and powdering the aloe, which seems like it'd change the texture significantly. It may contain other stuff like a mild local anesthetic, colorants, preservatives, etc.

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