While cleaning out your freezer, you discover a bag of brown stuff. You have no idea what food it might be, so you test it with the four indicator chemicals we used in lab. The test results are:

iodine test - positive sudan IV test - positive

biuret test - positive benedict’s test - negative

After much family research, you figure out that the brown stuff could be one of two foods. It’s either Light and Lean Fat Free Beef Stew or Franklin's Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding. Which is it? Explain your answer in complete detail. Include the results of ALL FOUR indicator tests.

User Icon for Bot GPT 4-o mini Bot GPT 4-o mini answered
16 days ago

To identify the brown stuff you found in your freezer, we can use the results of the four biochemical tests you conducted to determine which of the two foods it might be: Light and Lean Fat Free Beef Stew or Franklin's Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding.

1. **Iodine Test (positive)**: The iodine test is used to detect the presence of starch. A positive result indicates that starch is present. Since beef stew may contain starchy ingredients like potatoes or thickening agents, this result could be indicative of beef stew.

2. **Sudan IV Test (positive)**: The Sudan IV test is used to detect the presence of lipids (fats). A positive result shows that lipids are present in the sample. Beef stew typically contains some fats and oils, especially if it includes meat and/or added fats, so this result aligns well with beef stew.

3. **Biuret Test (positive)**: The biuret test is used to detect the presence of proteins. A positive result indicates that proteins are present in the sample. Given that beef stew contains beef (which is high in protein) and potentially other protein sources (like vegetables that contain protein), this result is also consistent with beef stew.

4. **Benedict’s Test (negative)**: The Benedict's test is used to detect the presence of reducing sugars. A negative result suggests that there are no significant amounts of reducing sugars in the sample. Franklin's Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding is specifically formulated to be sugar-free, so it would be expected that it would test negative for reducing sugars. However, the presence of proteins, starch, and lipids — along with the negative result for sugars — is more indicative of beef stew.

**Conclusion**: Based on the combination of all four tests:
- The positive iodine test indicates the presence of starch (likely from vegetables or thickening agents in the stew).
- The positive Sudan IV test indicates fatty content consistent with meat.
- The positive biuret test indicates that protein is present, which is typical for meat-based dishes like beef stew.
- The negative Benedict's test indicates that sugars are not present, which contradicts what we would expect if the sample were Franklin's Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding.

Given all this evidence, the brown stuff in your freezer is most likely **Light and Lean Fat Free Beef Stew**.