Is cooking spray food?

[APowers]

Yes, here we tackle the important questions. By "cooking spray", I mean oil in a spray can, such as Pam.

Does my purchase of Pam come out of my food budget?
Or does it come out of my household supplies budget (as would plastic wrap or, say, a cutting board)?

[BudgetSlasher]

dose it have nutrition facts? If yes, I would consider it a food.

[Tyson]

Cooking oil is food, spray can or not.

[HPstache]

Answer:  you are over thinking it and your budget has too much resolution if you stressing about something like this so much that you feel the need to poll others.  It should not matter what "category" it comes from.

[APowers]

Answer:  you are over thinking it and your budget has too much resolution if you stressing about something like this so much that you feel the need to poll others.  It should not matter what "category" it comes from.

I would have put it as food, without a second thought, but SO had....shall we say other thoughts on the matter. Regardless, it's already been categorized, but that doesn't mean we can't have a fun discussion about it anyway. :)

[BicycleB]

Not food!

[sixup]

Nutritionally I wouldn't count it as food. Budgetally I would.

[former player]

I'm English and learnt my cooking and baking the old-fashioned way, so I had to look this up to find out what it is -

"Cooking spray is a spray form of an oil as a lubricant, lecithin as an emulsifier, and a propellant such as food-grade alcohol, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide or propane." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_spray

Dear god.

[I'm a red panda]

I'm English and learnt my cooking and baking the old-fashioned way, so I had to look this up to find out what it is -

"Cooking spray is a spray form of an oil as a lubricant, lecithin as an emulsifier, and a propellant such as food-grade alcohol, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide or propane." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_spray

Dear god.

It's just a way to use less oil when coating a pan or dish.

[elliha]

I would consider that food.

[soccerluvof4]

Food or not its used for food so would go in your food budget.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Simple answer: yes, cooking oil is food, regardless of its packaging. I don't buy Pam, though - I just put olive oil in a spray bottle specifically designed for olive oil (regular spray bottles won't work), and then you can get just the oil without all the additives in Pam.

More complete answer: I don't know why anyone would feel the need to drill down below the "grocery store" level when budgeting. Food, paper products, diapers, toiletries, beer, etc. all get categorized as "groceries" in our budget.

[I'm a red panda]

Simple answer: yes, cooking oil is food, regardless of its packaging. I don't buy Pam, though - I just put olive oil in a spray bottle specifically designed for olive oil (regular spray bottles won't work), and then you can get just the oil without all the additives in Pam.

More complete answer: I don't know why anyone would feel the need to drill down below the "grocery store" level when budgeting. Food, paper products, diapers, toiletries, beer, etc. all get categorized as "groceries" in our budget.

I don't budget, but we grocery shop at Walmart. If I did budget, I'd want to separate it, otherwise it might also include clothes, pharmacy, furniture, household decor, and motor oil. Not too helpful.

[GuitarStv]

If it says 'non-toxic' on the tin, I generally consider it food.

[APowers]

If it says 'non-toxic' on the tin, I generally consider it food.

Good thing glow sticks and crayons don't come in tins, eh?

[GuitarStv]

If it says 'non-toxic' on the tin, I generally consider it food.

Good thing glow sticks and crayons don't come in tins, eh?

I've eaten both non-toxic crayons and play-doh.  Neither are particularly filling.

[trollwithamustache]

while its food because it has calories, I will vote for household supplies as its part of your food prep supplies, such as dish soap, sponges, ect. 

You could never as a practical matter make yourself a serving of cooking spray.

[Davnasty]

If it says 'non-toxic' on the tin, I generally consider it food.

Good thing glow sticks and crayons don't come in tins, eh?

I've eaten both non-toxic crayons and play-doh.  Neither are particularly filling.

Play-doh is pretty calorie dense, after all it's mostly flour, but the boric acid may make it hard to make a meal out of it.

Just imagining crayons stuck in my teeth makes me uncomfortable.

Oh, also I voted to count the spray in the food budget because it's used in the cooking process and you consume it. On the other hand, I would not count aluminum foil in the food budget and it sometimes serves the same purpose of keeping food from sticking. I think you could make the argument that foil should be counted in the food budget but the argument that cooking oil shouldn't be is out.

[MonkeyJenga]

There is only one appropriate path forward: divorce your wife. Irreconcilable differences.

[partgypsy]

wow, my breakdown for my budget is not that granular. Stuff I buy at the grocery store=grocery budget. So things like alumium foil, paper plates, cat food, and even tolietries go into that bucket. I suppose I could break it down even more, but just not worth it to me.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Simple answer: yes, cooking oil is food, regardless of its packaging. I don't buy Pam, though - I just put olive oil in a spray bottle specifically designed for olive oil (regular spray bottles won't work), and then you can get just the oil without all the additives in Pam.

More complete answer: I don't know why anyone would feel the need to drill down below the "grocery store" level when budgeting. Food, paper products, diapers, toiletries, beer, etc. all get categorized as "groceries" in our budget.

I don't budget, but we grocery shop at Walmart. If I did budget, I'd want to separate it, otherwise it might also include clothes, pharmacy, furniture, household decor, and motor oil. Not too helpful.

I suppose that might be an issue for someone who buys clothing, furniture, or household decor at Wal-Mart. I am not that person. We use Kroger (a grocery store) as our pharmacy, but purchases made there are correctly and separately coded by our credit cards as healthcare/medical expenses. Around Christmas is the only time that we have significant expenditures at Wal-Mart that I might want to calls "gifts" rather than "groceries".

I don't budget either, to be honest, but every few months I'll download our credit card transactions to see where our money went.

[sol]

What is our purpose in the universe?  What is the nature of consciousness?  Is cooking spray food?  These questions have puzzled our greatest philosophers since time immemorial.  Whole oceans of ink have been spilled researching these most troubling of questions, causing more than one curious and industrious deep thinker to lose themselves to the morass of intertwined existential crises they contain.

Somewhere between the fiery blazes of galactic collisions and the cold transformations of quark conglomerations, the fundamental nature of reality is written in mathematical certainties that humanity has only just begun to understand.  In some cases we can see the answers plainly and yet they contradict every fiber of our human reality, apparently upending our understanding of what reality even means.  Subatomic fusion created matter than became self-aware, and then named itself.  Matter and energy are fundamentally interchangeable forms of the same thing, yet they distort the fabric of spacetime in completely different and unrelated ways.  Cooking spray has a food label but is sold in the household goods isle.  It's enough to drive a person mad. 

My advice is to accept that some questions are yet beyond our ken.  Maybe someday in the distant future, when we have transcended these physical forms to become beings of pure energy who roam the cosmos spreading interstellar peace and goodwill, a great philosophers with understanding far beyond our own will ponder these questions in a meaningful way.  Until then, we probably have to accept that we're not ready to see the revealed truth, because it would elude our comprehension even if the answers were plain to us.

[Davnasty]

Steal the cooking spray, no accounting necessary.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Steal the cooking spray, no accounting necessary.

Not true. According to IRS guidelines, "If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner."

[seattlecyclone]

wow, my breakdown for my budget is not that granular. Stuff I buy at the grocery store=grocery budget. So things like alumium foil, paper plates, cat food, and even tolietries go into that bucket. I suppose I could break it down even more, but just not worth it to me.

Same here. I'm not going to go through my supermarket receipts to make sure that the toilet paper and shampoo I bought is categorized separately in Quicken from the couple dozen food items I bought. But I suppose if I was semi-famous for having a $200 grocery budget I might try a bit harder to make sure that I get to actually eat every last penny of that $200 rather than wiping my butt or washing my hair with it. :-)

[Davnasty]

Steal the cooking spray, no accounting necessary.

Not true. According to IRS guidelines, "If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner."

Aw, back to the drawing board

[APowers]

Steal the cooking spray, no accounting necessary.

Not true. According to IRS guidelines, "If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner."

Aw, back to the drawing board

I admit, I LOL'd.

[APowers]

wow, my breakdown for my budget is not that granular. Stuff I buy at the grocery store=grocery budget. So things like alumium foil, paper plates, cat food, and even tolietries go into that bucket. I suppose I could break it down even more, but just not worth it to me.

Same here. I'm not going to go through my supermarket receipts to make sure that the toilet paper and shampoo I bought is categorized separately in Quicken from the couple dozen food items I bought. But I suppose if I was semi-famous for having a $200 grocery budget I might try a bit harder to make sure that I get to actually eat every last penny of that $200 rather than wiping my butt or washing my hair with it. :-)

I always thought it was a no-brainer to separate food as a budget category from other random household stuff. It's such a nice, clearcut category, with very little grey area or potential overlap. Then again...wait...I'm famous!? Sweet!

[ixtap]

As a teenager, I used Pam when I ran out of spray for my XC skis, so it must be entertainment.

[Zikoris]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers, and which grocery store aisle would you expect to find them in?" threads here a bazillion years ago. I thought that one was gone from my memory forever.

[seattlecyclone]

wow, my breakdown for my budget is not that granular. Stuff I buy at the grocery store=grocery budget. So things like alumium foil, paper plates, cat food, and even tolietries go into that bucket. I suppose I could break it down even more, but just not worth it to me.

Same here. I'm not going to go through my supermarket receipts to make sure that the toilet paper and shampoo I bought is categorized separately in Quicken from the couple dozen food items I bought. But I suppose if I was semi-famous for having a $200 grocery budget I might try a bit harder to make sure that I get to actually eat every last penny of that $200 rather than wiping my butt or washing my hair with it. :-)

I always thought it was a no-brainer to separate food as a budget category from other random household stuff. It's such a nice, clearcut category, with very little grey area or potential overlap. Then again...wait...I'm famous!? Sweet!

The vast majority of my spending at the grocery store is for food items, so the occasional soap or other thing doesn't really make a big difference in my tracking. I include potent potables in my grocery store category too. I bet we could have a whole other discussion thread about whether I should be doing that!

Do you track your mileage based on what budget category your trip best falls into, so that you can properly allocate your vehicle expenses between groceries, entertainment, etc.? Probably not, but it could be just as enlightening as the decision to separate non-edible grocery store purchases from edible ones. Do what works for you. There's no right or wrong way to do this!

[nereo]

You consume the cooking spray when you eat the food it was cooked in.  It has calories. It's almost entirely vegetable oil.  It is sold alongside numerous other foodstuffs.  I cannot fathom how it could qualitatively be considered 'not a food'.  I would eliminate salt (technically an inorganic, calorie-free mineral) from my food category before I would eliminate cooking oil - in spray form or not.

...but yeah.  If this is anything other than a fun philosophical argument you should rejoice that you have so little in your life to be genuinely worried about.

[APowers]

...but yeah.  If this is anything other than a fun philosophical argument you should rejoice that you have so little in your life to be genuinely worried about.

I mean, it was an actual argument that was had while we were inputting monthly expenses in our spreadsheet....but yes. I am literally happy every day that my life is full of luxury, even as we "can't possibly make it" on ~$35k/yr.

[GuitarStv]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers, and which grocery store aisle would you expect to find them in?" threads here a bazillion years ago. I thought that one was gone from my memory forever.

They're obviously cookies.  And all of you who disagreed were wrong.

[APowers]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers, and which grocery store aisle would you expect to find them in?" threads here a bazillion years ago. I thought that one was gone from my memory forever.

They're obviously cookies.  And all of you who disagreed were wrong.

If we sprayed Pam on them, then are they food or not?

[MonkeyJenga]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers, and which grocery store aisle would you expect to find them in?" threads here a bazillion years ago. I thought that one was gone from my memory forever.

They're obviously cookies.  And all of you who disagreed were wrong.

If we sprayed Pam on them, then are they food or not?

Yes, but not if you put salt on them.

[sol]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers

Graham crackers are crackers, it's right in the name.  Also hot dogs are sandwiches and pop tarts are raviollis.  Get over it.

[nessness]

while its food because it has calories, I will vote for household supplies as its part of your food prep supplies, such as dish soap, sponges, ect. 

You could never as a practical matter make yourself a serving of cooking spray.

You probably couldn't eat a serving of cayenne pepper either; is that not food?

[nereo]

while its food because it has calories, I will vote for household supplies as its part of your food prep supplies, such as dish soap, sponges, ect. 

You could never as a practical matter make yourself a serving of cooking spray.

You probably couldn't eat a serving of cayenne pepper either; is that not food?

Challenge accepted!!

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers

Graham crackers are crackers, it's right in the name.  Also hot dogs are sandwiches and pop tarts are raviolis.  Get over it.

And vanilla soy latte is 3-bean soup.

[dashuk]

Just to be clear here...

You are buying cooking oil a few oz at a time, for the price of a couple of gallons, in a metal aerosol can full of fossil fuel derived propellants.


But your question is whether you are filing it in the right column in your expense spreadsheet?

[nereo]

Just to be clear here...

You are buying cooking oil a few oz at a time, for the price of a couple of gallons, in a metal aerosol can full of fossil fuel derived propellants.


But your question is whether you are filing it in the right column in your expense spreadsheet?

don't forget the plastic cap...

[Davnasty]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers

Graham crackers are crackers, it's right in the name.  Also hot dogs are sandwiches and pop tarts are raviollis.  Get over it.

But they're in the cookie aisle?

I shop at Food Lion and they have a program where if you meet a certain spend in a specific category you get a reward. For example, spend $10 on dairy products you get a $2 reward. I kept buying just enough to meet the minimum in certain categories only to find out that I was still short. Took some testing but I figured out their "categories" are not consistent. Apparently eggs are a dairy product now and meat isn't meat when it's frozen.

[GuitarStv]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers

Graham crackers are crackers, it's right in the name.  Also hot dogs are sandwiches and pop tarts are raviollis.  Get over it.

But the name is a lie!  Soy milk was never squeezed from the teat of a soy . . . and therefore is not milk.

[MDfive21]

food release spray is an edible food-like substance and i would not use it in a residential setting.  do it right with some actual oil or melted butter.

still, for your purpose, it goes in your mouth so it's 'food' not supplies.

[ixtap]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers

Graham crackers are crackers, it's right in the name.  Also hot dogs are sandwiches and pop tarts are raviollis.  Get over it.

But they're in the cookie aisle?

I shop at Food Lion and they have a program where if you meet a certain spend in a specific category you get a reward. For example, spend $10 on dairy products you get a $2 reward. I kept buying just enough to meet the minimum in certain categories only to find out that I was still short. Took some testing but I figured out their "categories" are not consistent. Apparently eggs are a dairy product now and meat isn't meat when it's frozen.

Eggs were a dairy product when I took home ec.

[APowers]

food release spray is an edible food-like substance and i would not use it in a residential setting.  do it right with some actual oil or melted butter.

still, for your purpose, it goes in your mouth so it's 'food' not supplies.

Eh, it's just canola oil and lecithin in a spray can. I previously had canola oil and lecithin in a jar with a brush on the counter before, so not really different in principle; just easier to apply.

[Zikoris]

I my personal opinion, it's food if you use it for food purposes like cooking or baking, not food if you don't (like if you use it for candle making or something like that). If you used it for making both muffins and candles, I honestly have no idea. I would probably still go with food.

I'm in the camp of including a lot of extra stuff in "groceries" that isn't food, like cleaning supplies and toilet paper, for the sake of convenience.

[LittleWanderer]

Nutritionally I wouldn't count it as food. Budgetally I would.

This.

I am also highly enjoying this thread. 

[teen persuasion]

Oh god, this just gave me a flashback to the "Are graham crackers cookies or crackers

Graham crackers are crackers, it's right in the name.  Also hot dogs are sandwiches and pop tarts are raviollis.  Get over it.

But they're in the cookie aisle?

I shop at Food Lion and they have a program where if you meet a certain spend in a specific category you get a reward. For example, spend $10 on dairy products you get a $2 reward. I kept buying just enough to meet the minimum in certain categories only to find out that I was still short. Took some testing but I figured out their "categories" are not consistent. Apparently eggs are a dairy product now and meat isn't meat when it's frozen.

Just like "food" (for sales tax purposes) has categories.

I bought dry roasted peanuts (food = no sales tax), but discovered the "salted" variety contained a bunch of ingredients I didn't want like garlic and MSG.   So I bought the honey roasted variety next, and was confused to find that they were taxed.  Research revealed that honey roasted peanuts are "candy" (taxed), while honey and plain peanuts are both "food", per sales tax definitions.