Everyone knows the expression "cream rises to the top." This is generally true, except for non-dairy creamer, in which case the hydrogenated soybean oil, corn syrup solids, and half dozen additives rise. When non-dairy creamer rises to the top, it forms a convenient viscous film closely resembling liquid polyvinyl and easy to skim off into white plastic tubettes for restaurant and food service use. Although derived from natural products, the ingredients in non-dairy creamer are not found in nature. This is no problem for the food chemists, who would have no livelihood without the creation of semi-food products. Apparently, artificial food products are no problem for the majority of Americans either. What blue-plate special would be complete without the industrial grade coffee infused with the only creamer that is truly its equal? .
I live in the South, in a suburb of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and yet there are no diners. There is, however, the Southern equivalent of the diner, Waffle House. In concept, the Waffle House is very similar to a truck stop, except they are not necessarily located on the interstate. Waffle Houses are the symbol and the substance of my hometown, and without non-dairy creamer, they could not function. For about six dollars, the patrons of Waffle House can consume enough grease to fuel a diesel engine or their John Deere tractor. The coronary arteries can in fact become lined with a sufficient amount of plaque to require quadruple bypass surgery. This is where the non-dairy creamer comes in. Because it contains no cholesterol and is not truly a food, non-dairy creamer, combined with enough volume of industrial grade coffee, has a unique cleansing and purgative effect.
Non-dairy creamer, however, is about much more than food and health. People buy non-dairy cream to economize. The money Americans save buying non-dairy creamer can go to buying linoleum for the kitchen; the money saved on tile can go to buying a fake tan instead of naturally acquiring skin cancer, and so the savings continue.
