-We've all got the occasional hair in our food at one point or another. Ingesting unwanted hair is more likely to occur at fast food restaurants… and it's not just the hair that grows on the top of heads that you need to worry about.
-Apparently, real strawberries are expensive. So fast food companies like McDonald's choose to use a ridiculous concoction of 50 chemicals to effectively imitate the flavour of one real-world food. These chemicals include ethyl acetate, phenythyl alcohol and solvent.
-Before reshaping, foods like chicken nuggets, hot dogs, bologna and pepperoni look like a disgusting sludge of pink paste. This is done through a process called mechanical separation, which is a cost-effective way to 'smooth out' bone remnants left after the de-boning process. The process results in excessive bacteria, which is fixed by washing the meat in ammonia. To cover up that delicious ammonia flavour, the meat is then re-flavoured artificially and dyed to resemble to type of meat it once was.
-Chewing Gum contains lanolin, something found in skincare products. It softens up your hands, and your chewing gum. Lanolin is the oily secretion found in sheep wool. Every time you chew, you're chewing sheep sweat. Those sheep are also very likely to have been dipped in insecticides on the farm. These pesticides can accumulate in fat tissue, which researchers worry could affect the breast milk of new mothers.
-FDA laws allow for an average of 30 insect fragments per 100 grams of peanut butter. In that same half cup of peanut butter, you'll also find at least one rodent hair (on average).
-Shellac is a type of finishing product that is typically used to improve the shine of wood and furniture. However, it can also be used to improve the shine of certain foods, such as jelly beans. Where does shellac come from? Why, it's secreted by an insect in Thailand called the Kerria Iacca of course! Jelly Beans also contain artificial food dyes, most of which are derived from petroleum materials. Orange and purple dyes have even been shown to slow down brain function, and cause behavioural problems in kids.
-Food production companies have long sought ways to combat unhealthy microbes found on processed foods such as lunch meat and hot dogs. A few years ago, the FDA approved the use of bacteriophages (aka viruses) that help kill these dangerous microbes. So, basically, viruses are purposely being added to your food to improve shelf life.
-While cocaine was taken out of Coca-Cola long ago, the current formula is still formulated to get you high. Each can of Coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar. This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake. In normal circumstances, the extreme sweetness of this much sugar would immediately cause you to vomit uncontrollably. However, since all that sugar is addictive and keeps you coming back for more, Coca-Cola adds phosphoric acid - an ingredient that cuts the sweetness to manageable levels.
-A more accurate name for Kraft Singles and other packaged cheeses is 'cheese-like substance'. Any cheese product labelled as processed or pasteurised includes additives, chemicals and flavourings that account for up 49 percent of the total product. As a result, that cheap cheese in your grocery store has just enough real cheese in it to allow companies to call it cheese.
-Mushrooms are obviously always better fresh than canned. The plastic lining of those cans contain BPA, a chemical linked to heart attacks, obesity and cancers. Canned mushrooms have an extra surprise. The FDA allows 19 maggots and 74mites in every 3.5 ounce can off mushrooms. While maggots won't hurt you, they aren't very appetising.
-Choosing to 'eat healthy' at a fast food restaurant isn't necessarily a good idea. To prolong crispness, packaged salads are dusted with Propylene Glycerol, a chemical commonly found in antifreeze. In its concentrated form, the chemical has been known to cause eye and skin irritation.
-Many fast food chicken items contain beef additives used to enhance flavour and juke health stats. Chicken McNuggets, the Wendy's Grilled Chicken Sandwich, and KFC Grilled Chicken Sandwich are a few examples. Check the ingredients, and you'll see no sign of such atrocities. That's because such beef additives are listed as 'extract' or 'essence'.
-When you pick out that nice red steak at the grocery store, you're choosing it because it looks fresh, but will it taste as fresh? It's hard to know because a lot of meat is treated with carbon monoxide to help retain its natural colour. That doesn't mean the meat is bad, but it does mean that it's not as fresh as you'd been led to believe.
-The meat industry has become reliant on antibiotics. Reason? Poor diet and living conditions mean that many animals that make it on to our table were really sick. For example, 13 percent of feedlot cattle have abscessed livers
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-L-cysteine, an amino acid, is a common ingredient used as a processing aid in bread products. The main sources for the manufacture of this additive are human hair and duck feathers.