Food Products You’ll Never Buy Again After Knowing What They’re Made Of
By molly atherton
1 year ago
Image Source/Do you rememberMarshmallows have a VERY gross connection to animals that you might have not heard about. But believe us, once you do, you'll NEVER eat one again. So marshmallows are made from gelatin, an animal protein also found in ice cream and Jell-O. Well, gelatin is made... by boiling hide and bones of animals. Yummy...Original content sourced from Femanin.com
Image Source/ Daily TelegraphRed food is supposed to be delectable and delicious. Red velvet cake, red ice cream... there's just something about red feeling a bit naughty when it comes to food. But you might think about it completely differently when you hear this: the red dye used for red ice cream and other types of food is actually made from the female cochineal bug.
Image Source/ CNNSo chewing gum, the thing that's supposed to be refreshing and keep your mouth clean, may now do the opposite and make you feel like you want to puke when you learn what it really contains. Chewing gum contains lanolin, which is a wax-like secretion from the glands of sheep skin.
Image Source/ WikipediaYou might think that a beer which appears clear and bright means it looks like a good, appetising drink after a hard day's work. But the reason it's so clear and bright is because of something called isinglass - which is a gelatine-like substance that comes from the bladders of certain fish, which is dried and processed for breweries.
Image Source/Do you rememberYou might expect ammonia in your kitchen or bathroom spray, but not in your fresh ground beef. Pink slime which works as a filler in ground beef is actually the result of using ammonia as a gas to get rid of all the germs in beef trimmings. It's technically still meat... but still.
Image Source/ Taste HungaryWere you thinking you might switch to drinking wine because you just learned beer contains fish bladder? Sorry to disappoint but wine's a bit icky, too. When wine is made, it needs to 'settle' and then go through a process called 'fining' where anything unwanted is removed. Fining needs a protein to mixed in with the wine. And what's a traditional fining agent? Ox blood.
Image Source/Do you rememberCheese is a go to for anything: your lunchtime sandwich, your toast or sprinkled on the quick bowl of pasta you whip up for dinner. Especially shredded cheese when it's already ready to go. But did you want sawdust sprinkled on your food, too? Most store brands of shredded cheese contain about 9 percent cellulose, which comes from wood pulp. Yeah.
Image Source/Do you rememberJelly beans look so appetising because they're shiny, colourful and crunchy. Well the reason they're so shiny and crunchy is because they're coated in shellac - and yes, this applies to your nails, too, if you're eating jelly beans with a new manicure - which is a resin secreted out by a female lac bug.
Image Source/ www.cliphair.comBread. Morning toast, lunchtime sandwich, or an extra large naan for your evening curry. There's no getting away from bread - it's delicious, it's filling... and it also contains human hair. Or, at the very least, a protein from human hair. The amino acid called L-Cysteine which comes from human hair is used to prolong the shelf life of bread.
Image Source/ Deadline NewsWhat can, on the surface, be seen as a staple food item for both vegetarians and meat eaters is also the perfect home for maggots. To make it worse, the Food and Drug Administration are aware of it, and are allowed to let a certain amount of maggots go unremoved. They allow up to 19 maggots in every 3.5-ounce can of mushrooms before they need to do anything about it.
Image Source/ YouTubeFancy getting your eyebrows burned off with your morning coffee? Non-dairy coffee creamer is actually highly flammable. The powder can easily get dispersed into the air, and because of its high oxygen content, it can easily set on fire if exposed to a naked flame or spark. In there's a lot of powder, it might even explode.
Image Source/ Food and Cooking Guide - Fun Times GuideIf you don't drink semi-skimmed or whole milk, you might want to change your mind. The main reason for including titanium dioxide in skimmed milk (and, indeed, other dairy items) is because it's a whitening and brightening agent. It can also be found in some cosmetics and medications, too.
Image Source/ The East London Cheese BoardThe next time you're ordering a cheese board in a restaurant, take a moment to think whether you want a bit of an animal's stomach, too. Rennet is the name giving to enzymes which are present in the stomach of nursing animals, such as a calf that hasn't yet been weaned. Rennet is used to set cheese when it's being made.
Image Source/ The New York TimesSoda which is flavoured with citrus has a brominated vegetable oil in it, which is actually banned in some countries. Bromine is a chemical, and the reason it's added to citrus soda in small amounts is to stop the citrus from floating to the top of the drink. Well, I'd rather it float than have chemicals in it!
Image Source/ WikipediaA beaver's 'butt goo' is used for vanilla ice cream, alongside other food items. Its more official name is Castoreum (which of course doesn't change the fact it's beaver butt juice) and it's used for the vanilla flavouring. The FDA actually label it as 'natural flavouring'... yeah, naturally from the butt of a beaver.
Image Source/ FoodlySkittles are another candy that has fallen under the curse of being made with beetle poop, just like jelly beans. Skittles are probably one of the crunchiest, shiniest candies you can get, which makes it even worse when you know that the crunchy coating comes from the secretions of female lac bugs.
Image Source/ Is It Bad For You?Pringle brand potato chips contain a chemical called Acrylamide. Pringles are amongst the most popular of potato snacks, and most people would reach for a can without even thinking about it. There have actually been claims that acrylamide is a chemical that can cause cancer as well as other health problems, but it's yet to be proven 100% true.
Image Source/ WIREDRather than panicking that your toothpaste actually contains anti-freeze, the coolant necessary for vehicles to keep on running smoothly in the winter, it's more the fact that toothpaste contains an ingredient which is also present in anti-freeze for your car. It's called ethylene glycol.
Image Source/ YouTubeJust like your local supermarket bread, your favourite posh pastries aren't immune to containing hair molecules, either. It's one thing to find a hair in your food, but this takes it to a whole new level. The amino acid called L-Cysteine from human hair can be found in your flaky pastry.
Image Source/ TripAdvisorAs if the world didn't have enough plastic problems at it is, you might now be eating it, too. We all know too much junk food is bad for you, but you might not have thought that pertains to plastic, too. The compound Polydimethylsiloxane (try ordering that through the drive thru) is sometimes added to cooking oils (such as those that make those delicious nuggies and fries).
Image Source/ HIGHCHEM TRADINGWith all this talk about leafy vegetables and salads being so healthy for you, you might be shocked to learn that leafy greens actually contain Sodium Bisulphate, also known as 'dry acid'. The content has a limit, which means it can pass as long as it's under the safe amount.. but it doesn't mean it's not there, though!
Image Source/ Kekolo CoffeeMost of us feel guilty from overindulging in chocolate from time to time, but most of that is to do with an unhealthy diet rather than a carbon footprint. But chocolate actually contains carbon. Around 200 grams of carbon footprint will be present in a 40 gram bar of chocolate. So that's something else to feel guilty about.
Image Source/ Planet ForwardWhen algae is mentioned, you might think of that gross green stuff on the top of pond water, but you might never have thought about cottage cheese. Well you should, because cottage cheese is linked to algae and specifically red seaweed. Algae was added to cottage cheese to make a source of iodine.
Image Source/ MongabayIf you don't already know, anchovies are a fish - but they're those really smelly, stinky, small fish, and apparently Worcestershire sauce not only includes anchovies, but a scarily large amount of them packed in during the sauce's making process. That, and a whole load of vinegar.
Image Source / CheezburgerEver wonder why those rows and rows of packaged meat on supermarket shelves all look pretty much the same? And even though identical, they do all look appetising. But the reason for that is because they're packaged with carbon monoxide. This is to keep the meat looking red. As you know, meat will turn awfully grey when it's spoiled. Well, thanks to carbon monoxide, it can still be spoiled but still look red.
Image Source/ CheezburgerWe're all weak when it comes to a 20 pack sharebox of nuggies from McDonald's - they're just too good. But did you ever wonder what a nugget actually is? When everything else is clearly defined, like a thigh or a breast? Well, nuggets are made from whatever chicken bits are left from a processing plant, which are then packed with the nerves, bones and connective tissue bits.
Image Source/ KwokspotsThe delicious hot sweet treat Apple Pie from the McDonald's menu contains the amino acid L-Cysteine, which is found in many places (including hair, as mentioned on this list). But the source for this particular L-Cysteine for these apple pies is actually duck feathers.
Image Source/ Speyfruit LtdYou'd like to think that when you're actually making an effort to be healthy you can rely on healthy fruit juices like orange or apple juice. But it's a little more complicated than that. There is a presence or arsenic in apple juice, but not only that, it's been reported it's an unhealthy amount.
Image Source/ LoafUsually honey is absolutely fine, due to the fact that the hard-working bees want to make their best product for the hive. But sometimes honey can include a neurotoxin which wreaks havoc in many ways. Symptoms include dizziness, weakness, excessive sweating and nausea. It's known as 'Mad Honey Poisoning'.
Image Source/ YouTubeOne of these contaminants is rat hair. This can mistakenly happen simply from the peanuts being harvested and the machines not being capable of picking up specific contaminants that might find their way through.
Image Source / Peta2Just like marshmallows, the popular dessert Jell-o contains gelatin - in fact, it contains a lot of gelatin. And gelatin comes from the hides and bones of pigs and cows, which are then boiled and dried out. What's left is then treated to create gelatin - the thing you're eating when you eat Jello-O.
Image Source / Tesco Grocery - £1.00You may have never questioned why orange juice is just always readily available, all year round. That's because orange juice, whether it's 'from concentrate' or 'not from concentrate' use flavor packs to give them their orange scent and flavour. Which means they're packs of chemicals to replace actual oranges.
Image Source / Simply RecipesOne notable thing about caesar salads - and the reason many people love them - is that distinctive dressing, and it's usually overloaded with it. Yum, right? Wrong. At least if you don't want to eat fish, anyway. The tangy dressing comes from anchovies and Worcestershire sauce.
Image Source / MashedApparently injecting or 'plumping' meat is known within the industry as standard, and it's where a saltwater solution is injected into the meat in the hope it will stay fresher for longer. The problem with this is twofold: one, it can make the meat heavier, and if you're paying based on weight... you're being taken for a little extra. Two, it can cause an extra sodium content, which might be way too much.
Image Source / Atlas ObscuraHoney is delicious, there's no doubt about it. But did you ever stop to think how those busy little bees make the stuff? It's actually a product of what could be referred to as bee vomit. Bees have a stomach specifically for producing honey. This is where the nectar is kept, until such a time when the bee needs to... regurgitate it.
Image Source / Cooking Revived'Whey protein' items are all over the supermarket shelves, and they're very popular - especially with gym lovers. But what is whey protein? Well, whey is the watery part of milk that's leftover after the milk has curdled. You might want to switch to another source of protein if you don't want to consume post-curdled milk juices.
Image Source / Dallas Morning NewsA lot of the reason people go for diet soda is to avoid those full fat sugary drinks in the hopes of controlling their weight and sugar intake. (Or maybe you just prefer the taste). Either way, diet soda contains an artificial sweetener called Aspartame, and the way this behaves in the gut serves to basically block any 'diet' hopes you had.
Image Source / WIREDCheese in a can is only popular in the US, but it's a fantastic idea for those people living busy lives and just want a quick spray of processed goodness. But it's not just cheese in that can - apparently most will be packed with whey which, as you've just discovered, is the byproduct of curdled milk. So let's hope you're not siding your whey protein drink with cheese in a can.
Image Source / Melanie CooksThe gross thing about eating sausages isn't that it's pig or pig skin for the casing, because we all know that to be the case. The problem is that sausage skin isn't always pig skin. Sometimes, on rare occasions, it can be thin plastic or cellulose. This could be more of a risk with the cheaper meat options.
Image Source / WikipediaCaviar is something you might associate with luxury and posh food, but definitely not laundry detergent. Borax can sometimes be used to preserve fish eggs, and when it's not preserving fish eggs, it can be found used as a household cleaner known as sodium borate.
Image Source / VIET D.E.L.T.A INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTDCanned pineapple is there for convenience for people who want a healthy dose of pineapple but might be on-the-go. Unfortunately, like many things built for convenience, it comes at an unhealthy cost. Canned pineapple is chock-full of sugar and calories.
Image Source / WikipediaMargarine is the 'butter alternative' - for some reason, people want to substitute butter for margarine, but that could be an issue if the internet sleuths are anything to go by. It's been debated that, because margarine is an artificial food substance, it could be very close to being a type of plastic.
Image Source / Chargrace SoilsRemember when we said anything made for convenience is bad news health wise? Yep, instant soup in a packet counts, too. You may have noticed when you heat up a packet of soup that it has a bit of a gritty texture. Understandable because it's seasoning in the packet, right? Nope, that could actually be sand. Sand is apparently added to the mixture to stop it from clumping together.
Image Source / Chemistry WorldYou really can't win these days - you opt for the healthy salad option and think at least you'll enjoy the tasty dressing, only to now learn that salad dressing (at least some of them, anyway) contain an ingredient called titanium dioxide which is a chemical used in paints and sunscreens.
Image Source / AllrecipesYou know where we're going with this one, don't you? Microwave popcorn is a convenient food option, therefore it's... yep, most definitely unhealthy. The issue with microwave popcorn isn't the popcorn itself, but the packaging it comes in. The inside is usually coated with a non-stick coating, and this has been linked to health problems.
Image Source / Newline EssexDonuts are delicious and their glossy sheen has drawn many people in. But that waxy appearance is actually the result of using carnauba wax. Not all donuts will have this, but some companies may use it. And carnauba wax is also found in shoe polish, cosmetics and some floor cleaners.
Image Source / NewsweekWe all know that McDonald's isn't healthy, but we don't usually care when the nugget craving comes along. However, McDonald's chicken nuggets actually contain a chemical known as TBHQ, which comes from the oil the nuggets are cooked in. It's put in to make sure the cooking process runs smoothly. A small amount of this chemical is fine, but large quantities would be a problem.
Image Source / Bloomberg.comJust like the chemical TBHQ mentioned in the oil of chicken nuggets, General Mills cereal had a similar antioxidant ingredient, BHT, in their cereals before they removed the product in 2015. But it just makes you think what other random chemicals could be in your cereal if that was only one brand...
Image Source / myGarden.comOregano is a very popular herb, and for good reason: it tastes great! But you know who else thinks it tastes great? Spider mites and aphids. These two are tiny little insects that can get onto the leaves of oregano - which means if you're picking straight from your garden, make sure to wash very, very thoroughly.
Image Source / Proactive Pest ControlA shrimp cocktail is a tasty meal choice, especially on a summer's day. But what you should be thinking about is where the shrimp has come from. Shrimp that has been imported has run into a lot of problems in the past, including being sprayed with harsh pesticides or banned chemicals. If that isn't enough, some cockroaches have even been found in them.