10 Gross Ingredients in Food We All Have Eaten

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e3e117f0529d.jpg[/atsimg]

Everyone now knows that processed and fast foods are not the bastions of nutrition, but that shouldn’t make these ingredients found inside them any less revolting. This list sends a clear message: when a packaged food contains more than five ingredients and includes some that are difficult to pronounce, stay away. Make a b-line straight to the organics aisle.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6808078aa592.jpg[/atsimg]

Fertilizer in Subway Sandwich Rolls

While chemical fertilizers inevitably make it into our produce in trace amounts, you would not expect it to be a common food additive. However, ammonium sulfate can be found inside many brands of bread, including Subway’s. The chemical provides nitrogen for the yeast, creating a more consistent product.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a8815042a575.jpg[/atsimg]

Beaver Anal Glands in Raspberry Candy

The anal glands of a beaver, conveniently euphemized as castoreum, are a common ingredient in perfumes and colognes but are also sometimes used to — believe it or not — enhance the flavor of raspberry candies and sweets.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3db4490a0ffa.jpg[/atsimg]

Beef Fat in All Hostess Products

While this may not bother the most ardent omnivore, others are shocked to discover that their favorite childhood treats contain straight-up beef fat. The ingredient comes included a list of other oils that may or may not be used, so it is always a gamble!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/36afa34ae513.jpg[/atsimg]

Crushed Bugs as Red Food Coloring

After killing thousands at a time, the dried insects are boiled to produce a liquid solution that can be turned to a dye using a variety of treatments. Some people worry that the coloring — often called carmine or carminic acid — could be listed as a “natural color,” disguising the fact that there are bugs in the product.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/481d430c69a8.jpg[/atsimg]

Beetle Juice in Sprinkles and Candies

You know that shiny coating on candies like Skittles? Or the sprinkles on cupcakes and ice cream sundaes? Well, they get that glaze from the secretions of the female lac beetle. The substance is also known as shellac and commonly used as a wood varnish.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e9b76650a36d.jpg[/atsimg]

Sheep Secretions in Bubble Gum

The oils inside sheep’s wool are collected to create the goopy substance called lanolin. From there, it ends up in chewing gum (sometimes under the guise of “gum base”), but also is used to create vitamin D3 supplements.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bc808c651d3b.jpg[/atsimg]

Human Hair and/or Duck Feathers in Bread

What’s in your morning bagel? If you get it from Noah’s Bagels, it contains either human hair or duck feathers, and it’s your guess as to which. The substance, called L-cysteine or cystine, is used as a dough conditioner to produce a specific consistency. While artificial cysteine is available, it is cost prohibitive and mostly used to create kosher and halal products.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/223022403b90.jpg[/atsimg]

Coal Tar in Red-Colored Candy

Coal tar is listed as number 199 on the United Nations list of “dangerous goods,” but that doesn’t stop people from using it in food. The coloring Allura Red AC is derived from coal tar and is commonly found in red-colored candies, sodas and other sweets.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/137db80ebe86.jpg[/atsimg]

Calf Stomach in Many Cheeses

In the UK, all cheeses are labeled as either suitable or not suitable for vegetarians because in Britain — and everywhere else — many cheeses are made using rennet, which is the fourth stomach of a young cow. In the United States and most other countries, people are left to guess about the stomach-content of their cheese.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/01ebe562772f.jpg[/atsimg]

Sand in Wendy’s Chili

Sand is hidden in Wendy’s chili as a name you might remember from high school chemistry class: silicon dioxide. Apparently they use sand as an “anti-caking agent,” perhaps to make sure the chili can last for days and days over a heater.

=================================

Source

Found this online, and im sure some of us have eaten one if not all of the above products at some point in our lives.

Just letting you know the kind of gross stuff they throw into some of these products, maybe next time youll think twice before reaching for that guilty pleasure i know i will.

Well in the days before processed foods back on the farms or stone age we would kill something to eat practically on a daily bases. So who knew what was in the meat from wild animals that were captured back in the day. So if we get a few bugs legs or whatever I say it's still not that bad.


Escargot anybody?

reply to post by SLAYER69


hehe i guess slayer, however not many americans ( that i know ) hut for their own food. sure i wouldnt mind a bug here and there its not so bad, they are nutritious but hair in bread? ammonia? sand?.....i dunno.

Interesting read... always wondered why I hated candy, subway (even though it's supposed to be good for you), gum, bagels, and Wendy's chili (YUCK). Guess I just have to watch out for what kind of cheese I eat.. ah well I like cheese I can deal with some cow by-product

Side note: I don't like subway because everytime I get a sandwich there it's gimpy! Kinda like getting shorted on any other transaction...

reply to post by Estharik


I'm glad you added that last sentance when was the last time you ordered something and it came looking anything like the picture? I think Taco Bell is the worst.

My fiance ordered food there a couple of weeks ago WHY? She likes it Taco Bell

Anyway she got her order of tacos they had almost nothing in them
[ MEAT] so I walked back up to the counter and showed the girl and asked if they forgot something she said without missing a beat.

You want more lettuce? I smiled and said loudly for all the other customers

no, We would like more AIR...

The whole restaurant busted out laughing.

Ever make mud pie when you were a kid? Were you ever daring enough to eat it?

Well, if you are getting your recommended daily allowance of Fruits and Vegetables, then you are probably inadvertently consuming approximately a pound of dirt a day! I kid you not!

However, as gross as it may sound, there are health benefits to eating dirt. It provides an additional 15% of your RDA of iron, magnesium and zinc. It also can help regulate your serotonin levels, thus leveling moods and alleviating depression.

Don't let those health benefits keep you from washing your fruits and veggies that you bring home from the store though! Unless it is Certified Organic then it is going to contain high levels of pesticides and herbicides on the outer layer. Bacteria such as Listeria, Salmonella and E. Coli are commonly found on the outer layer of fruits and vegetables. And let's not forget insects!

Especially if you eat your fruits and veggies raw, do not put them in your mouth until they have been washed! Even if you grew and harvested them yourself! Know though that washing fruits and veggies will make them spoil much faster, so only wash fruits and vegetables right before preparing them for cooking or eating.

reply to post by phi1618


Yeah, well, I like my beaver stuff.

LOVE beaver!

Only one that really bothered me was the coal tar.

That deserves a nationwide lawsuit.

Another gross fact about Wendy's Chili...

The beef is usually "expired" beef patties. By expired I mean they've been sitting in their own juices for a certain amount of time in the C-Vap and instead of counting them as waste they're saved and put in the chili.

AHHHHH.

I guess it's not much different that eating a leftover burger patty from your Saturday BBQ but still...nothing good can come from fast food chili.

And beaver anal glands are delicious, I love raspberry candy!!

reply to post by Malzypants


didnt know that, adds one more reason not to visit fast food places

Thanks Phi I am now afraid to eat anything

I knew many things on Your list, and some that aren't, but the things I didn't know blew me away.

I wonder how shallac has enough lac beatle juice??? Now I'm on the hunt.

S&F

oh thats nothing

on Today/Tonight yea i know there prats most of the time but they had one interesting story a whistleblower from the food technology industry released a document that deciphers all those numbers you see representing food additives, a very large proportion of them were listed by the UN as unsutiable for human consumption.

ive been trying to find it for along time now, but i cant for some reason i might write into them and see if they still have it. all i can remember from it though is dont eat/drink anything with strawberry flavouring

the chemical they use is highly toxic and carcinogenic.

reply to post by Demandred


I think one of them is red #5 or something...the red dye found in licorice? I heard it's banned in the UK.

As usual an amazing and interesting thread from phi

I really apreciate yours threads cuz is amazing how much things we aren't aware of, and personally i wouldn't be able to find myself

reply to post by Malzypants


that sounds about right, the report was about 3-4 years ago, the problem is its banned in most countries however its still being used.

the very food we eat is slowly killing us, thats why i find it so amusing when someone hassles me about smoking, our food is killing us, our water is killing us and the very air we breath is killing us may as well just roll the dice and enjoy life very few of us are going to die from natural causes unless you call cancer and its complications natural ....

You should see what is in wheat and corn flour and soy.

They are allowed a certain percentage if insect protein and a percentage of animal hair(mostly rat and mouse)

And white flour is bleached with chlorine gas.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by Estharik

 

I'm glad you added that last sentance when was the last time you ordered something and it came looking anything like the picture? I think Taco Bell is the worst.

My fiance ordered food there a couple of weeks ago WHY? She likes it Taco Bell

Anyway she got her order of tacos they had almost nothing in them
[ MEAT] so I walked back up to the counter and showed the girl and asked if they forgot something she said without missing a beat.

You want more lettuce? I smiled and said loudly for all the other customers

no, We would like more AIR...

The whole restaurant busted out laughing.

Actually Taco Smell uses Grade D USDA meat and "beef products"

Back in high school I had a good friend who asked me what grade D meant and then told me why he had asked. They make that stuff "taste good" with loads of sodium
and hours of BOILING. At least its not F...

D must stand for diarrhea

[edit on 12-9-2009 by mental modulator]

I actualy work makeing food ingridents for different companys honestly the amount of salt and chemicals that go in to food is unbelivible we once made a seasoning for sausages and we had to leave the factory floor till my boss got us full face masks like what a fire man wares because the fumes were so strong and burnd our eyes lungs and faces, it was a nightnare to work with

Mmmmmm beaver anal glands (homer simpson drooling noise), lol, seriously though food is only as disgusting as a society deems it, look at them kooky koreans and vietnamese, they eat puppy! Over here in the north of england we eat sheeps stomach // intestine, stuffed with herbs (haggis) or dried pigs blood with herbs (black pudding), the rest of the country, maybe even the world sticks their noses up at this, well, the haggis at least. So a few bugs make it into our food, we'll live, anyway didn't they sell lollipops a while back with full size crickets and other bugs in the middle?