While doctors often warn us that processed foods are no good, most of us eat them anyway. We know they're unhealthy, but we may not know exactly what's in some of our favorite foods. Before buying that next prepackaged treat, take a look at some of the ingredients and get a better handle on what you're really putting in your mouth. While we expect hidden ingredients to include beneficial additives like carrageenan gelatin, some of these items might be more alarming.
Arsenic Makes Its Way Into a Number of Foods
We all know that arsenic is harmful and can even be deadly in large quantities, but most people may not know it tends to show up in the foods we consume. Fruit juices, cereals, and rice have all been found to contain traces of arsenic. A more alarming revelation may be that a German study found arsenic in beer and at a level twice as high as that permissible in drinking water.
Your Favorite Soda Probably Has Antifreeze
If you check the ingredients of your favorite soda, you might see propylene glycol listed somewhere in that collection of additives. This is a chemical compound commonly used to make products like antifreeze and cosmetics, among other things. If you're a resident in the European Union, don't bother looking for this chemical compound; it hasn't been approved for human consumption in those areas.
Beaver Glands Are Found in Fruity Foods
Look for castoreum in yogurt, gum, candy, and in gelatins and pudding mixes. This ingredient, which is actually the perineal glands of beavers, dried and crushed into a powder, is used to create vanilla, raspberry, and strawberry flavorings.
Watch for Hair and Feathers in Your Bread Products
Amino acids can be used to prolong the shelf life of certain grain products, such as bread and bagels. One of the best amino acids is L-Cysteine, which is most commonly found in human and hog hair, as well as in duck and chicken feathers. It's also sometimes derived from cow horns. Most of the L-Cysteine is taken from human hair and it's typically supplied by hair salons and barbers in China. This means L-Cysteine is not to be found in freshly baked goods in American bakeries, but it is found in the flour used to make products for fast food chains like McDonalds and Burger King.
You're Probably Getting a Steady Supply of Coal Tar
This can be found in virtually any processed food and will be innocuously listed as food coloring. Coal tar is the byproduct of carbonized coal and was used in past generations to create artificial food coloring. Today, many foods are artificially colored with oil, which isn't a much better alternative.
"Although certifiable color additives have been called coal-tar colors because of their traditional origins, today they are synthesized mainly from raw materials obtained from petroleum," reports the FDA on their website.
Watch Out for Biodiesel Additives
Another petroleum product, this is more commonly known by the name under which it's listed in the ingredients of bubble gum, cheese crackers, and nail polish: Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ). It's also found in chicken nuggets. You might want to go easy on any product containing TBHQ, because just one gram can cause serious illness.
What's in Your Beer?
If you're drinking cask beer or craft beers like Guinness, you're also consuming fish bladder. Isinglass, which is commonly added to these kinds of beers, is a gelatinous additive made from the swim bladders of fish. The purpose of this substance is to remove solid particles, such as yeast residue from the finished batch, giving it a clearer look and smoother taste.
These are just a few of the strange and disgusting additives people consume on a daily basis. There are many more cleverly disguised substances in your favorite foods. A closer look at your food ingredients can uncover more similar findings. Just be remember that you may not like what you find.
