Almost everyone has a Facebook friend who posted that photo of the nasty pink slime that’s supposedly in chicken nuggets. While that may have deterred you from McDonald’s, it seems that even the healthiest and most innocuous of foods have some pretty gross ingredients. Click here to find out what’s really in lots of chicken, cereal, cheese and more!
1. Cereal: wood pulp. An ingredient called cellulose is included in many cereals we eat, and it’s primarily made from “nontoxic wood pulp or cotton.” And those healthy, fiber-filled cereals? They have more of it than the average brand.
2. Antidepressants in chicken. I have plenty of friends who prefer not to take medication unless it’s an emergency. So they won’t be thrilled to hear that traces of “banned antibiotics, antidepressants, allergy medications, arsenic…caffeine, and other prescription and over-the-counter drugs” have been found in feathers from chicken farms. Sadly, I just bought a bag of frozen chicken breast yesterday, and now am sorely tempted to pitch it.
3. Cow enzymes in cheese. The idea of having “cow enzymes” in your cheddar may not seem that gross. But these enzymes come from a less-than-palatable source: “the fourth stomach of newborn calves.” And it’s often mixed with another enzyme that’s extracted from hogs’ stomachs. Try to break this news to your vegetarian friends gently; cheese is a hard thing to lose.
4. Duck feathers in bread. Ah, there’s nothing quite like a airy slice of bread, right? Well the reason that slice may be so fluffy is because it’s literally filled with duck feathers. Your bagels, cookies, pies and other wheat-filled treats may be, too.
I’ve been trying to eat healthier lately, but it’s really discouraging when everything seems to be filled with weird ingredients these days. Even though it may be a little harder on my wallet, I suppose I’ll just stick to buying organic as much as I can. Until a new study comes out next week saying how bad that is for me.
Head on over to the source to see even more strange ingredients and to read more details about the ones above! [via ABC]
What do you think of this list?
Image source
guest
So you have no problem eating the meat of the animals but balk at eating their feathers? Stuff from cow udders is fine but stuff from cow stomachs is no good? One plant fiber is fine but another is off the table?
guest
I’m a vegetarian so I don’t worry about chemicals in meat, but the easy way out of that one is to just buy organic. The cow enzymes have always bothered me and I only buy cheese without them. In most countries it’s mandatory to put it on the label, so you can simply choose to buy a brand without them.
As for the cereal, I don’t really see what’s gross about it. I mean, it’s just part of a tree. We eat all sorts of plants. It doesn’t bother me. I almost never eat cereal, but wood is the least of my concern in most of them. A large part of cereals sold in the USA are illegal in EU countries because of the chemicals in them (Froot loops and Lucky Charms included). That is something to worry about. Finally, I buy my bread locally when I do, so I know exactly what’s in it, but I mostly just bake my own if I feel the need to eat bread. Again, not a big bread person haha. Even if I bought bread from supermarkets all the time it wouldn’t bother me too much. We eat worse things without second thought every day.
guest
Yummy … Made with real MEAT BYPRODUCTS !! *drools*
guest
1) So? You eat vegetables and plants, right? What’s the difference between wood and fruits and vegetables? Why is one gross and the other acceptable?
2) Buy proper chicken, then, not this battery farmed crap. If you buy free-range organic meat, you won’t have that problem because they’re not allowed to add ANYTHING like that into food that carries the organic label.
3) So you’re happy to eat a byproduct of the milk that comes out of another animals boobs, but you’re not okay with it when it comes from their stomach? Again, I don’t understand why you’re fine with one and grossed out by the other.
4) Uh, where’s your proof? Bread is vegetarian, so, uh, I’m pretty sure that’s fake. And even if it isn’t, you eat meat (as you pointed out in 2), and you’re happy to buy poor-quality chicken, but you’re not okay with eating some by-product of duck feathers? Sorry, but none of this really makes much sense.
guest
Umm “literally filled with duck feathers”? Not quite. The ingredient in bread is L-Cysteine, which is just a protein and it’s used as a dough softener in breads. Even kosher breads use a synthetic version of the same protein.
orchid / 109 posts
And there is often gelatin (pork, beef, mouton or fish bones/skin and other “nice” things like this) in yogourt, butter/margarines, fat-ligh products,… and obviously, gummies. To have the “right” texture.
Have a look, in France it is SO common that 8/10% of dairy product (except milk) contain gelatin.
guest
I remember reading in the Little House on the Prairie books that they used a calf’s stomach to help make the cheese. So that does not surprise me at all.
guest
Bread is not fluffy because it’s literally filled with duck feathers.
guest
Well, in that case.. I really like wood pulp.. yum yum. Love me some wood pulp and milk in the morning, or for dinner!
None of this seems to bother me all that much.
guest
LOL cellulose is in celery as well because it’s a component of cell walls.
guest
Omg I’m dying haha! This is a joke right? At least, the last one is? I hope.
Bread is not made with duck feathers… at least none I’ve eaten! I work in a bakery btw and have never even heard of such a thing. Unless food in America is vastly different from food in NZ…
The only thing of any concern to a normal person would be the chicken one.. Buy free range or organic I guess if you can afford it.
guest
cereal also contains hamster bedding. you’d be on meds, too, if you had to hatch eggs all day and then watch your hen friends being taken away to become chicken sandwiches and drumsticks for humans
cheese is actually gorilla vomit. the fluffy stuff in bread is actually dandruff flakes.
guest
@P0RCELA1N_D0LL@xanga - Too true. Head and Shoulders is in all sorts of legal disputes with Wonderbread.
But really, here’s a super-easy fix: eat like we used to before food production was industrialized. Can’t give up meat? Buy it from a local farmer. Love bread? Make your own, or again, a local bakery can help you out.The movement to buy local is gaining ground, and I’m all for it. It’s not very difficult, it just involves a little research to find your local butchers, farmer’s markets, CSAs, bakeries, etc. If you’re lucky, you might find stands along the side of the road in rural areas selling veggies or brown eggs.
It may not be as convenient, but if you care about what you put in your mouth (and/or are grossed out by the above post), it’s a pretty dang good idea.