We eat a lot of stuff without thinking twice about it. Most things you buy in the supermarket are relatively safe and if you’re a label reader, you can get a pretty accurate idea of what’s inside the product. So, these are some foods and drinks which you will never want to buy once you know the truth behind it.
Salad Dressing
Overview
Everyone likes salad dressing, after all who likes to eat a salad plain. Most of us like to drown our salad in some blue cheese, ranch or Italian dressing but many people might not know that there’s an extra added ingredient in most salad dressings that might leave you scratching your head. That ingredient is known as “titanium dioxide”. It’s a metal, that’s also known to cause cancer in lab rats and has even caused cancer in the people who handle it.
Its presence
Actually, titanium dioxide is used in a lot of different products such as sunscreen, toothpaste, and skim milk. Titanium dioxide is actually used to whiten different foods and products. So, basically you’ve been spreading the stuff on your skin, using it to brush your teeth, and actually eating it in different products. The white powder they use on tennis courts and football fields to mark the lines that’s titanium dioxide powder. The fact is titanium dioxide is actually used in a lot of paints, it is a nano particle and the Food and Drug Administration say that it’s safe to ingest in small amounts.
However, if you’re using a lot of products that have this stuff in it, there’s a good chance that you could build up a titanium dioxide presence in your system. Enough to possibly cause some damage maybe even cancer and while you might think that this is some kind of thing that isn’t true.
Its Dangerousness
A study was done by researchers that looked at the intestines of people who had colon cancer and they found traces of this titanium dioxide present in all of them. In other words, it’s a very good possibility that you could likely develop health problems if you consume a lot of titanium dioxide.
If you’re not sure how much titanium dioxide you’re consuming, it’s best to take a look at the labels and maybe cut down on those products. You might be asking why titanium dioxide is allowed in so many products because FDA says it’s okay to consume small amounts of titanium dioxide without having any adverse health effects. What they don’t tell you is if you eat too much of this titanium dioxide you could get cancer.
Pringles
Overview
It might surprise you that Pringles aren’t even potato chips at all. Pringles are actually made with rice, corn, wheat, and some potato flakes, that are pressed into that cool shape that comes out of the can. That dough like substance is then rolled out and cut and pressed into chips by a big machine. Those chips then go onto a conveyor belt and move through a hot boiling oil and then are blown dry.
After the chips are made they’re sprayed with different powdered flavors and then stacked into those neat tube cans. Despite this most of us can agree that these chips are tastier than most other chips that you buy in the store.
Truth behind it
There is a substance known as acrylamide, a cancer-causing neuro toxic chemical, hiding inside those tasty chips. The chemical is not added to the potato chips, in fact it naturally occurs when foods that are rich in carbohydrates are cooked at high temperatures such as the boiling oil. So, acrylamide can probably be found in all kinds of different potato chips. In fact, it is not just in Pringles that you can find this chemical.
Its dangerousness
In a 2005 study, when looking for this cancer-causing acrylamide it was found in most popular brands of potato chips. Actually, it was found in all of the potato chips that were tested and while that might not be surprising, the tests showed that the amount exceeded the legal limit of acrylamide by a minimum of 30 times as much as it should be. In some cases, 910 times as much as the legal amount allowed by the FDA.
The thing is all foods that are cooked at a temperature higher than 120 degrees Celsius can include these heat induced toxins. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, the acrylamide levels in these foods may be three times higher than regular potato chips.
Canned Mushrooms
Overview
The Food and Drug Administration’s job is to make sure that you’re not consuming too much of something that might be harmful. While, a lot of us prefer fresh mushrooms over canned mushrooms, sometimes fresh mushrooms just aren’t available. So, canned mushrooms are usually a lot less expensive than fresh mushrooms. Canned mushrooms have a long shelf life and they’re convenient and already cleaned but there’s something else that’s hiding in your can of mushrooms.
Truth about it
The chances are you’ve probably never seen them that’s because worms or maggots may have been hiding or burrowing inside of your mushrooms. Chances are if you’ve ever eaten a can of mushrooms you probably also ate some worms or maggots without even knowing it. These critters can also be found in other can products such as tomatoes, tomato paste, some pizza sauces, and even maraschino cherries.
Its dangerousness
So, why is this happening and why is the Food and Drug Administration allowing it?. The fact is those FDA people allow up to a very small amount of maggots and even mites in every 3 and 1/2 ounce can of mushrooms or another vegetable.
The Food and Drug Administration says that “it’s okay to eat small amounts of things that we wouldn’t normally eat”. The good news about it is maggots are actually completely edible and safe to consume. The freaky thing is that you’re probably eating one or two pounds of flies, mites, and maggots each year without even knowing it. To avoid these critters, the best thing is to buy fresh vegetables.
Hot Dogs
Overview
Hot dogs are made from the leftover trimmings of steaks, chicken breasts, hams, some juicy tenderloins, briskets, and other meat. There’s quite a bit of stuff that’s left over, after cutting away the prime cuts of meat with all the gristle, fat, and other things left over from the butchered animal.
Truth behind it
The word trimmings is a purposefully vague word that’s used in the meat industry. These leftover trimmings are actually used in products like hotdogs. All of the trimmings are put in a giant vat and precooked so that it eliminates a high amount of bacteria. That pre-cooking also separates from the head and feet bones, the remaining muscle meat, fat, and even connecting tissues. It’s not just hot dogs that are made out of this stuff a lot of different products such as Bologna, liverwurst, frankfurters, and other types of sausages are made from this leftover product.
Its alternative
There are higher quality products that are made from the higher quality meats that are left over. Those include all kosher beef hot dogs that have no byproducts or any fillers and even no artificial colors added to them. It’s the less expensive hot dogs that you have to watch out for that have all of the chemicals, fats, and the fillers and other stuff that the production process puts inside of them. So, if you’re still into hot dogs after listening to all of this, spend the extra cash by buying the higher-quality product.
Beer
Overview
There are two different types of beers. There’s our unfiltered variety which has a cloudy look to it that everyone’s familiar with and then there’s your unfiltered beer that’s nice and crystal clear.
Truth behind it
The thing is most breweries use a product called Isinglass from the bladders of fish to give it that clean pure look and actually most wines are refined using the same process. Isinglass is turned into a gelatin that’s used in the fining process to remove all the cloudy stuff in an unfiltered beer. While it won’t hurt you, some people have asked why this has to be used in making beer instead of some modern process.
In fact, Guinness was pressured into removing the product from their beer. However, there’s a claim that the bottled product still uses isinglass. Some beer connoisseurs say that the process takes away a lot of flavor from the beer.