You Won't Believe What You're Eating

1.

Maggots - You totally read that right. The FDA allows a certain number of maggots in most food products. For example, you can find up to 19 maggots in a 3.5 oz. can of mushrooms and no one will do anything about it. Why? There are just too many maggots to rid food of them altogether.

2.

Antibiotics - You just don't take them when you're sick. Factory farmed animals are pumped full of them. They keep illness away and help them grow bigger faster. But then they end up on your plate where they may lead to antibiotic resistance.

3.

Seaweed - You've eaten a lot of seaweed in your lifetime. A gel extracted from it is commonly used as a thickener. It's in lots of meat and dairy products. Vegans enjoy it in soy, almond and coconut milk.

4.

Silica Gel - You know those little white packets that keep stuff fresh. They're called silica gel pellets. And you can also find them inside your food. It's ground into sand and used as an anti-caking agent in fast food meat.

5.

Juice From A Cow's Stomach - Technically, its called rennet. It's been used for centuries to make cheese. We bet you didn't know cheddar contained so many different parts of the cow.

6.

Antifreeze - It's used to lubricate and emulsify liquids. You'll find it in beer, soda, salad dressing and even some spices. In the ingredients, it's listed as propylene glycol.

7.

Ammonia - Yup, the same stuff you use to scrub the bathroom. You can also find it in ground beef, peanut butter and chips. It's in amounts too small to taste, but the ingredients will list it if it's there.

8.

Sawdust - Take a look at a package of shredded cheese. If you see "cellulose", that's food-industry slang for sawdust. It keeps the cheese shreds from sticking together. It also keeps ice cream creamy and chocolate milk thick.

9.

Furniture Shellac - Shellac is what gives your dining room chairs their sheen. They use the same stuff on your favorite hard candy. If it's shiny, it's shellac.

10.

Herbicide - The herbicide glyphosphate isn't an ingredient in the traditional sense. But it ends up on your food anyway. After it's done keeping weeds away from corn and soy crops, it ends up in your food. And there's more bad news: glyphosphate is linked to obesity and infertility.

11.

Sheep Wax - Lanolin is a type of wax that sheep excrete to keep their wool soft. In the food industry it's used to soften chewing gum. The squeeze it out of the sheep, filter it and put it right into your Bubble Yum.

12.

Coal Tar - It's where they get the food dye Red 40. Red Popsicle, devil's food cake -- anything red is a candidate. Not only is it gross, it's linked to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in kids.

13.

Cow's Bones - And not in steak like you're thinking. You're most likely to find bone char -- burned cow's bones -- in sugar. It's used to filter and whiten sugar.

14.

Flame Retardant - It doesn't keep your food from catching on fire. It does give citrus flavor to drinks like Mountain Dew, Fanta orange and Gatorade. But it's not as safe as it tastes. Drink to much and you can develop nerve disorders and high cholesterol levels.

15.

Dried Fish Bladders - Once they're ground up, they're called isinglass. They're used to give beer it's golden yellow color. Maybe we should stick to stouts from now on...

16.

A Bit O' Sun Block - Titanium dioxide is a common ingredient in sun block. It's also a common ingredient in food. White foods like coffee creamer and creamy salad dressing have titanium dioxide. So does paint.

17.

Beaver's Anal Glands - Do you love vanilla flavored pudding? What about berry flavored Jell-o? Chances are, you've been munching on beaver's anal glands. Don't bother looking at the ingredients. When those unholy organs are used as berry or vanilla food flavoring, they're simply listed as "natural ingredients".

18.

Fertilizer - Ammonium sulfate is one of the primary ingredients you'll find in fertilizer. It's also in your favorite brand of sliced bread. In food, it's used as a salt compound to add flavor. Yum!

19.

Human Hair - A compound inside it called L-cysteine gives baked goods their fluffy texture. But not all L-cysteine comes from human hair. Some companies use hog hair or duck feathers. Bon appetite!

20.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner - Sodium bisulfate is the ingredient in toilet bowl cleaner that gets the gunk out. It's also great at extending the shelf life of certain foods. You'll find it in lots of brands of chips, pretzels and anything else that comes in a crinkly package.