There's always a new diet to follow or some trendy meal plan everybody swears is the best thing since Betty White. You or somebody you know may be hooked (line and sinker) to one right now and not even know it! But even the most popular meal plans and diets show their true natures in the end, and anyone involved with them usually wises up and walks away…
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But what about everyday foods you thought were healthy but actually weren't? How about foods you love that have some truly gross ingredients? We my be ruining your day with this one, but we had to let you know…some of the foods you're eating will sound really, really nasty when you learn what's inside them…
Bread Products
When you eat a bread product, like donuts or bagels, there's a good chance you're munching on human hair…and no, we don't mean from the guy in the back who forgot to wear a hairnet. There's also a chance you're eating duck feathers. But this is only true in the case of large manufacturers who may use an enzyme called cysteine.
Cysteine
Cysteine is a "dough conditioner" made from human hair and poultry feathers. So if you're eating at any popular restaurant chains, you may want to ask if it's used in their bread products.
Shredded Cheese
Shredded cheese is a perfect topping for taco night or when devouring a salad, but did you know you may be eating wood chips? That's right, some shredded cheeses use an ingredient called cellulose…
Cellulose
The wood is cut very small and soaked in sodium hydroxide (chlorine), which when mixed in helps the shredded cheese strands from sticking together. Be careful, the FDA allows manufacturers to stamp "organic" labels onto their shredded cheese products if they contain cellulose.
Light Ice Cream
Just when you thought you made the healthier choice of buying light ice cream you learn the truth: some light ice cream contains antifreeze. Yes, the same that you put into your windshield wiper fluid. Both contain a chemical compound called propylene glycol.
Propylene Glycol
Antifreeze is added to some light ice creams to make the thick and frozen treat easier to scoop out of the container. If you want to avoid eating it, check the label of your next batch; the fewer ingredients the better.
Frozen Fish
That mouth-watering frozen fish you're unable to look away from in the supermarket freezer section is actually full of pesticide. You wouldn't know it of course, because sodium tripolyphosphate is used specifically to make it look fresh.
Sodium Tripolyphosphate
No worries, the FDA claims this registered pesticide is "safe" to eat. All the additive does is help the meat retain moisture so it doesn't go bad as quick…maybe walk out of the freezer isle and see the butcher about a fresh cut.
Fruit Juice
While you or your children drink that fresh cup of grape or apple juice, the arsenic it's made with is making its way into your bodies. It sounds a bit gross, but that doesn't mean it's not true…
Arsenic
The known carcinogen, which is used to alter the electrical or optical properties of substances found in modern electronics, is allowed by the FDA to be inside your juice box. The chemical seeps into the fruit through the soil, and as long as there's not too much, apparently it's fine to ingest.
White Sugar
Who would think that something so sweet could also be so…sinister? Well, that may sound funny to you but that's because you don't know that white sugar also contains animal bones.
Animal Bones
White sugar gets its color (or lack thereof) via a "natural carbon," which is just a fancy way of saying charred cattle bone, filtering process. If you're not quite ready to give up your sweet tooth, just make sure the label says "char free."
Refried Beans
Although the dish is a great source of protein, that doesn't mean it's a great vegetarian alternative. Refried beans often contain pork fat.
Pork Fat
This is mostly true when it comes to Mexican restaurants, which are known to mix lard into the beans; lard is pork fat. So if you're celebrating south of the border cuisine, think twice about the refried beans if you're avoiding meat.
Non-Organic Bananas
Although the seemingly natural and undeniably delicious fruit appears harmless, it actually contains shellfish, odd as it sounds. Shellfish isn't necessarily harmful, unless you're allergic or otherwise avoiding meat.
Shellfish
Remember: shellfish is only found on non-organic bananas. Such fruits are sprayed with a preservative that contains a bacteria fighting compound called chitosan. If you look closely at the label you may see it listed.
Red Candy
If you like any candy that's red, like lollipops or those little cinnamon dots, be warned, you're not just munching on sweet delicacies, you're also licking, sucking, and biting into crushed beetles.
Crushed Beetles
Not just red candy, actually, but anything containing "Natural Red #4" (red wine, vinegar, colored pastas etc.), which, sometimes labelled "cochineal" or "carminic acid," is made from the female Dactylopius coccus Costa insect.
Imported Wine and Beer
While you're sniffing and swishing away trying to figure out what's in your glass, we'll give you a hint: it's fish bladders. Okay so that was more of a clear answer than a hint, but would you have guessed it otherwise?
Fish Bladders
In an attempt to make certain brands of beer appear clearer, brewers add a gelatin called isinglass that's made from the bladders of freshwater fish. We know this one was particularly hard to hear…we suggest drinking domestic craft brews.
Salted Peanuts
An all natural snack with a little salt sprinkled on top, nothing too harmful right? Well of course not, otherwise they wouldn't sell it. But did you know there are actually pig hooves in your bag of cashews?
Pig Hooves
That's right, piggly wigglies. They're in your peanuts, dear reader, strictly because they're used in a gelatin that helps salt stick to peanuts. If you want to avoid them, buy unsalted.
BBQ Chips
In our unbridled attempt to ruin all the things you like to eat, we've arrived at barbecue potato chips. Although, compared to the other things on this list, this isn't too bad. They contain both chicken and beef fat.
Chicken and Beef Fat
We don't expect readers to collectively clutch their pearls at this one…you're already eating BBQ flavored chips, aren't you? But if you're a vegetarian it may be a bigger deal. Look for chips containing "schmaltz," which is made from the fat of animals. There are plenty of BBQ chip brands without it, just so you know.
Lucky Charms
It's not so much the entire cereal, just the charming little marshmallows you save until then end. As crisp and sweet as they can be, they actually contain animal bones.
Animal Bones
These delights are made from a collagen rendered from the cartilage, skin, tendons, and bones from various animals. If that's just too gross for you to handle, maybe try something else tomorrow morning.
Twinkies
These are so good we feel a little bad for saying what we're about to say…but only a little. Are you ready? The yellow cream-filled pastries have cow fat in them. And like a shot in the arm, it's over…now, that wasn't so bad was it?
Cow Fat
Simply put, there's fat from beef in the recipe. That's not a terrible thing to eat, unless you're a vegetarian that is. Twinkies aren't the best snacks for your health anyways, so it shouldn't be too hard to put them down.
Pesto Sauce
Last on our list is the gritty green substitute for marinara, which is also sometimes used on pizza: pesto sauce. The tasty spread contains calf stomachs.
Calf Stomachs
Pesto recipes are usually made with parmesan cheese in the mix, which has rennet in it. Rennet is an enzyme found in calf stomachs. So if that bothers you, pass on the pesto.