Shocking Facts about Fast Food

It is widely known fact that fast food isn’t always the healthiest option – however these shocking facts about fast food would even prevent you more from going to those easy chain restaurants. You could check it out yourself!

Fast food is quick and easy and people prefer to eat them since they don’t want to spend time waiting for it. Convenience is what everybody wants and that might be possible for various other purposes but when it comes to one’s health it isn’t convenience that one should just look at. Healthy food isn’t filed with preservative and is not always quick to prepare, however we should try and eat good healthy food. Here are some facts about fast food that would shock you. Do read our previously written article on 10 Disgusting Facts about Fast Food, which also sheds some light over the unhealthiness of the fast food. And here we go:

#1 Use of Sand

Fast food such as Buffalo wings and chili needs to kept in heater for days to come and hence an anti-caking agent is used for such items. And guess what silicon dioxide is used as the anti-caking agent.

#2 FDA Loopholes

Edible food could contain rodent hair, insect eggs and maggots and these could be simply neglected since FDA allows certain defects.

4 larvae per 100 grams of berries are allowed.

Per pound of Cinnamon can accommodate 1 mg of animal excrement.

1250 insect fragments per 10 grams of Oregano are permissible.

#3 Use of Ammonia

The meat you eat comes from thousands of different cows, which is mixed together by the processing plants in the factory farm conditions that are full of bacteria. Not to mention, the mixing is dangerous to health. Besides to obtain safer and cleaner meat mostly beef it is sent through an ammonia gas bath. The mixed meat of thousands of different cows is piped and exposed to ammonia in an ammonia gas bath. The ammonia is not only poisonous but the whole process isn’t found to be 100% suitable. Hoever USDA agrees the processing and lets the meat to be sold without advertising the gas treatment it received.

#4 Junk Food cost less

The cost difference between junk food and healthy nutritious food for about 2000 intake of calorie is found to be $3.52 and $36 respectively. Besides for every dollar given for food 81 % goes for maekting, packaging and its manufacturing. Only 19% is for what we eat.

#5 Use of Pink Slime

Heard about the lean finely textured beef and boneless lean beef trimmings? No, it is called as pink slime. Pink slime was originally fed to dogs before the concerned authority gave a positive nod for consumption by human. These are now widely used in fast food burgers.

#6 Use of Beaver Anal Gland Juice

During processing of food and beverages, the industry aggressively uses Castoreum which is an orange brown substance that is bitter and smelly, especially as vanilla and raspberry flavor. This is mixed with the urine of beaver with which it marks its territory. What more, the ingredient list writes it as “Natural flavoring”.

#7 Use of crushed bugs

The bright red food colorant used in food is carmine, the crushed abdomen of a beetle like insect, Dactylopius, found in Africa. This colorant is listed as crimson lake, carmine, natural red, or cochineal. This is not bad for your health but one should be careful if you are a vegetarian. You might find this red candies, juices and red tinted yogurts.

#8 Use of Fertilizer

The sandwich bread used in some of the chain restaurant adds the chemical fertilizer ammonium sulfate to feed the yeast during the baking process.

#9 Use of wood

Syrup to cereal contains cellulose and wood is its cheap source. Wood also adds fiber to meals. Hence it can be proved healthy to the authorities. This is the reason wood is used as organic filler. So even if cellulose is not bad for you, you would want to buy food and not wood.

#10 Use of Human hair and Duck feathers

One of the byproduct of human hair and duck feather is L-cysteine. L-cysteine is used for softening mass produced breads and acts as an amino acid in dough conditioners. The baked hot apple pie and warm cinnamon roll you buy at fast food restaurant uses duck feather, and this is not always advertised.

#11 Use of Anti-freeze

The pre-packaged salads are kept green and crisp by packing it using an anti-freeze. Commonly used antifreeze agent is Propylene glycerol, which is known to cause skin and eye irritation.

#12 Use of banned substances

A survey carried out by John Hopkins University tested bird feathers for a variety of additives used in feed. The feed used additives with banned antibiotics, allergy medications, caffeine, anti-depressants, arsenic, over the counter drugs, and the active ingredient in Benadryl.

#13 Use of Dimethylpolysiloxane

Dimethylpolysiloxane is a non-flammable, transparent chemical that is used to cover the takeout rice. This chemical is found in adhesives and caulk. Well definitely if you cannot pronounce it, you shouldn’t be eating it too.

Below is an info-graphic from positvemed giving you an additional 10 fast food facts.