Buzz
Food and drink are essential for our survival, but if you have a weak stomach, you might want to steer clear of this one. We're about to dive into ten repulsive acts that people have carried out on the very items we consume.
10. Horse Meat in Burgers
While there's nothing inherently wrong with consuming horse meat—although it may be off-putting—it's actually a lean and nutritious option. However, if you bought something marketed as 'beef' and discovered it was actually filled with diseased, ground-up Romanian horses and donkeys, you'd likely be furious.
This is exactly what happened in England when locals discovered that their supermarkets had unintentionally sold products where horse meat had been substituted for beef. Then again, given what the British are accustomed to eating, they probably got off light.
9. The Diethylene Glycol Wine Scandal
You might recall that episode of The Simpsons where Bart stays in a French vineyard and uncovers the secret of the evil Frenchmen who mix anti-freeze into their wine. Well, that storyline was inspired by an actual event—in Austria.
By adding diethylene glycol (a key component of anti-freeze) to their wine, producers were able to salvage a bad harvest of substandard grapes. Surprisingly, wine connoisseurs seemed to prefer the flavor of poison over sour grapes. Although no fatalities occurred, the wine industry in the region was devastated. And when authorities dumped thousands of gallons of the toxic substance into the sewers, it resulted in the death of many fish in a nearby town. A sad reminder that fish just can’t hold their liquor.
8. Alcohol
Even at the peak of prohibition, people found ways to get drunk, and they likely enjoyed it more than if they were allowed to drink freely. One popular method was consuming certain alcohol-laced medicinal tonics, mixed with whatever was available to them.
Jamaica Jake was one such tonic: marketed as a remedy for headaches, it unexpectedly contained a whopping seventy percent alcohol. In an effort to meet the growing demand and reduce costs, the supplier added tri-orthocresyl phosphate to the formula, resulting in paralysis for thousands of consumers. Back then, it seemed like testing wasn’t a priority for products that were meant to ‘cure’ people.
7. Gutter Oil
In China, ‘gutter oil’ is exactly what it sounds like: oil that’s been scooped from the gutter or sewer for reuse. Contrary to the belief that it's only used in secretive, illegal kitchens, this oil has even been discovered in products as surprising as antibiotics. The demand for such oil became so profitable that some began producing it by rendering decaying animal fat and organs. And yet, they call America the land of opportunity.
6. Elixir Sulfanilamide
Elixir sulfanilamide was a poorly prepared medicine that tragically poisoned and claimed nearly one hundred lives. By ‘poorly prepared’, we mean that the chemist responsible filled it with diethylene glycol, which is already hazardous on its own. To make matters worse, he added large amounts of raspberry flavoring, after which the pharmaceutical company thought, ‘Sure, that’ll sell,’ and decided to release it to the public.
When people began dying in excruciating pain, fingers were pointed—and when the company owner was asked if he bore any responsibility for the deaths, his response was essentially “no.” Meanwhile, the chemist who concocted the product ended up taking his own life, which seems to suggest that maybe someone should have been held accountable.
5. Pork Disguised As Beef
Passing off horse as 'beef' is one thing—but this next tale is almost impressive in its sheer audacity, if it weren’t so utterly revolting. A Swedish company, after noticing the odd moisture of their latest beef shipment, decided to run some tests, only to discover that they had been sold pork that had been artificially dyed red to resemble beef.
In addition to the obvious risk of contamination from chemical injections into the meat, there’s also the fact that many people can’t eat pork due to religious beliefs. This raises a disturbing possibility that a dishonest company may have unknowingly sent someone into a moral dilemma. Can anyone even be prosecuted for that?
4. Poisoned Alcohol
While it was still possible to get drunk during prohibition, it's vital to remember that the government didn't want people doing so. This is presumably why they allegedly took extreme measures to poison as much alcohol as they could get their hands on.
Known as the 'chemist’s war of prohibition,' the era allegedly saw alcohol tainted with substances ranging from kerosene to mercury—actions that supposedly led to the deaths of around ten thousand people. People in that time weren’t addicted to alcohol; they were simply deeply committed to it.
3. Deadly Milk Powder
The milk we give to infants is strictly regulated because, well, we care about babies and don’t want them to suffer or die. That’s what makes the tale of contaminated milk powder from China especially horrifying.
While it’s unclear whether the melamine found in the powder was intentionally added, what is undeniable is that the company behind the product knew about the contamination months in advance but chose to keep it a secret. As a result, thousands of babies were harmed; someone failed to put the children first.
2. Lean Meat Powder
Lean meat powder is a banned chemical used in animal farming that you definitely should avoid, primarily because it causes severe illness when people consume meat from animals treated with it.
In China (where else?) it was discovered that hundreds of pigs were contaminated with this substance, posing a serious risk to anyone who might have eaten the meat. Especially if that person happened to be eating pork soup from a bargain-basement restaurant known for buying gutter oil. Then again, this isn’t the worst food-related scandal in China—not by a long shot:
1. Bleach-Soaked Chicken
Rotting meat is probably one of the most repulsive things imaginable. But it seems that where some people see disease, others see a business opportunity.
In Britain, following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, a number of gangs took advantage by purchasing large quantities of infected carcasses at a low price. They would remove the undesirable parts, such as cancerous growths and abscesses, and then treat the remaining meat with salt and bleach to make it appear more palatable. Once the meat was cleaned up, they sold it, though the ultimate buyer remains unknown. Meanwhile, Ronald McDonald seems rather pleased with the situation.
