Buzz
What’s in this thing?
We’ve all experienced it: standing in the grocery aisle, picking up an item, flipping it around, and confronting a long list of hard-to-decipher ingredients. Understanding exactly what we’re consuming feels like it requires a degree in food science.
Some foods hide ingredients on and off the labels, ranging from the odd but harmless to those that could potentially harm our health. Here are ten examples. Note: this list does not include well-known cases like anchovies in Worcestershire sauce or castoreum (beaver secretions) in certain flavorings.
10. Seaweed in Chocolate Milk
Mmmm. The rich, velvety chocolatey indulgence of...
Seaweed? You might be surprised to learn that chocolate milk, along with some ice creams, puddings, and yogurts, often contains carrageenan, a powder derived from red seaweed. It serves as a binding agent for the ingredients, without adding extra calories or fat—a key feature as consumers become more mindful of calorie and fat content when shopping.
A plant-based binder makes sense for another reason too: it’s labeled as organic. Derived from a type of seaweed known as Irish Moss, carrageenan has been a staple in some traditional cuisines for centuries, which makes its role as an emulsifier (a stabilizer) seem like a natural progression.
That is, until recent research emerged. Studies have shown that carrageenan can be highly inflammatory and potentially harmful to the digestive system. It has been loosely—but not conclusively—linked to conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and even colon cancer.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has resisted removing carrageenan from the list of ingredients deemed 'generally recognized as safe' (GRAS). It has also disregarded a recommendation from the National Organic Standards Board to revoke its 'organic' certification. However, there’s growing awareness that carrageenan may no longer deserve the 'organic' label, a shift that could lead to significant changes in its use.
9. Rocks in Toothpaste
Four out of five dentists recommend brushing thoroughly twice a day with a soft-bristle toothbrush and... rocks?
Believe it or not, many toothpastes contain a hard white rock called gypsum. It’s also used as an additive in some canned vegetables and ice creams. After all, who wouldn’t want to consume the same material that’s used to make casts for broken bones?
Despite the jokes, gypsum is incredibly versatile. As a safe-to-consume sulfate mineral, gypsum is not only a key ingredient in many toothpastes but also the source of “added calcium” in products that claim to have it. Additionally, it has a “settling effect” on liquids, making it useful in processes like conditioning water for brewing beer and settling clay and dirt in ponds without harming aquatic life.
In your apartment, gypsum plays a crucial role in sheetrock and drywall. In agriculture, gypsum—also known as “land plaster”—enhances soil’s workability and water absorption, while counteracting the corrosive effects of alkalinity. Farmers growing crops like corn, cotton, alfalfa, and wheat depend on gypsum.
Interestingly, gypsum once had an important role in the entertainment industry. Long before CGI took over, film and TV producers used to create 'showers' of gypsum in front of cameras to simulate snow.
8. Sheep’s Wool Grease in Cereal
Having breakfast? You might be consuming a sheep byproduct. Many cereals contain a form of Vitamin D derived from sheep’s wool grease, known as lanolin. Humans call it lanolin; sheep, presumably, call it 'ba-a-a-nolin.'
For one, lanolin makes the cereal non-vegetarian and, if paired with non-dairy milk, non-vegan. It’s also a little odd to be eating part of a sheep’s coat at 8:00 in the morning.
Lanolin is a substance sheep use to wick water away from their wool, making it an ideal insulator. Among the cereals containing lanolin are Nestle’s Milo and certain varieties of Kellogg’s Special K. Lanolin is also found in several Vitamin D-fortified products, including baby formula, margarine, and certain milks and yogurts.
Lanolin is completely safe—in fact, it’s widely used in nipple creams for breastfeeding mothers. However, when it comes to food, the issue of vegan versus non-vegan has stirred up some debate, as lanolin is often a 'hidden' ingredient. Since Vitamin D can be sourced from either plants or animals, many product labels don’t specify which, leaving consumers uncertain about its origin.
7. Sawdust in…
Well, quite a bit. It may sound strange, but 'most of us eat a lot of sawdust' is an oddly accurate statement.
The uproar over the concealed wood content in food started in 2012 when agents from the U.S. FDA—presumably shouting, 'Show me your hands! Drop the grater!'—made a surprise visit to a cheese factory in rural Pennsylvania.
What they uncovered was rather stinky. Castle Cheese Inc. was caught 'cutting the cheese': Instead of creating 100% authentic parmesan, the company had been mixing in a substantial amount of cheap fillers like wood pulp. This led to inferior cheese products being sold at some of the largest grocery chains in the U.S.
Not cool. Castle Cheese’s president, Michelle Myrter, would be sentenced in federal court to three years’ probation, a $5,000 fine, and 200 hours of community service. For the record, that’s approximately 200 hours more than any members of Purdue Pharma’s Sackler family received for starting an opioid crisis currently killing tens of thousands of Americans annually.
In any event, wood pulp, commonly called cellulose, is a safe, common additive in plenty of foods, from tomato sauces and salad dressings to packaged cookies and breakfast cereals. While it’s not okay that certain grated cheese brands are as much as 10% sawdust, cellulose is a fiber easily broken down by our bodies. Weird and misleading? Yes. Dangerous? No.
6. Maggots in Mushrooms
While this entry doesn’t cover an official, on-the-label ingredient, we’d be remiss not to reassure readers—especially those in America—that the U.S. FDA is totally on top of this whole maggots-in-mushrooms issue.
Per official FDA policy, if there are “20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams of drained mushrooms” or “five or more maggots two millimeters or longer per 100 grams,” the FDA will take swift and decisive action. Otherwise, good luck determining whether that slithery thing you just sucked down was a particularly slimy mushroom or a perfectly normal maggot.
A 2009 *New York Times* article, aptly titled 'The Maggots in Your Mushrooms,' dives into the unpleasant truth about the U.S. food supply—stuffed with a variety of unsavory elements that the government allows. The FDA has approved a certain threshold of 'natural contaminants,' a euphemism for insects, molds, rodent hair and droppings, and, of course, maggots.
This all gets neatly cataloged in the FDA’s 'Food Defect Levels Handbook: Levels of Natural or Unavoidable Defects in Foods That Present No Health Hazards for Humans.' But one particularly unappetizing category, 'Foreign Matter,' includes things like sticks, stones, burlap, and even cigarette butts (presumably to add a bit of that rustic smokiness).
It's no surprise that mushrooms aren't the only offenders. Take tomato paste and pizza sauces, for example: they can contain up to 30 fly eggs per 100 grams, or 15 fly eggs and one maggot per 100 grams. Suddenly, sawdust doesn’t sound too bad, does it?
5. Brominated Vegetable Oil in Soda
What can quench your thirst and also put out a kitchen fire? Well, water would do the trick, but that’s a bit outdated, isn’t it?
Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) contains bromine, a toxic chemical found in flame retardants. Chances are, it’s lurking in the soda in your fridge. BVO serves as a stabilizer in drinks, preventing artificial flavors from floating away and settling at the bottom of the bottle.
Bromine is bad news for both fires and our bodies. It can cause skin irritation and mess with the linings of your mouth, nose, and digestive system. Prolonged exposure can lead to neurological problems like headaches, memory loss, and issues with balance or coordination. Though the worst effects have been tied to chronic use of bromide salts in sleep aids, there have been reports of memory loss, rashes, and nerve damage from people who drank more than two liters of soda with BVO daily. While not everyone drinks that much soda, bromine accumulates in the body, potentially causing long-term harm.
If you’re wondering whether BVO belongs in your root beer, you're not alone. Many countries have banned BVO as a food additive, but not the USA, where the FDA seems more concerned with busting rogue cheese factories and checking for maggots in mushrooms.
4. Silly Putty in Fast Food
Good news: if you’re craving silly putty, you don’t have to wait too long for a fix. Oh, and fries are likely available with that order. Bad news: you probably shouldn’t actually eat silly putty.
Dimethylpolysiloxane, also referred to as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), is a type of silicone commonly found in various fast foods as an anti-foaming agent, which, surprisingly, plays a crucial role. It's also a primary component in Silly Putty, that stretchy, gooey children's toy that starts out fun but inevitably ends up stuck to the carpet. PDMS is also present in caulks, adhesives, aquarium sealants, polishes, cosmetics, and silicone-based lubricants. Quite the versatile ingredient, isn't it?
In 1998, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration gave its seal of approval for PDMS’s use. Soon after, it found its way into many fast food staples such as Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches, McDonald's chicken nuggets, KFC mashed potatoes and biscuits, Taco Bell cinnamon twists, and Five Guys French fries. Most likely, this additive flies under the radar because there are so many other reasons to avoid these fast food items altogether.
Not a fan of fast food? No problem. You can still enjoy the Silly Putty magic in a variety of other products. Dimethylpolysiloxane also appears in many vinegars, chewing gums, and chocolates. It's even added to cooking oils to prevent bubbling when frozen ingredients are dropped in.
3. Not-so-Sushi: Fake Fish
Does it still count as a 'weird ingredient' if the entire thing is a sham? You decide—but it's definitely something you should be aware of.
Many of us patronize sushi restaurants despite knowing things aren’t always what they seem with seafood. In addition to the spicy crab roll not being actual crab (it’s a starchy and finely pulverized white fish concoction), mislabeled fish in the supply chain has been among the most common forms of food fraud for decades. This is because it’s exceedingly easy to take a cheap fish and label it as an expensive one.
So sometimes that tuna isn’t actually tuna. But ninety-four percent of the time? According to food journalist Larry Olmsted’s 2016 book Real Food/Fake Food: “Consumers ordering white tuna get a completely different animal, no kind of tuna at all, 94 percent of the time.” Check, please.
Per Olmstead, the fish often substituted for tuna is escolar, a bottom-feeder commonly called the Ex-Lax fish for its mouthwatering ability to cause gut discomfort and soft stool. They get you coming in and going out, apparently.
In fact, escolar is so troublesome that it’s been banned in many countries, most notably sushi originator Japan. The U.S. disallowed it in the early 1990s before unbanning it in 1998 because, sure, why not? The issue is incredibly widespread: One mid-2010s study said 39% of the restaurants it surveyed in New York City serve fraudulent fish—including every single sushi restaurant its researchers visited.
2. Antifreeze in Cake Mix, Frosting & More
Do you recall that episode of The Simpsons where Bart is sent as an exchange student to France and lives with some unpleasant winemakers who add antifreeze to their wine? It turns out, that scenario wasn't as far-fetched as it seems.
Propylene glycol is the key component in antifreeze. Due to its significantly lower freezing point compared to water, adding it to a car’s coolant system helps circulate it through the engine, where it passes over warm components and absorbs heat. This heat can then be transferred to other parts of the engine and other crucial components.
Interestingly, propylene glycol is also used in a variety of foods, helping to maintain the perfect moisture levels due to its absorbent qualities. Many food products—especially sweets—face challenges with moisture, including cake mixes, frosting, certain ice creams, flavored iced teas, and artificial sweeteners.
While consuming small amounts of propylene glycol is generally regarded as safe, the substance made headlines in 2014 when Fireball Cinnamon Whisky was pulled from shelves in three Scandinavian countries for containing excessive amounts that didn't meet EU regulations.
Though the Centers for Disease Control in the USA assures that it’s almost impossible to ingest harmful levels of propylene glycol through typical food products, large doses may cause skin irritation, itching, or redness. Severe exposure could even lead to cardiovascular or neurological issues.
1. Plasticizer in Breads & Other Carbs
Nearly 500 foods available in North American grocery stores contain a potentially dangerous industrial chemical designed to enhance the elasticity of plastics. Azodicarbonamide, or ADA, makes its presence known in a variety of carbohydrate-rich foods like breads, bagels, tortillas, hamburger and hot dog buns, pizzas, and pastries.
Azodicarbonamide... (takes a brief pause to stretch fingers)... is commonly used as both a flour bleaching agent and an oxidizing agent in dough. The bleaching action gives a whiter appearance to the finished products, while the oxidation boosts the overall baking quality. It’s also a key ingredient in shoes and yoga mats—perfect for working off those carbs.
Numerous consumer advocacy groups have demanded a ban on ADA, and in 2014, sandwich chain Subway publicly announced its decision to remove the chemical from its offerings. Considering the company's refusal to end operations in Russia, one might view this as more of a public relations move than an example of true corporate responsibility.
In any case, azodicarbonamide is still approved for use in food products in the USA and Canada. However, several EU countries and Australia have taken a different stance, banning its use in food altogether.
Is ADA safe? The World Health Organization points out that human epidemiological studies have provided "abundant evidence that azodicarbonamide can induce asthma, other respiratory symptoms, and skin sensitization" in individuals handling the chemical. This suggests that the health risks are greater for workers in food factories compared to consumers. For this reason, the Environmental Working Group has advised manufacturers to discontinue its use in food.
