10 Disturbing Secrets About How Your Favorite Foods Are Made

UPDATED 11/28/2022

Food has become an increasingly hot topic in recent years. When it comes to nutritional facts and the overall level of organic utilization, these are things that people need to know. People want to eat as healthy and as wholesome as they can.

Of course, homemade recipes are the best because you know what’s going into your meals. But did you know even your ingredients might be suspect to questioning?

1. Shredded Cheese

Cheese reigns as one of those foods that one simply cannot do without. Did you know cheese is mixed with cellulose to keep it from clumping up? Cellulose meaning refined wood pulp, meaning you’re munching on super minuscule pieces of wood.

2. Oreos

Retired nutritionist Alissa Helton has publicly shared a little secret about the creme filling in Oreos. She states that Crisco is highly processed and made from ingredients that are genetically modified.

3. Bread

Bread typically contains L-cysteine, which is made from duck feathers, cow horns, and hog hair. It’s a preservative that allows your bread to last for more than a week.

4. Figs

Fig newtons, anybody? You may want to keep them indoors though. Wasps pollinate inside figs, the female births her larvae into the fig, and dies in there because the plant doesn’t allow an exit. The fig plant eventually digests the body of the wasp and all that’s left is remaining wasp protein. So, if you’ve eaten a fig, you’ve technically also eaten a wasp. Surprise!

5. Ranch dressing

The ingredient titanium dioxide is found in both ranch dressing AND sunscreen. I don’t know about you but I definitely don’t want sunscreen on my salad…

6. Maraschino cherries

Maraschino cherries aren’t exactly the freshest fruit, although they do make for an appealing, edible decoration. They aren’t farm to jar to table. They’re actually farm to vat of chemicals.

7. Steaks

Your butcher might actually be gluing your steaks together with a product called “meat glue.” It’s a powdery substance that is used to stick two pieces of beef together. It’s not thought to be dangerous, but some consumer groups are pushing supermarkets to label meats containing this glue.

8. Ice cream or gelato

What you have to do is grab the ice cream or gelato out of your freezer and take a look at the ingredients. You’ll probably see milk, sugar, and carrageenan. Wait, what is that word? Carrageenan is a setting agent found in ice creams that is derived from seaweed. According to holistic physical therapist Sally Morgan, carrageenan has been linked to a number of illnesses, including cancer. Not all ice creams and gelatos contain this ingredient, so it’s good to check next time you go grocery shopping!

Were you shocked at any of these shocking food secrets? Be sure to SHARE this article with your friends if you were!

9. Hot Dogs

Sorry to disappoint you, but hot dogs — one of our barbecue favorites — are made with what has been described as a “gloopy” combination of meat trimmings, starch, fat or “cereal filler.” Ballgames are never gonna be the same!

10. Ketchup and Pink-Colored Products

Whether you’re talking about ketchup, Yoplait yogurt or Ocean Spray Ruby Red Grapefruit, to give the products their distinctive color it turns out that they’re dyed with “cochineal extract,” also known as the bodies of very tiny crushed up insects. Ugh.