14 Things You Really Don't Want to Know About Your Groceries

 

1. Greek yogurt manufacturing produces millions of pounds of (toxic) acid whey waste every year, and no one knows what to do with it.

“For every three or four ounces of milk, Chobani and other companies can produce only one ounce of creamy Greek yogurt. The rest becomes acid whey. It’s a thin, runny waste product that can’t simply be dumped. Not only would that be illegal, but whey decomposition is toxic to the natural environment, robbing oxygen from streams and rivers. That could turn a waterway into what one expert calls a ‘dead sea,’ destroying aquatic life over potentially large areas. Spills of cheese whey, a cousin of Greek yogurt whey, have killed tens of thousands of fish around the country in recent years.”

Source: http://modernfarmer.com/2013/05/whey-too-much-greek-yogurts-dark-side/

  2. Maraschino cherry producers bleach the fruit with chemicals and then marinate it in huge vats of corn syrup and dye to turn the cherries red again.

 

3. This is how the ingredients for packaged veggie burgers get mixed together:

 

 Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewGJnGmhDEo

 

   

   

4. Many ice creams are thickened and stabilized with carrageenan, which is actually a seaweed extract.

 

   

Source: http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question315.htm

   

5. Not-from-concentrate orange juice is processed with “flavor packs” to artificially ensure that each bottle tastes exactly the same.

   

Source: http://civileats.com/2009/05/06/freshly-squeezed-the-truth-about-orange-juice-in-boxes/

   

 

6. Most commercial milk is made by combining, heating, homogenizing, and repackaging the milk of hundreds of cows.

   

Milk gets separated by huge industrial centrifuges into components (fat, protein, and other solids and liquids). Those milk parts are then recombined in various proportions to make perfectly uniform whole, low-fat, and skim milks.

 Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/02/food/fo-62752

         

7. Lots of imported (and expensive) “extra-virgin” olive oils are actually cut with cheaper seed and nut oils.

 

Source: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mueller

           

8. To make bacon, pork bellies get hung up in this weird carwash closet machine and showered with “liquid smoke.”

 

         

 

9. Many canned soups are flavored with MSG, even when they claim they aren’t.

The additive gives soups a meat-like flavor that helps make up for canning-induced blandness and less salt (many brands have reduced their use of salt thanks to nutrition concerns about high sodium levels). MSG isn’t necessarily bad for you, but soup makers sneakily get around admitting that they use it by referring to it as “naturally occurring” (because it’s refined from vegetable and yeast proteins) and listing it in the ingredients as “yeast extract” or “hydrolyzed protein.” Source: http://foodidentitytheft.com/hidden-msg-and-the-soup-wars/        

10. The canning process for soup is so violent that companies grow huge, super-tough carrots for the soup so they won’t disintegrate.

   

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/shopping/2002/12/go_ahead_underestimate_the_power_of_soup.html

   

11. Red- and pink-colored products are often dyed with cochineal extract, aka the bodies of crushed-up teeny insects.

 

  Cochineal extract is also sometimes listed as carminic acid or carmine.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-cochineal-insects-color-your-food-and-drinks-2012-3?op=1

           

 12.  Shredded cheese is packed with cellulose — aka refined wood pulp — to keep it from clumping.

Cellulose, made from broken-down plant fibers (including wood), is a common food additive that can also make ice cream creamier or salad dressing thicker without adding calories. Since it’s naturally derived, even packaged foods labeled as organic often include cellulose.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834804576300991196803916.html

 

13. Coffee creamer is made of corn syrup and (hydrogenated, trans-fatty) vegetable oils.

Here are the ingredients listed on the label of Coffee-Mate Original Liquid creamer: WATER CORN SYRUP SOLIDS PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE (A MILK DERIVATIVE) DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES SODIUM ALUMINOSILICATE ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR CARRAGEENAN

Source: http://www.organicauthority.com/health/what-the-heck-is-coffee-mate-creamer.html

 

   

14. Hot dogs are filled with a gloopy blend of meat trimmings, fat, and starch or “cereal filler.”

      Cereal filler = bread crumbs, oatmeal, or flour - And that’s not to mention all the lovely flavors, dyes, and preservatives that might be floating around in there too.  

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2NzUm7UEEIY

     

Original Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/dark-secrets-how-food-groceries-are-made