Obviously you're not drinking straight-up antifreeze when enjoying a soft drink, but if your beverage contains propylene glycol, you're consuming a compound that's used in everything from antifreeze to electronic cigarettes. In food, you'll find it in most carbonated soft drinks and flavoured iced teas as well as many salad dressings and alcoholic drinks. The approved quantity of propylene glycol in food differs between the US and most of Europe. In fact, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky was removed from shelves in Norway, Sweden and Finland in 2014 because it exceeded the acceptable amount.
Vegetarians and vegans might want to check the label on cans of refried beans carefully. It turns out many brands, fast food outlets and restaurants use lard (or pork fat) to inject an especially savoury and rich flavour into their beans. Check before ordering and read the label – in the US many brands like Old El Paso or Rosarita list lard in the ingredients, so look for vegetarian refried beans instead.
Castoreum, a beaver's rear end secretion, is used by the rodents to mark their territory, but it can also be used to enhance the flavours of vanilla, strawberry and raspberry. Historically, humans have long used castoreum, initially as a medicinal treatment. Today, the FDA closely regulates what goes into vanilla flavourings and extracts, and generally the use of castoreum has dropped because of how expensive it's become. But it's hard to spot on an ingredients list – in the US, castoreum is deemed generally safe so even if companies are using it, you'll only see it labelled as 'natural flavouring'.
The McDonald's UK website confirms that chicken meat constitutes only 45% of a Chicken McNugget. So what's in the other 55%? Up until recently, anti-foaming agent dimethylpolysiloxane was listed among the ingredients in the US – a type of silicone that can also be used in things like Silly Putty and even breast implants. While today it no longer goes into a Chicken McNugget, a careful search on the McDonald's US website reveals a footnote that says it's still used to cook the fried menu items to reduce oil splatter.
With a history stretching back nearly 200 years, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce is a much-loved ingredient in many kitchens. The condiment is still very much made like it was all the way back in 1835, which involves packing anchovies in salt and leaving them for 18 months to mature. The story goes that chemist duo Lea and Perrins recreated a sauce a nobleman had tasted in India. It turned out to be completely unpalatable, so it was left in a cellar of their chemist shop. Some 18 months later the pair discovered the sauce had matured into a delicious condiment.
That bag of shredded Cheddar or grated Parmesan in your fridge most likely contains cellulose, or wood pulp, which is a by-product of the wood industry and used to prevent the cheese from clumping together. Although it's safe to consume, the bigger problem is companies using it to bulk up their products. There have been several high-profile cases in the US – in 2017, the company behind Castle Cheese was fined £360,174 ($500,000) for selling grated Parmesan that was actually a mix of cheap Cheddar and cellulose.
Often used as a natural resin to add a glossy coating to foods like jelly beans, shellac can also be found in nail varnishes, wood finishes and furniture polish. A sticky substance excreted by the female lac bug, native to forests of India and Thailand, shellac can even be used on citrus, apples and other fruits as a surface treatment to give them a glossy shine. Approved for use in food in most countries, it's typically labelled as additive E904.
Many cheeses, including Parmesan, are made with rennet – an enzyme taken from the stomach lining of calves. This naturally occurring enzyme helps with digestion and milk absorption, and is completely safe. Many manufacturers now use vegetable and microbial (bacterial) rennet instead as they're cheaper and suitable for vegetarians. Many products will also be labelled as rennet-free, suitable for vegetarians or made with vegetarian rennet.
Chances are you currently have a shop-bought loaf of bread, packet of biscuits or perhaps a cake in your kitchen. L-Cysteine, called E920 on the label, is an amino acid that's used to strengthen the dough and improve shelf-life in such products. What might surprise you is that this additive comes from duck and chicken feathers, cow horns, pig bristles and... human hair which is dissolved in acid to isolate the L-Cysteine compound. Although in recent years most L-Cysteine is synthetically produced, most labels don't disclose where the additive has been derived from.
Seaweed is a popular ingredient found in many dishes across the Asian continent, but did you know an extract made from seaweed is also used as a thickener and a stabiliser in food too? An extract known as carrageenan is commonly added to dairy alternative products, including soya, rice and almond milk. It's also used instead of gelatine in plant-based products.
Although most chewing gum is made from synthetic materials these days, some varieties contain lanolin, an oily substance found in sheep's wool that protects it from getting wet. Not harmful to humans, it can also be found in a range of beauty products and cosmetics as well as vitamin D supplements. If checking the label, lanolin and a range of other ingredients are usually just listed as gum base so it's hard to know whether any sheep oil has made into your chewing gum.
This surprising ingredient gives a deep smoky flavour and aroma to foods such as barbecue sauces, baked beans, hot dogs and beef jerky. It’s created by capturing the condensation of smoke in cold air from burning wood or sawdust. The droplets containing the intense smoky aroma can then be used as an alternative to actual smoking. On labels you'll typically see it as smoke flavouring – it's what gives sauces like Heinz Classic Barbecue Sauce and Sweet Baby Rays Original Barbecue Sauce their signature smoky depth of flavour.
Sodium bisulphite is a chemical additive commonly found in crisps. It releases sulphur dioxide gas, which prevents bacterial growth, increases shelf life, and prevents and bleaches any discolouration. But you might be surprised to find out it's also commonly used in most toilet cleaners and dishwasher products. Also known as sodium hydrogen sulphite or E222 on food labels, it's approved for use in food in both the US and the EU.
You might be surprised to learn that bananas may not be totally free from animal products. Some non-organic bananas are sprayed with chitosan, a pesticide made from the shells of shrimp, lobsters and crabs. This is used to fight bacteria and prevent the fruit from ripening too soon, thus extending its shelf life at the store.
Now discover why bananas are radioactive and other surprising food facts
Carmine is a red food colouring that's made by boiling the shells of cochineal bugs (a type of beetle) and is commonly used to colour foods like sweets, lollipops and dessert sauces. Although harmless to most, it can cause severe allergic reactions so the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires it to be clearly labelled as carmine on products. If you see carmine, cochineal extract or E120 on the label, you’re eating powdered bug. Not keen? The synthetic alternatives, Red No. 2 and Red No. 40, don't sound much better as they're made from petroleum products.
Antibiotics are routinely fed to livestock to protect against illnesses, but antibiotic use to promote growth in animals was banned in the EU in 2006 and in the US in 2017. However there are still serious concerns about the close links between over-use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance. Data gathered in 2018 also revealed that farm animals in the US receive five times more antibiotic medication than livestock in the UK. It also revealed that nearly three-quarters of the worldwide supply of antibiotics is used on animals rather than people, which raises further concerns about the possible effects of antibiotic resistance.
Salad leaves can easily pick up a range of bacteria from the soil they grow in, from salmonella to norovirus. So before they're packed in bags and labelled as pre-washed or ready to eat, they are often cleaned in a harmless low-chlorine solution to kill bugs and remove any bacteria. Even though the idea of washing salad in chlorine hardly seems pleasant, it's so the leaves are safe to consume.
Cut up an apple and you’d expect it to go brown pretty quickly – unless it's been treated with NatureSeal. A blend of vitamins and minerals, including citric acid, NatureSeal was originally developed to be used on cut apples and pears to prevent oxidisation and browning. Today, it's used on more than 30 varieties of fruit and vegetables across 30 different countries and is available to use at home as well. The company's website says NatureSeal helps "maintain the natural texture and colour of fresh-cut produce for up to 21 days".
Surprisingly, bone char derived from the bones of cattle is widely used during the production of some sugars, to refine and bleach sugar cane so it becomes the white colour we're used to consuming. According to PETA, the use of bone char is strictly regulated in the EU and the US, and only countries free of BSE (also known as mad cow disease) are allowed to sell bones to be used in the production of sugar. Although the bone char does come into contact with sugar, it doesn’t end up in the final product.
Injecting poultry with a saltwater solution – a process often referred to as plumping – has been common practice for decades. Manufacturers claim it makes the meat juicier and improves the taste, but many people argue its main aim is to increase profits due to the increased weight. Both the US and the UK currently don't require the label to state whether the poultry has been plumped. Data gathered by Premier Foods Group revealed that in the US, consumers spend as much as £1.5 billion ($2bn) a year just for the saltwater injected in chickens.
Many processed foods contain a long list of food colourings made from a by-product of the petroleum industry – one being Yellow No. 5, also known as E102 or tartrazine. A synthetic additive that used to give boxed mac 'n' cheese that distinct yellow colour, tartrazine was linked to childhood hyperactivity in 2007 which resulted in an EU requirement to put a warning label on such products. While there's no such requirement in the US, Kraft changed its mac 'n' cheese recipe in 2016, but there are still plenty of processed foods on supermarket shelves that contain tartrazine.
Banned in the US and Canada, but allowed in the EU and the UK as food additive E285, borax is a mineral that can be found in everything from household laundry products to enamel. In the food world it's used to control acidity as well as assist in preservation, and can often be found in supermarket noodle and rice ready meals as a firming agent. It's also commonly added to caviar to help preserve it and improve consistency and flavour.
Bags of salad or packaged meat might contain a little more than you bargained for. Like other plastic-wrapped and vacuum-sealed fresh products, the packaging contains carbon monoxide to keep them fresh. This is known as modified atmosphere packing or MAP, which helps keep the food from spoiling. Using carbon monoxide in the process is considered safe in the US, Australia and New Zealand. However, it's banned in Europe over concerns it's possible for rotten meat to still appear fresh.
The same enzyme that makes your tongue tingle when eating pineapple, bromelain, is also used in the meat-processing industry to help tenderise the meat in sausage production and other meat products. It works by breaking down the collagen in the meat to make it more palatable. Bromelain is most commonly found in pineapples, but enzymes with similar features can also be extracted from papayas and figs.
Now take a look at the surprising origins of popular fast foods
From their best-selling tacos to Crunchwraps and Chalupas, many of Taco Bell's menu items feature their signature seasoned beef. In 2014, the company behind Taco Bell, Yum! Brands, revealed that among ingredients like spices and additives to help achieve the correct texture, the beef also contains caramel colour and cocoa powder. The latter actually doesn't add any flavour but rather helps the beef maintain its colour, while the caramel colour is actually caramelised sugar, a common food colouring used in cereals and pancake syrup.
Many of us enjoy a range of baked pumpkin treats come autumn, but did you know you might not actually be baking with pumpkin at all if you use the canned stuff? One of the most popular brands in America, Libby's Pure Pumpkin, actually uses Dickinson squash – a close relative to the butternut squash. But why can they sell it as "100% Pure Pumpkin"? Well, it's because the FDA allows it. Their policy says that products made from "golden-fleshed, sweet squash or mixtures of such squash and field pumpkin" can be sold as pumpkin.
If you love beer, you might not have considered that it's not a very environmentally friendly beverage – around 20 gallons of water is used to make a single pint of beer. A brewery in Sweden has come up with a solution: PU:REST beer. They use recycled water in the brewing process, but what that really means is it's previously been in the sewer. Obviously, it's totally fine to drink as the water has been through several steps of purification and doesn't differ much from tap water.
When it comes to truffle oil, it's more surprising what isn't in it than what is. It's no secret that fresh truffles are pretty hard to come by and harvest, which makes them incredibly expensive. So it shouldn't really come as a surprise that most truffle oils haven't been anywhere near a real truffle. If you've tasted fresh shaved truffles and foods with truffle oil, you'll know the flavour differs considerably. This is because most oils are infused with synthetically made ingredients, specifically 2,4-dithiapentane, which is an aromatic molecule that gives truffles their smell.
Another common food that surprises with what it's lacking is white chocolate, which technically isn't even chocolate at all. While milk and dark chocolate are made from cocoa solids – cocoa beans removed from pods, fermented, dried, roasted and cracked open – white chocolate isn't. A blend of cocoa butter, milk products, vanilla, sugar and a fatty emulsifier lecithin is what makes white chocolate. You might be wondering whether the presence of cocoa butter might be enough to consider it chocolate, but it's only the cocoa solids, or nibs, that define chocolate.
Not all viruses are bad, in fact some are used by food producers to kill bacteria and protect us from illnesses. Bacteriophages are tiny viruses sprayed on ready meals, plastic-wrapped deli meat and other products to destroy listeria, E. Coli and other germs. Approved by the FDA for use in the US in 2006, the six-virus cocktail does not affect humans and is marked as bacteriophage preparation on food labels. Although it's not currently approved at an EU-level, some European countries allow its use under national rules.