Fast food is a very common thing in America. It is stated that 1 in 4 Americans will visit a fast food restaurant every day. McDonald’s alone feeds 46 million people a day, that is more people than the entire country of Spain. But what you probably don’t know is some of these disturbing facts about fast food. You might be shocked at these.
1. Ammonium Sulfate is a common chemical soil fertilizer that is often used to feed yeast while baking breads for fast food chains. But it is also known as a fertilizer for alkaline soils. It’s used in insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
2. Cellulose, produced from wood pulp, is used in tons of processed foods used by fast food chains. It’s in everything from cheese to ice cream syrups to salad dressings. It’s used as a thickener and stabilizer, and as a way to use less flour or oil which are more expensive.
3. Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) comes from petroleum and is often used in cosmetics, skincare products, varnish, lacquers, and resins. It has also found its way into processed food. McDonald’s uses TBHQ in 18 menu items, from the Fruit and Walnut Salad to McNuggets.
4. Dimethylpolysiloxane is in just about any fried item you get at any fast food restaurant you order from. The silicone compound is found in Silly Putty and cosmetics, but fast food locations use it as a way to keep the fryer oil from getting all foamy.
5. Silicon dioxide, more commonly known as sand, has a ton of uses like manufacturing glass, fiber optic cable, and cement. It’s used in fast food restaurants to prevent clumping. It’s what allows that tasty Wendy’s chili to sit in the pot for so long without turning into a big lump.
6. Cysteine-L is an amino acid synthesized from duck feathers. It’s used in fast food chains for creating meat flavorings and to soften breads or pastries. McDonald’s, for example, uses it in their apple pies and other baked products.
7. Propylene glycol is a chemical compound used in anti-freeze and the vapor liquid for E-cigarettes. It’s also used as a preservative in the fast food industry, mainly used for those ‘fresh’ salads to keep them green.
8. Johns Hopkins University researchers tested chicken feathers from factory farms that supply fast food restaurants and found a long list of prescriptions added to chicken feed as additives. There were antidepressants, antibiotics (some of them banned), arsenic, allergy medications, and other drugs pumped into the chickens we eat.
9. McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets are full of dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicone oil that’s often used for making contact lenses and medical devices. Don’t worry, it is considered non-toxic which I guess means it is safe to be consumed.
10. Carminic acid, also known as beetle juice, is used all over the fast food industry. To make it, the beetles are dried and crushed to extract the red properties for dyes. It’s used in everything from meats, sausages, processed poultry, marinades, bakery products, toppings, and desserts.
If you aren’t disgusted yet, I am not sure you ever will. I don’t think I will ever look at fast food the same again. I always knew it wasn’t healthy, but to have all of these unnecessary additives seems absurd to me. And to think these are the things that have been caught. What else is being used that hasn’t been caught yet?