1. Castoreum:
Castoreum comes out of a beaver's behind -- it's extracted from their anal glands -- and is used to make artificial raspberry flavoring. Try not to think about that next time you order the diet raspberry tea. Found in: Artificially raspberry flavored products such as cheap ice cream, Jell-O, candy, fruit-flavored drinks, teas and yogurts.
2. TBHQ, A.K.A: Butane
Turns out butane isn't just for lighters anymore - it's also an artificial antioxidant that they put it in chicken nuggets to keep them "fresh" tasting. So instead of your chicken nuggets being fresh, butane keeps them "fresh." Eating butane probably wasn't what you had in mind last time you lit up, got the munchies, and ordered those nuggets - but you'd have to be stoned to knowingly eat butane. Found in: Frozen, packaged or pre-made processed foods with long shelf lives such as frozen meals, crackers, chips, cereal bars and fast food.
3. Estrogen
Regular milk is full of hormones used by the milk industry to keep the cows knocked up and lactating all year round. Sound gross? It is. That's how it is done. A pregnant or nursing cow produces milk. A non-pregnant cow does not. So when you drink regular milk you take a shot of hormones with it. Found in: All non-organic dairy, so organic is recommended. It does not have these hormones.
4. Spinach Dust
Think that green sheen on your veggie snacks is giving you your daily serving of vegetables? Think again. That's just powdered spinach dust, which is spinach that has been dehydrated and sucked dry of its nutritional value. So the upshot is that green sheen is about as nutritious as actual dust. Found in: "Healthier" vegetable flavored snack foods.
5. Antifreeze
( Pic very large so you can see "Propylene Glycol" as an ingredient just after cottonseed oil. )
Antifreeze is used in cars, pills, cosmetics, deodorant, moisturizer...and, in a way, food! It keeps your car from freezing over, your moisturizer moist, and your fat-free cookie dough ice cream creamy, smooth and juicy. If it's good enough for your SUV it's good enough to eat, right? Right?? Right??? Found in: Cake mix, salad dressings, low-fat ice creams and dog food.
6. Wood Pulp: Vanillin
Vanillin, which is a byproduct of the pulp industry, is used as an artificial vanilla flavor. Ester of wood rosin, which comes from pine stumps, is in citrus-flavored sodas to keep the citrus flavor evenly distributed through the can . Found in: Artificially flavored yogurt, baked goods, candy and sodas
Thanks, Food Republic.
