BPA

I'm Eating What? 12 Gross Things in Your Food

Erin C. O'Neil — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:00:04 +0000

You are what you eat. Vitamins, minerals, protein, fat… and you might also be eating bugs, clones, breast implants, and viruses. If you want to avoid the last half of that list, it's time to learn about all the gross stuff you're eating — and how to avoid it in the future.

Good health requires relatively healthy eating habits. Health insurance companies and consumer agencies alike now advocate consuming nutritious foods as a preventative health care measure. Ignore what you're eating, and you could end up paying the price via higher health insurance premiums and medical bills. (See also: Skip Multivitamins and Eat These These Good Foods Instead)

So forget old "this food is gross" standbys like gelatin and pink slime. This list is chock-full of 12 food additives that you might be eating, but had no idea.

1. Beaver Glands

In the wild, beavers use smelly castor glands (and urine) to mark their territory. In epicurean alchemy, the gland secretions help create tasty vanilla and raspberry flavor compounds.

Castoreum, according to the U.S. Library of Health, is extract from the "dried and macerated castor sac scent glands (and their secretions) from the male or female beaver."

Don't worry, though — this all-natural ingredient is expensive to extract, and is only used in a very small portion of processed foods. It is, however, commonly found in perfume — so if you aren't gulping it down, you may be slathering beaver secretions all over your body instead.

2. Flame Retardant

Brominated vegetable oil, commonly referred to as BVO, contains bromine, an active ingredient in flame retardants.

According to the New York Times, 10% of U.S. soft drinks (including sports drinks) contain BVO. The substance can build up in human body tissue over time, and has been linked to neurological damage, hormonal imbalance, thyroid problems, and more.

In 2013, both Pepsi and Coke announced they were phasing out use of BVO altogether. The substance is already banned for food consumption in the EU and Japan.

(Note: This does not mean you can pour a can of soda over your head and attempt to recreate scenes from "The Princess Bride." It doesn't work like that.)

3. Insect and Rodent "Filth"

You knew this one was coming. Yes, bugs invade our food in all life stages, from eggs to maggots to adults. Rodent hairs, excrement, and undocumented parts play a supporting role.

Thankfully, there are specifics on the levels of bugs and rats we can expect in our food, thanks to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). The "Food Action Levels" booklet has strict regulations as to the percentage of insect and rodent filth allowed in processed foodstuffs. Below are some examples.

Asparagus, Canned or Frozen

As long as the number is under 10%, spears or pieces can be infested with beetle eggs and/or egg sacs. This defect is categorized as "aesthetic." That's probably not the word most of us had in mind.

Macaroni and Noodle Products

Cannot exceed 4.5 rodent hairs per 225g. The average serving size of dry pasta is 80g to 100g, so just over 1.6 rodent hairs per serving.

Tomato Paste and Sauces

Must contain less than 30 fly eggs per 100g; or less than 15 fly eggs and one maggot per 100g; or less than two maggots per 100g. One serving size of pasta sauce is about one cup or 244g. You do the math.

4. Shellac

Sometimes, bugs add beauty to our food. Thank insects for shiny produce aisles and smooth candy shells. (Plus glossy wood furniture and floors.)

Shellac, commonly used for both food and furniture, comes from a resin secreted by lac bugs. Luckily, it's easy to avoid by skipping shelled candy and scrubbing produce thoroughly before eating.

5. A Smorgasbord of Feces

The FDA has a fancy term for animal poop in food — "mammalian excreta." Unfortunately, no phrase is refined enough to make people forget they're eating traces of excrement.

Sources of contamination by mammalian excreta are vast and wide. In some factory farms, when animals are slaughtered, their entrails — filled with feces — spill out along with the meat. Many spices contain traces of mammal excrement as well. Fennel seed and ground ginger, for example, cannot contain more than 3mg of animal feces a pound as per the FDA. Less than that is fine.

6. Spray-On Viruses

Cocktails of viruses are conveniently available as a spray to prevent bacteria from forming on perishable foods. Typically, this is used mostly on ready-to-eat cheese or meat products, but it can be used on goods marked organic.

While it sounds odd, scientists deem the practice, known as "preparation by bacteriophages," a good alternative to antibiotics.

7. Arsenic

A favorite poison of the Medici, arsenic is added to livestock feed to make pork and chicken meat pink and appealing. Due to water and soil pollution, trace amounts can also be found in juices, seafood, and grains.

While poison in our food sounds scary, most studies don't distinguish between organic and inorganic arsenic — and there are big differences. Low levels of organic arsenic aren't harmful. Inorganic arsenic has been linked to lung cancer in humans.

8. Breast Implant Material

Eating a chicken McNugget is basically like eating part of a breast implant. Or a few ounces of Silly Putty, if you prefer.

Dimethylpolysiloxane, one of the filler ingredients in McNuggets and other forms of fast food, has off-plate uses that range from caulk and hair products to breast implants, adhesives, and Silly Putty. To date, there haven't been any significant studies on safety and human consumption.

9. Clones

The TV show Orphan Black begins in your local supermarket.

Cheese is made with help from an enzyme in rennet, found in the lining of a calf's fourth stomach. Since the demand for calf stomachs apparently exceeds supply, cheese makers have decided to clone them instead.

A common alternative is vegetable rennet, genetically modified from the genes of a cloned calf but somehow made without animal products. Estimates place the percentage of bioengineered cheese (animal or plant based) at around 70%. There are no long-term studies on the effects of eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but some people prefer to avoid eating them.

10. Fish Bladders

The next time you admire the amber hue of your favorite craft beer, remember — fish bladders might have made it possible.

Isinglass, widely used in the brewing process to improve the clarity and reduce residue in beer, comes from dried fish bladders. The collagen-like substance, also used to repair parchment paper, isn't known to cause health problems in humans, but vegetarians and vegans may want to avoid it.

11. Bisphenol A (BPA)

The bane of mommy bloggers everywhere (as it should be), Bisphenol A (BPA) has a long list of detrimental effects, running the gamut from cancer to obesity. BPA is so toxic that even small amounts of exposure infiltrate the human body. A study by the Center for Disease Control found that the majority of children under age 6 (90%) have trace amounts of BPA in their bloodstream.

Though the use of BPA in hard plastic goods is falling drastically thanks to negative publicity, the chemical can still be found in beverage containers and food can liners. And it's so potent that leakage into food is a big concern. Detrimental effects of BPA exposure include brain damage, fertility issues, and developmental damage to fetuses and children.

To avoid BPA, steer clear of processed canned goods and plastic food containers. Some organic foods now have a BPA-free label on the packaging — but if that label isn't there, avoid.

12. Titanium Dioxide

Processed foods need to have filthy things added to them in order to look clean. Titanium dioxide, found in white paint, is added to everything from salad dressing to cake icing. Some studies claim it's an inert and relatively harmless ingredient — though researchers readily admit titanium dioxide is possibly carcinogenic to humans.

Check Your Ingredients

These resources can help you figure out what's really in your food:

Online

Food Additives & Ingredients

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA)

Mobile App

Chemical Cuisine

The Center for Science in the Public Interest

Available in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Marketplace

What's the worst thing you've ever found in your food? Please share a bite in comments!

This article is from Erin C. O'Neil of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Do plastic baby bottles cause diabetes and heart disease?

Andrea Karim — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:48:52 +0000

Me, I've been a big proponent of doing away with plastics for a while now. I'd like to feel vindicated, but today's issue of USA Today just sort of made me sad. Check out the slide show here.

A study was released today that some scientists believe implicates bisphenol A in the formation of diabetes and heart disease in humans. Results are preliminary, and more studies need to be done. And, of course, the FDA still says that plastics are more or less safe.

"Some scientists say the study — released today to coincide with a Food and Drug Administration meeting— shows that bisphenol A, or BPA, is too dangerous to allow in consumer products, especially those used by babies and pregnant women." USA Today

"Higher BPA exposure, reflected in higher urinaryconcentrations of BPA, may be associated with avoidable morbidityin the community-dwelling adult population. " JAMA

"Two weeks ago, the National Toxicology Program said it has "some concern" that BPA alters development of the brain and prostate gland in children and babies, both before and after birth." USA Today

A number of stores are removing products that contain bisphenol A from their shelves - Toys R Us and Walmart have both been pulling toys and plastic baby bottles since early summer.

The plastic industry is, of course, fighting every attempt to reduce or change the way we use plastic in our everyday lives. From fighting the plastic bag fees that are being instituted in my fair city of Seattle and elsewhere, the American Chemistry Council is doing their darndest to keep a lid on this possibly dangerous substance. To be fair, the Canadian plastics industry is no better.

Of course, I see the value of having plastics in our lives. I certainly wouldn't want to ride my motorcycle wearing a helmet made of tree bark and sheepskin. And it IS difficult to know if studies like this one are truly causal: it's possible that high levels of bisphenol A in humans with diabetes and heart attacks are linked, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the relationship is causal. Perhaps people with heart disease and diabetes eat more prepared (unhealthy) food from plastic packaging, hence the higher levels of the chemicals in their blood.

I don't like fear-mongering, but I'm also aware of an industry's deep-seated need to fight scientific evidence.

In any case, I have been limiting my exposure to products containing bisphenol A as much as I possibly can, and will continue to do so.

Six Wise has some good tips on how to avoid BPA in your life (following list is taken from Six Wise).

If you want to avoid products with BPA, keep in mind the following:

Plastic that contains BPA carries the #7 recycling symbol.
Most clear plastic baby bottles and child cups are made of BPA-containing plastic.
Dental sealant may leach BPA; this is being debated. You may want to avoid dental sealants on your children's baby teeth.

You can minimize your BPA exposure by:

Replacing plastic food and drink containers and utensils with glass, ceramic or metal varieties.
Purchasing glass baby bottles.
Using baby bottles and sippy cups made of polyethylene plastic (#1, #2, #4 recycling symbols) or polypropylene (#5) (these are usually colored, not clear, and should still not be heated).
Not using canned foods or foods wrapped in plastic.
Not letting children put plastic toys in their mouths.
Being careful with BPA-containing plastics, if you choose to use them. This means not exposing them to heat (microwave, dishwasher) or harsh detergents (bleach, etc.) and not letting food or beverages sit in the containers for too long.

This article is from Andrea Karim of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Cheap Way to Get Rid of Plastic Baby Bottles

Carrie Kirby — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:27:49 +0000

Chemical worries can wreak havock with a parent's budget. "Anything for Baby," Gerber proclaims, but sometimes I wonder: When I spend in the "anything" category to avoid possible contaminants, is it really "anything for Mommy's psyche?"

Fears about contaminants in polycarbonate plastic baby bottles such as the popular Avent brand have been widespread. The chemical BPA, found in hard, clear plastic, has been shown to be a hormone distrupter. But for parents who invested in a slew of Avent bottles, replacing the whole system can be cost prohibitive. And Avent nipples are pretty nice -- if your baby is used to those, I can see not wanting to switch to another brand of bottle at any price.

One blog has a very frugal suggestion: Keep the silicone nipples that come with the Avent bottles, but screw them onto a glass bottle. A Smuckers jam jar, to be exact.

Et viola. According to Swistle, who originally posted both the photo and the idea, the Avent nipple will screw onto an Avent bottle with nary a leak. Actually, the blogger's mother came up with the idea. Through trial and error, Swistle et famille found that this works with the 10-ounce or 12-ounce bottles, not the 18-ounce size. And what infant needs an 18-ounce bottle, anyway?

How much are you saving here? Well, an Evenflo glass bottle costs around $2, while the Born Free brand is more like $10. A jar of Smuckers sells for around $3 on Peapod and surely less on sale elsewhere, and there were 35-cents-off coupons for them in recent newspaper inserts. Of course, if you normally buy Smuckers anyway, the jars are free.

Also, Swistle pointed out to me that with the surge in popularity of glass bottles, some retailers have been fresh out of the affordable brands. (Amazon seems to have the Evenflo ones right now, though.)

The only concern I would voice on this ingenious system: Be careful with your jam jar bottles! All glass bottles can break, but I found that the glass baby bottles we used were pretty tough. I have dropped them on a tile floor with nary a chip. Since jam jars are not manufactured for repeated use, I doubt they would show the same durability. I certainly would not let a toddler crash around the house with a Smuckers "bottle" in hand.

Maybe someone out there can jury rig something like this, but to fit a Smucker's jar?

In the end, I love the ingenuity of this idea, but I can't tell if it appeals to my sensible side or my inner disregard for safety. What do you think? Is avoiding the potential risk of hormone disruption worth the risk of glass splinters? Or is this a method for people too tight to shell out a few extra bucks for their child's safety?

This article is from Carrie Kirby of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Is Plastic Killing Us? The True Cost of Convenience

Andrea Karim — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:43:15 +0000

Plastic is really hard to avoid. In fact, it's everywhere. Clothing, mattresses, furniture, carpet - plastic is used to prevent fires as well as food stains.

And now, plastic is in an even more exciting place! Your bloodstream. Can Teflon-coated arteries be far behind?

The recent stories about the return of serious metastisized cancers in public political figures Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow tripped my anxiety switch a bit. Less so than with the impending recession, but enough to get me worried. Almost everyone knows someone who is living with, or has died from, cancer. My own grandfather had colon cancer. Half of my mother's friends appear to be recovering from breast cancer.

It all started with Eve

Recent studies are placing some of the cancer blame on female hormones. Man, women get blamed for everything. But seriously, estrogen just doesn't seem to do anything right. First, we were using it to ease symptoms of menopause in women, then it was found to increase cancer rates. Estrogen released by sewage systems is causing problems with fish populations. And now, it seems, estrogen, or chemicals that mimic estrogen's properties, are causing cancer left and right.

In lab rodents, anyway.

As reported in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, scientists are just now discovering the link between plastics and estrogen. And it's kind of scary.

In studies with mice, researchers have found that adult females exposed to bisphenol A in the womb have irregular estrus cycles and stop cycling earlier than unexposed females. The animals exposed to the chemical had changes in a part of the brain that controls ovulation and cycling, Soto said. Female rats exposed to bisphenol A in the womb developed carcinoma in situ and pre-cancerous changes in their mammary tissue as adults, she said.

Bisphenol A is a compound that was studied in the 1930s for purposed of birth control, so its link to estrogen-like behavior is clear (estrogen is used in birth control pills to prevent pregnancy). The fact that bisphenol A molecules can link together to form a type of plastic is what makes it fascinating. Its potential for industrial use is why it was never actually used for birth control.

Well, just because you're not popping it in your mouth everyday at the same time in the form of a pill, that doesn't mean that you don't have bisphenol floating around in your body.

The chemical is ubiquitous and almost unavoidable.... Most people carry the chemical around in their bodies at low levels — about 1 part per billion in blood, urine and tissues. "That seems like a staggeringly small number until you realize that the natural hormone it's acting like works at levels 10,000 times lower than that...."

Is there a frugal angle here?

Some of you Frugal Freaks are now saying, "Um, Andrea? That is your name, right? Well, I like my Wise Bread posts to be about money and how I can save it. Not about dumb things like health care and cancer and how cancer affects me and the public... and the uninsured... and job performance, and as an extension, taxes and healthcare costs as they apply to the insured... and... OK, Andrea, I get the damn point. Cancer is affecting us, and trickle down economics means that, even if I don't get cancer, it the rates are skyrocketing, it will affect my bottom line somehow."

Excellent, I'm glad you understand. If you like, we can put aside the emotional impact of living and dealing with cancer. If you get really cold and calculating about it, cancer is expensive, in terms of time and money and productivity. Cancer costs. And as baby boomers age, it's going to cost all of us more and more.

What can we do?

San Francisco, my favorite bastion of forward-thinking, politically active and highly paranoid citizens, was thinking of banning the chemical in children's products back in 2005. I'm having trouble finding out if the ban actually occurred, but the plastics industry went completely insane. You can read a great rebuttal from a Plastics Council hack here, or enjoy a "consumers" group that is completely dedicated to keeping bisphenol A in our products.

I wonder if there was a similar consumers group that was pushing to keep saccharine in our diet drinks?

Industry reps, of course, deny that there is any problem with bisphenol A, using this brilliant logic:

"This isn't a basketball game. You don't just count up studies and see what the score is," said Steven G. Hentges, executive director of the Polycarbonate Bisphenol A Global Group of the American Chemistry Council.

Actually, you CAN add up the studies and see what the score is. That's the whole point of studies. I mean, yes, many scientific studies are flawed, and other factors must always be taken into consideration. For instance, what if it turned out that every person tested in the bisphenol studies was a pack-a-day smoker. We'd expect to see elevated levels of cancer in smokers. But in this case, we're talking about 140 government-sponsored studies, not a few rogue studies by whacky environmentalists.

The Great Divide

As usual, this controversy seems to be divided along political lines. People who really love bisphenol A are either industry reps or Fox News contributors who run web sites that mock the hell out of Al Gore. Many sites that seem to take the concerns about BPA seriously are run by environmentalists.

But the Nation Institutes of Health is looking into this matter, so for now, the best we can do is really push for further studies to see if the amounts of BPA that we have in our bloodstream are really dangerous to us.

OK, fine, but really, how do I avoid this stuff?

Well, I wish that I could simply give you a list of things to avoid, but unless you are going to get Lasik surgery (since bisphenol A is found in glasses and contact lenses) and throw away your Nalgene bottle (and a host of other products), then really this is one of those issues where you have to get politically involved.

OK, fine. Here's a list of products that may contain bisphenol A, and some possible alternatives:

Hard, clear plastic baby bottles - EVERYONE knows that breast is best! Or use glass bottles like my parents did.
Hard, clear, sometimes tinted, plastic water bottles - I never liked those Nalgene bottles anyway.
Hard, clear plastic bowls, tableware, storage containers - Use glass and ceramic.
Liners inside food and drink cans - You shouldn't be drinking stuff from cans, anyway.
Dental sealant to prevent cavities - Brush your teeth! Don't let them seal your teeth with plastic!
Electronic equipment - Read a book. I can't think of anything else, because I love electronics equipment, and that's a broad category.
Sports safety equipment - I'm not going to suggest that you don't wear a helmet. WEAR A HELMET.
Medical devices - Too darn bad. Can't do without those.
Pet carriers - Would it be uncouth to suggest just bounding and gagging the little critters?
Spray-on flame retardants - Nope. Can't avoid these. Unless you shop for natural furniture and floors.
CD/DVDs - iTunes, baby.

Pretty tough to avoid all that stuff, isn't it?

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that there is a great answer out there as to how to deal with something as ubiquitous as this chemical. Plastics are an undeniably amazing product. But I'm starting to question just how many bits of Tupperware I need.

Also, I'm feeling bad about mocking the New York lady for taking her food to work in a mason jar. Maybe she has the right idea.

This article is from Andrea Karim of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: