There are plenty of foods where people find something disgusting or uncomfortable, especially if it’s something different to the cuisine of your culture.
Hagis – parts of sheep stuffed and boiled in the stomach of a sheep – one is a dish that many can’t do outside of Scotland. Nor is there a Rootfisk, which is covered in lye with smelt, aged fish that has acquired many converts outside of Scandinavian countries. It is also a kind of regionally popular Southeast Asian delicacy, with Balut being a fertilized duck egg that has been incubated for up to 21 days and then steamed.
All of these foods are obviously pretty questionable for beginners, with odd smells and amazing visuals for those who are not familiar with fares. What’s more surprising, however, is the hidden, unsettling origins, unrealized potential dangers, and odd eccentricity of the food we take for granted in the everyday cooking realities.
So we’ve gathered a list of interesting (and some ominous) facts about the foods you may encounter all the time, helping you to make them better aware of what you regularly put in your mouth.
1. Lemon slices may be covered with poop particles
Cut-up lemons are a staple in almost every restaurant. Those bowls are often scattered around, sitting, waiting to soak in diet coke coke, or squirting into hot tea. There’s nothing big, right? Isn’t it just a slice of lemon, a raw chicken slab or something?
A study published in the Journal of Environmental Health found that out of the 76 lemons sampled from 21 restaurants, about 70% were covered by 25 bacteria and yeast, including fecal and E. coli. – Beware of that: “All the microorganisms found in lemon samples in our research can cause infections at various body sites.”
It is surprising and sufficient to reconsider squeezing the lemon wedges offered by restaurants in the next iced tea, but this study also noted that no outbreak of diseases has been reported related to the use of lemons in drinks. They thought the high microbial count was partly due to kitchen workers who were not following proper hygiene measures, but it is possible that the lemons were contaminated by those who handled them before they arrived at the restaurant.
It doesn’t help that citrus fruits have many pores. This gives you many places to find a safe port for bacteria and other bugs.
2. Raw oysters are alive
For shellfish lovers, it’s just a little more than settling down on a chilled plate of raw oysters along with a cold bottle of beer. Blinnie slides down the crows in a satisfying round lup, whether they spritz lemons (see 1), dousing them with cocktail sauce or going to au naturel.
However, many people may not realize that eating “raw” oysters does not mean they are not cooked. It also shows that the slimy little sucker is still alive. And while roaming around local oyster sheds, they may turn the stomachs of some people to think they are beating creatures, but the only kind of oyster you should eat is the living thing.
Dead oysters can quickly infect bad bacteria, so the shop will sell and serve as fresh as possible, and ship them in a cold, damp environment that can survive for a week or two and keep them viable.
Therefore, if you want to make sure your oysters are still good when buying them in your market, follow these steps:
If you see a slightly open shell, tap it. Once it closes, it still lives in its pearly prison. If you spy on something open and don’t respond to tap, you refuse as it’s likely you’ve died.
3. Most gummy candies are made from pig skin
The guilty pleasures of many people include occasionally poping some candies with soft, sweet, squishy (and sometimes tart!) gummies that have a popular choice. And while you might think that things like candy don’t have animal products, the disturbing truth is that gummies (and jel-o) are primarily made from gelatin. Gelatin is sourced from cast animal parts such as the boiling skin, bones, ligaments and tendons of cows and pigs.
If you’re sure that that fact will keep you away from chewing with a handful of Swedish fish and gummy insects, look for products made from agar agar, the gelatin-like source of seaweed. Bisinger and Bud is one of many places that offer vegan gumi that won’t make you feel bad every time you dig your bag in the cinema.
4. You can buy coffee sourced from Cevet Poop
Brewing fresh coffee in the morning and drinking a cup of hot jaws is a daily ritual for many people around the world. And among coffee drinkers, there is intense loyalty to the beans of their choice, whether from Dunkin or Single Origin, sourced from Ethiopia.
But for those who like to experiment with the types of brewing, they can travel through the digestive tract of Asian palm palm citizens and buy the coffee beans they collect from their poop. Called Kopi Luwak, it is a type of coffee bean processing that is said to produce exemplary drinks.
The voyage of beans through the intestines of citizens begins a fermentation process that reduces bitterness and contributes to the unique aroma and taste of Kopi Luwak. And according to local legend, citizens only eat coffee cherries of their most chosen choice.
However, coffee can be commanded up to $100 per kilogram, so many percotts are stored in cages and forces the coffee cherries to burn to enhance production.
5. Your favorite candy is covered in insect juice
Along with a burst of sugar, satisfying cracks and biting crunches on hard candies continue to bring people back for more favorite treats, but you need to know that a shiny shell covering candies is likely made with insect secretions. Called the confectionery glac, it is made from shellac, and itself is fed from insect secretions.
Insects in particular are called rack insects, and after feasting on plant tissue, they secrete waxy resin (thought to be natural polymers) to protect the eggs. Resin is also used in a variety of products, from coatings on apples and jelly beans to varnishings and coating medicines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers glazes to be “non-nutritional” supplements and is “generally recognized as safe.”
6. Vanilla flavor can come from the beaver’s butt
It’s a great way to add a few drops of pure vanilla extract to your sweets or pastries to add a little floral and woody flavour. However, since real vanilla extracted from vanilla beans is expensive and priced second only to saffron, food companies prefer to use similar tasting sauces derived from beaver secretion.
Called “castoreum”, it is made from blended beaver customer grounds near the anus at the base of the tail and is used in the marking area. After being processed, the permeated glands emit a pleasant vanilla-like smell, which serves the flavorful aromas of ice cream, pudding, candies and baked goods, and are historically used in perfumes. A 2007 study in the International Journal of Toxicology found that “spots no health risks.”
7. Salami is uncooked meat
Most of us don’t want to eat raw pork or gnaw on uncooked chicken, but we slice some salami and serve it to our friends on a cleverly laid out charcoal grilled board. However, some types are not cooked, so long logs of processed pork may be considered raw meat, but they are simply hanging in the air and dry.
However, its dry aging inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria. Sausage meat is mixed with salt, treated with lactic acid bacteria (which actually inhibits the growth of pathogenic bacteria) and encouraged to ferment in a warm, moist room for several days. It is then stored in a cool area that is dry and cool enough to prevent more growth.
8. Ice machines can hold more bacteria than toilets
Americans love adding ice to their drinks, but most people don’t recognize the hidden dangers that may lurk in restaurant ice bins. You wouldn’t think that a closed, closed environment created for ice storage would hold any type of bacteria, but the water used to make ice could be filled with harmful microorganisms. And workers who soak in ice makers with their bare hands may not practice proper hygiene procedures.
According to a 2017 survey, in the past 30 years, the occurrence of gastroenteritis fixed in contaminated ice consumption has been reported worldwide by many researchers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This study found that of the 105 sampled ice machines, about 22% of them contained traces of E. coli, and also other harmful bacteria.
9. The fig bar contains dead hornets (a type)
Although it is not well known, some immature figs must be pollinated by small female hornets called figs. And in the process, they crawl through the fruits and pollinate the flowers until they die. However, figs also produce ficin, a chemical that really works to break down animal proteins (eg WASP bodies).
However, if Ficin doesn’t give you enough peace of mind, most of the figs you buy in the store don’t need hornets for pollination. Some of them can ripen without pollination, while others mature and ripen by spraying plant hormones.
10. Canned mushrooms can contain maggots
No one wants to find a ubiquitous amount of maggots near their food. Small white pieces recoil with disgust when most people find them, but if you’re a fan of canned mushrooms, you need to know that the FDA can contain “more than 20 utzits, the size per 100 grams.” And that’s just before they think they’re flawed and not suitable for consumption.
