Hidden Nasties In Our Food

Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
21,494
"Since Stefansson's observations nearly a century ago, most Americans have become accustomed to the taste of half-spoiled meat, as part of the process of adapting to an industrial-commercial food system. Tests done by food technologists have found that most Americans prefer the taste of synthetic strawberry flavor in ice cream to the taste of ice cream made with real strawberries. If it took Stefansson only a few weeks to become fond of rotten fish, it isn't surprising that the public would, over a period of many decades, learn to enjoy a diet of stale foods and imitation foods." -Ray Peat


Our food supply nowadays is a hot mess! We just don't know what we don't know, so how to know what to ask? Everyone knows a little something, and we all need to start telling what we know! This thread is a good place to start talking! Ok I'll go first! Beaver butt juice is in a variety of our foods!

It is legal and has been going on for decades. Food makers don't have to be specific about it and disguise their practices under the label "natural flavoring", but it is really called "Castoreum".

"Castoreum is exudate from the castor sacs of the mature Northern Beaver and the European Beaver. It is a yellowish secretion that combines with the beaver’s urine, used during scent marking of territory. Both male and female beavers possess a pair of castor sacs and a pair of anal glands. And amazingly enough, this secretion is now commonly used in perfumes and as a food additives!" Isn't this the same kind of stuff we are paying out pet groomers to extract from our little dogs?

"It is often used as part of a substitute for vanilla, strawberry, and raspberry flavoring."

How does anybody ever come up with eating something like this? Even Chef Jamie Oliver has tried to put an end to the use of Castoreum!

"The exact definition of natural flavors from the Code of Federal Regulations reads: “The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood,"

According to a detailed ingredient report by Be Food Smart, Castoreum can be found in many products which include alcoholic beverages, baked goods, chewing gum, candy, beverages, pudding, gelatin, ice cream, vanilla flavoring and raspberry flavored foods.

Fortunately Castoreum has gotten expensive so it is used less nowadays, but nevertheless it is still used and a little goes a long way! So now it is a game of hide and seek! Castoreum is not kosher so you are safe from it in kosher products like Haagen Daz ice cream!

What else are we eating that we wouldn't be if we knew what is in it?

 

Sefton10

Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2019
Messages
1,593
Lots of supplements too. I think a lot of us go down the supplement rabbit hole in an attempt to rectify health issues without realising just how compromised with hidden nasties they can be.
 
OP
Rinse & rePeat
Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
21,494
Lots of supplements too. I think a lot of us go down the supplement rabbit hole in an attempt to rectify health issues without realising just how compromised with hidden nasties they can be.
So true! Ray Peat doesn't even recommend suppliments, so why so much supplimetation on this site? I wonder how much of people's problems are caused by them?
 

akgrrrl

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
1,714
Location
Alaska
Here is a fine site to explore
Www.fda.gov/allowable contaminents
When you see imitation vanilla is made by the expression of a beaver anal gland so it can be written "natural flavor", well, you get the idea
 

akgrrrl

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
1,714
Location
Alaska
The link isn't work

The link isn't working?
Wow. Tried 2 browsers and input different ways and got nothing. I used that site for about 8 years during food classes. Hmmm. Now its called "FDA acceptable food defects"
A google produces a few unnerving sites. 2 maggots per can of tomatoes types of info. Here is one

 
OP
Rinse & rePeat
Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
21,494
Wow. Tried 2 browsers and input different ways and got nothing. I used that site for about 8 years during food classes. Hmmm. Now its called "FDA acceptable food defects"
A google produces a few unnerving sites. 2 maggots per can of tomatoes types of info. Here is one

Oh yuck! I have heard of a lot of rat poop and hair being allowed in peanut butter, but cocoa? No!!
 

Attachments

  • 20210706_180204.jpg
    20210706_180204.jpg
    247.5 KB · Views: 49

akgrrrl

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
1,714
Location
Alaska
Ok, this all brings me to a story my grandfather told me when I was a kid. He worked for General Mills. One day, all the employees were called together to meet with a guy from upper management. The speaker told them that the recent explosions of silos that held oat floorsweep had increased with summer heat. Also, rodents were multiplying at each silo site, and govt inspectors had begun to fine the company for having such flammable material in such large volume.They were asking the men for suggestions on how to dispose of this waste, without building more silos all over the country. If their suggestion was utilized, a large cash reward was offered. The men were encouraged to think about it and return in 2 weeks.
Grandpa told as how he attended the meeting 2weeks later and raised his hand.
"here in the south, we make our own bait for fishing. We take a big handful of those Kelloggs Cornflakes and roll them with a rolling pin into powder. Then we add water and pat them into a shape and lay them in the sun on a 2x4 board to firm up and dry out. The fish love em, especially the catfish and crappie. So I am thinking, why not mix this oat dust with water, punch out a shape, run it thru an oven, and into a happy yellow box..."
Grandpa claimed he got a $1000 for his idea.
 
OP
Rinse & rePeat
Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
21,494
Ok, this all brings me to a story my grandfather told me when I was a kid. He worked for General Mills. One day, all the employees were called together to meet with a guy from upper management. The speaker told them that the recent explosions of silos that held oat floorsweep had increased with summer heat. Also, rodents were multiplying at each silo site, and govt inspectors had begun to fine the company for having such flammable material in such large volume.They were asking the men for suggestions on how to dispose of this waste, without building more silos all over the country. If their suggestion was utilized, a large cash reward was offered. The men were encouraged to think about it and return in 2 weeks.
Grandpa told as how he attended the meeting 2weeks later and raised his hand.
"here in the south, we make our own bait for fishing. We take a big handful of those Kelloggs Cornflakes and roll them with a rolling pin into powder. Then we add water and pat them into a shape and lay them in the sun on a 2x4 board to firm up and dry out. The fish love em, especially the catfish and crappie. So I am thinking, why not mix this oat dust with water, punch out a shape, run it thru an oven, and into a happy yellow box..."
Grandpa claimed he got a $1000 for his idea.
Wait, what is the happy yellow box cereal? Please say not Cheerios?
 

akgrrrl

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
1,714
Location
Alaska
Wait, what is the happy yellow box cereal? Please say not Cheerios?
Floorsweep from cutting and rolling oats. You got it. Now add to that how many insect parts and vermin hair and poop is allowed in "grain" and you got a box of happy!
 
OP
Rinse & rePeat
Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
21,494
Floorsweep from cutting and rolling oats. You got it. Now add to that how many insect parts and vermin hair and poop is allowed in "grain" and you got a box of happy!
Euwwww! You crack me up!! A box of happy for General Mills. Gosh I have missed my Cheerios, but you have cured me of that now! You are such a good story teller Akgrrrl, and so dang funny!
 
OP
Rinse & rePeat
Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
21,494
Look at all nasty in soy lecithin!
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20210707-191013_Samsung Internet.jpg
    Screenshot_20210707-191013_Samsung Internet.jpg
    282.4 KB · Views: 110
  • Screenshot_20210707-191335_Samsung Internet.jpg
    Screenshot_20210707-191335_Samsung Internet.jpg
    246.8 KB · Views: 108
  • Screenshot_20210707-191402_Samsung Internet.jpg
    Screenshot_20210707-191402_Samsung Internet.jpg
    258 KB · Views: 109

akgrrrl

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2018
Messages
1,714
Location
Alaska
Euwwww! You crack me up!! A box of happy for General Mills. Gosh I have missed my Cheerios, but you have cured me of that now! You are such a good story teller Akgrrrl, and so dang funny!
Haaah. Glad you got a giggle, but true that he told me that story about 1966. I didnt know what to make of it then, but by the time I was in High School the 1970s, when hippies started protesting bleached flour, food sources started getting my attention. Now, we know that the most massive changes in our American bodies have been during the rise of weird oils use and grain. It has been a time to stay vigilant. My personal testimony is that I outlived all my family, even my same age cousins, by over 20 years so far. My first same age cousin had cancer of the lower intestine age 25. How long these kids last now drinkin blue dye gatoraid and pufa laden frankenfood is anyones guess.
 

gaze

Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2019
Messages
2,270
companies will never care, they think in terms of cash flow, and profit margins, and net income, and EBIDTA, and debt, and net earnings. the maximization of profit will always lead companies to cut costs in every corner possible, including using low quality ingredients, which help mass produce commodities to give them scale and bring up their profit margins. And the FDA doesn't do anything about it cause they're already bought out by food manufacturers and any real attempt at regulation has some random person who knows nothing scream communism.
 

Dr. B

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
4,319
companies will never care, they think in terms of cash flow, and profit margins, and net income, and EBIDTA, and debt, and net earnings. the maximization of profit will always lead companies to cut costs in every corner possible, including using low quality ingredients, which help mass produce commodities to give them scale and bring up their profit margins. And the FDA doesn't do anything about it cause they're already bought out by food manufacturers and any real attempt at regulation has some random person who knows nothing scream communism.
how do you think regulation should be done properly? i heard it is an invisible tax... like its not a clear visible tax but it causes companies costs to increase drastically to meet regulations which then results in them pricing products higher. it seems the regulators will always get bought out by the companies/industry theyre trying to regulate, as is human nature, greed etc? so is there any way to regulate properly or is it simply finding people who are very moral and lack greed and cant be bought? those people are probably less than 0.1% of the population and of that probably only a select few are qualified to hold regulator jobs
 
OP
Rinse & rePeat
Joined
Mar 10, 2021
Messages
21,494
Haaah. Glad you got a giggle, but true that he told me that story about 1966. I didnt know what to make of it then, but by the time I was in High School the 1970s, when hippies started protesting bleached flour, food sources started getting my attention. Now, we know that the most massive changes in our American bodies have been during the rise of weird oils use and grain. It has been a time to stay vigilant. My personal testimony is that I outlived all my family, even my same age cousins, by over 20 years so far. My first same age cousin had cancer of the lower intestine age 25. How long these kids last now drinkin blue dye gatoraid and pufa laden frankenfood is anyones guess.

I don't understand why people don't care more, and how they think things like blue Gatorade has any benefits? I reminded of Ray Peat pointing out the same thing.

"US people don't realize how ridiculously degraded their standard of living has become. Nutrition is political economical. The governments tell people to eat beans and bread for a reason. I use coca cola as a fill-in when I can't get oranges." -Ray Peat

You are a wise person akgrrrl, that is why you have outlived the rest of your family by many years. You go to the trouble of caring about yourself and don't take lazy shortcuts.
 

Eberhardt

Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
607
I don't understand why people don't care more, and how they think things like blue Gatorade has any benefits? I reminded of Ray Peat pointing out the same thing.

"US people don't realize how ridiculously degraded their standard of living has become. Nutrition is political economical. The governments tell people to eat beans and bread for a reason. I use coca cola as a fill-in when I can't get oranges." -Ray Peat

You are a wise person akgrrrl, that is why you have outlived the rest of your family by many years. You go to the trouble of caring about yourself and don't take lazy shortcut
Ok, this all brings me to a story my grandfather told me when I was a kid. He worked for General Mills. One day, all the employees were called together to meet with a guy from upper management. The speaker told them that the recent explosions of silos that held oat floorsweep had increased with summer heat. Also, rodents were multiplying at each silo site, and govt inspectors had begun to fine the company for having such flammable material in such large volume.They were asking the men for suggestions on how to dispose of this waste, without building more silos all over the country. If their suggestion was utilized, a large cash reward was offered. The men were encouraged to think about it and return in 2 weeks.
Grandpa told as how he attended the meeting 2weeks later and raised his hand.
"here in the south, we make our own bait for fishing. We take a big handful of those Kelloggs Cornflakes and roll them with a rolling pin into powder. Then we add water and pat them into a shape and lay them in the sun on a 2x4 board to firm up and dry out. The fish love em, especially the catfish and crappie. So I am thinking, why not mix this oat dust with water, punch out a shape, run it thru an oven, and into a happy yellow box..."
Grandpa claimed he got a $1000 for his idea.
I have no idea why your quote is stuck in my message @Rinse & rePeat but I have a similar story. Not as gross but still. My grandfather was fond of coconut candy but he could not really get himself to eat it without flinching. When he was a kid in the 1910's he used to see how the coconutflakes was stored down at the harbour. They would lie in huge piles on the ground and in the summer the rats would have a party there at night. He thought it problably had improved when he told me in the 1980's though. Maybe - probably in Norway as we have sort of strict sanitary rules.
First part of my message somehow got hidden at the end of the quote above .

But about this thread. Its an important thread and I know Peat's said that his first line of treatment in the 60s and 70s was gettng peope of their supplements. It had very good results :)

I still dont think that the examples here are good examples. Whats wrong with beaver anal glands haha I thought that was good news at its usually made from petroleum production waste products in china. ANd bugs?? whats the problem with that. I know that when they cleaned up the flour production in India some 20 years ago and stopped handmilling there was an epidemic of b12 deficiancy. Due to the high number of vegetarins and vegans they had been dependent on the up to 8% mixture of bugs in the flour. Rat sewage isnt to good as they can spread some diseases I think - not that I know - guess it depends on how the product is treated afterwards. I think we should rather worry (or be concerned - worrying isnt helpful lol) about the synthetic stuff that goes in everything. From silisium and titanium oxide to chalk and sweeteners and what not. And bleach and processing leftovers. Or that the citric acid usually used is made from mold and can trigger alleriges and that if the level of additives is under a certain level they are not required to be listed. 90% of supplements checked does not have what it says on the ingredients list in them /or have other stuff as well according to the tests thats being done. that will be enough for now *chuckle* .

Lots of this can be avoided by cooking at home though
 
Last edited:

Dr. B

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
4,319
First part of my message somehow got hidden at the end of the quote above .

But about this thread. Its an important thread and I know Peat's said that his first line of treatment in the 60s and 70s was gettng peope of their supplements. It had very good results :)

I still dont think that the examples here are good examples. Whats wrong with beaver anal glands haha I thought that was good news at its usually made from petroleum production waste products in china. ANd bugs?? whats the problem with that. I know that when they cleaned up the flour production in India some 20 years ago and stopped handmilling there was an epidemic of b12 deficiancy. Due to the high number of vegetarins and vegans they had been dependent on the up to 8% mixture of bugs in the flour. Rat sewage isnt to good as they can spread some diseases I think - not that I know - guess it depends on how the product is treated afterwards. I think we should rather worry (or be concerned - worrying isnt helpful lol) about the synthetic stuff that goes in everything. From silisium and titanium oxide to chalk and sweeteners and what not. And bleach and processing leftovers. Or that the citric acid usually used is made from mold and can trigger alleriges and that if the level of additives is under a certain level they are not required to be listed. 90% of supplements checked does not have what it says on the ingredients list in them /or have other stuff as well according to the tests thats being done. that will be enough for now *chuckle* .

Lots of this can be avoided by cooking at home though

what are you saying about beaver anal glands? do you mean castoreum? i think thats a big ingredient in perfume making as well as some food products. its an emulsifier or it apparently exaggerates flavors and scents.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom