When it comes to food and eating in general, the last thing you want to hear and see and think about is faeces. But did you know that your might be unknowingly giving your family faeces in food?
And no, most of these foods are not the exotic kind; they are common food you eat on a daily basis. Here are some of them:
Faeces in food: Watch out for these
1. Leafy greens
You’d think eating salad is one of the healthiest things you could do to your diet, but leafy greens can harbour a plethora of bacteria which comes from faecal matter, including E. coli. Although using manure fertilisers is not as popular with leafy greens, faecal matter from nearby animals can make their way to the crops. Cleaning them before consuming may help, but to put matters into perspective, it’s next to impossible to keep food from contamination 100%.
2. Organic food
The term “organic food” is almost synonymous to “healthy,” because they contain no pesticides and chemicals. What they do have, however, is a significant amount of faecal matter.
In 2012, the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that lettuce had a five percent greater chance of faecal contamination, while 65% of organic pork was contaminated by E. coli.
3. Candies and chocolates
Did you know that certain kinds of sweets, including chocolates, are made with an ingredient derived from insect faeces? The resinous glazed used to produce a silky smooth coating on confectioneries is called confectioner’s glazed, an ingredient produced by the female lac insect. Basically, you’re eating insect poop. The good news is that it’s relatively harmless, especially those used in this way.
4. Spices
Spices are used to add flavour to your dishes. In a way, because species naturally contain fecal matter, you’re basically adding a faecal flavour to your food when you use it.
But that all well and good, because the FDA allows small amounts of contamination in food products, including spices.
The FDA’s website said, “contamination of these products by animals usually results from either gnawing or defilement by excreta. Whole rodent pellets, bird droppings, and other pieces of animal dung are typically found.”
5. Wheat
It is perhaps one of the most widely-used ingredient in every household; wheat can be found in such foods as bread, pizza dough, cakes, cookies, and other baked foods. But did you know that the FDA deems 9 milligrams or more rodent faeces in wheat perfectly fine and is in fact allowed to enter our food supply? If you eat any food in which wheat was used, chances are you’ve eaten rodent poop.
6. Imported seafood
Most imported seafood come from such countries as Vietnam and Hong Kong, and it’s no secret that most of the seafood from these countries are raised on faeces, including geese and pig faeces. That’s because they’re cheaper than commercial fish food. Some argue that what the fishes eat aren’t the faeces itself but the algae it produces, but that fact doesn’t make them any more appetising.
7. Peanut butter
FDA allows at most five percent of rodent faeces in peanut butter in order to be deemed safe for sale. Other disgusting ingredients are allowed to be in peanut butters, too, like rodent hair and other excrements. Now those are something you won’t find on the ingredients list at the back label.
8. Soda fountain machines
In the US, a study revealed that 48% of the soda that came from soda fountain machines were contaminated with coliform, and 20% exceeded the limit allowed by the EPA. It is unclear if the culprit is the soda itself, but researchers suspect that the contamination came from the plastic tubing in the machines, which is then deposited into the soda when people fill their cups.
Mums and dads, when it comes to greens, vegetables and fruits, ensure you wash them well to get rid of unwanted matter, including pesticide residue and, of course, faecal matter.
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