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Dinners in France recently got more than they expected when it was discovered that poppy seed baguettes contained a dose of opium that could take the post-meal nap to a new extreme.
In addition to narcotics, many surprises are hidden in everyday foods, which you may not be aware of.
Here are some of the less pleasant ones.
Enjoy your meal.
A natural flavor called castoreum is a thick and fragrant secretion obtained from the anal glands of the beaver. It is used to give a vanilla flavor to certain dairy products and desserts.
We live in an era of unprecedented hygiene and we expect our foods to contain only the ingredients labeled on the package.
But anyone who has sought nature knows that nature loves to share its riches.
There is nothing surprising to bite into a freshly picked apple to find the remaining half of an insect (presumably very upset).
Our staple foods are not grown under sterile conditions and our diet is strewn with various unwanted dishes, including soil, rodent hair, feces, mold, pests and, of course, insects.
The terrestrial nature of food production is recognized in the United States by the publication of the Defect Levels Handbook, which defines the acceptable (non-hazardous) levels of these undisclosed pieces.
For example, two cups of cornmeal can legitimately contain up to five whole insects, ten insect fragments, ten rodent hairs and five rodent poop fragments. This definitely puts this half-eaten apple in perspective.
1. The secretion of beaver buttocks is used to flavor luxury desserts
When it comes to food, "natural" is usually synonymous with "good".
But some natural products are a little disgusting.
For example, a natural flavor called castoreum is a thick and fragrant secretion from the anal glands of the beaver. It is used to give a vanilla flavor to certain dairy products and desserts.
By the end of the 19th century, beavers were almost hunted to extinction to acquire this highly desirable food additive and scent. Fortunately, German chemists discovered that vanillin (one of the chemicals responsible for vanilla taste) could be extracted from this humble conifer.
By the end of the 19th century, beavers were almost hunted to extinction to acquire this highly desirable food additive and fragrance
Today, synthetic vanillin accounts for about 94% of the vanilla aroma used in the food industry (37,286 tonnes), with natural vanilla extract accounting for most of the 6% remaining.
Beavers can breathe a sigh of relief.
Their contribution to the food industry now represents a tiny fraction of the natural aroma of vanilla and tends to be limited to luxury foods and beverages.
2. The mucus membrane of the stomach of goats is used to make cheese
Another natural ingredient that could make you vomit is rennet.
It came traditionally from the mucous membrane of the fourth stomach (abomasum) of young ruminants, such as calves, lambs and goats.
Enzymes separate milk into curd and whey, a key step in the manufacturing process.
Traditional rennet is still used today, although replacement products (derived from molds, bacterial fermentation and plants such as nettles and ivy) are becoming more common or slightly more palatable.
3. Heavy metal in tuna steaks
The fictional character of Mad Hatter by Lewis Carroll might have been inspired by an occupational disease of milliners (hat makers) caused by exposure to mercury and its salts during a process called "carrotage".
This technique was commonly used on the skins of small animals, such as beavers, to make the fur softer. Beavers clearly did not have a good time in the 19th century, but the effects of mercury on milliners are equally devastating. Nearly half of the working population has erethism, or rosary disease, whose signs and symptoms include: irritability and excitability, muscle spasms, loss of teeth, nails and hair, lack of coordination, confusion, loss of memory and death.
Although removed from most industrial processes, mercury remains a significant pollutant in air and water. Indeed, industrial waste discharges into the sea off the south coast of Japan have led the local population to eat seafood containing methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury. Because of this, several thousand people have been victims of Minamata disease.
How have seafood become so toxic? The answer lies in an effect called bioaccumulation, a process by which the concentration of a substance can increase dramatically at each stage of the food chain. So the next time you eat a tuna steak, try not to be too irritable or excited about the hidden mercury.
4. Natural Contaminants: The toxins contained in plants can cause a "mad disease of honey"
Although pollutants like mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic often make the newspaper headlines as food contaminants, nature's pantry can accidentally contain a whole host of toxins.
Many members of the rhododendron genus of flowering plants secrete grayanotoxins in their nectar.
These neurotoxic substances are conscientiously collected by bees who make honey, the consumption of which can cause a "crazy honey disease" in humans.
This rather unusual form of contamination can cause hallucinations, nausea and vomiting.
When one thinks of food poisoning, one rarely thinks of flowers, but rhododendron has been indirectly responsible for the incapacity of entire armies. The true power of flowers!
A neurotoxic substance collected by bees can cause a "mad disease of honey" in humans
5. The natural killers
Gherkins and preserves have been used for centuries to extend the shelf life of foods during the winter months.
Unfortunately, poorly preserved foods can promote the growth of Clostridium botulinum, which produces the world's most toxic substances, known as botulinum toxin, some of which can be deadly at a dose of 2 ng, or two billion grams.
To put this in perspective, the average lethal dose of potassium cyanide is about one-tenth of a gram.
The consumption of contaminated food causes botulism, which prevents the nervous system from functioning properly.
As a result, the disease is characterized by general muscle weakness and possibly paralysis and death.
Spores of C. botulinum are often found in honey. Although relatively innocuous for most people, the immune system of young infants is relatively ineffective against these bacteria, which can lead to a related disease called infant botulism.
This is why many government agencies advise against giving honey to children under one year of age.
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