10 Ridiculous Myths about Dodgy Stuff in Your Food and Drink

If you’ve been around the internet a while, you have read it all, especially when it comes to food, and we congratulate you on still eating after what you may have learned. The things they say are in our consumables are endlessly ridiculous, from human hair to chemicals that will straight kill you and dozens of other ludicrous things.

The claims about these things are passed around in a circle of unverified and poor sourcing that would make an Ouroboros choke. Fortunately, we are here to take apart ten of the most ridiculous myths about the dodgy stuff allegedly hiding in your food and drink.

Related: 10 Quenching Legends, Myths, And Stories Involving Alcohol

10 There Are No Wasps in Your Figs

Many of you have probably heard by now of the “fact” that has been going around the internet for a while about figs. The claim is that when you eat figs, you are eating dead wasps, and that is what those crunchy bits are. This would, of course, also mean that figs and fig cookies are not appropriate for our vegan friends and for anyone who does not like the ick factor of eating insects. Luckily, the whole thing is basically total malarkey that uses a real truth and distorts it to freak people out, like much of the disinformation and other doomsaying found online today.

The part that is true and makes the claim sound true is that, in nature, wasps are part of the life cycle of some types of fig trees. And, as part of this life cycle, a female wasp can die inside the fig. However, the fig breaks the wasp down completely to the point that it is not distinguishable as the plant uses it for food, and those crunchy bits are just seeds.

Furthermore, while this would still make figs not vegan, most figs used for commercial food production today are self-pollinating and have never had wasps inside them at all. This means that unless you are eating figs in the wild, there is a good chance you have never been near one that once had a wasp in it.^[1]

9 There Is No Confirmed Link Between Eating Charred Meat and Cancer

While grilling season may be wrapping up, many people still like to get a nice char on their meat year round and are put off by warnings on the internet that doing so will give them cancer. The scare that has been floating around for years is that if you grill your meat, it will create carcinogens that will give you all kinds of nasty cancers. Where this comes from is the fact that heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are formed when grilling meat, and when given to rats in mega doses, these substances have caused tumors.

However, those are very large amounts being given to rodents. What about studies on humans? Well, that is where things get a lot more muddled. Some studies claim to find a small link, but sometimes more robust review of these studies finds issues with their methodology, and many studies also find no conclusive link. A Vanderbilt review of studies in 2010 found that the majority of studies found a link, but it was only a slim majority, and population studies have found no link whatsoever to confirm this result. At this point, there is simply no conclusive evidence that eating grilled meat increases your risk of developing cancer.^[2]

8 Apple Seeds Have Cyanide… but You’re Okay if You Swallow a Few

Who doesn’t love the taste of a good apple, some hard cider, or a slice of hot, steaming apple pie? And as the saying goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Now, while the saying may be an exaggeration, apples are a beloved food, especially in America. And they are good for you as well—as long as you don’t have too much sugar, of course. However, in the days of internet warnings, many may have heard their apple seeds contain cyanide and are now worried about eating apples and accidentally swallowing poison.

However, while it is true that apple seeds contain cyanide, and it is better to be safe and spit them out, this is really an overabundance of caution. The fact of the matter is that, like much doomsaying on the internet, this has been greatly overblown. Apples only have a handful of seeds in them, and you would need to eat a minimum of 150 seeds to up to thousands, depending on the type of apple, in order to get cyanide poisoning. In other words, you would essentially have to be knowingly trying to poison yourself because that is a lot of seeds.^[3]

7 Castoreum–the Food Additive Sourced from Beaver Butts?

One of the favorite shock tidbits people love to throw around the internet involves beaver anal secretions in your food, so of course, it has been picked up many times and amplified to great effect over the years. The sensational stories say that castoreum is taken from the anal glands of beavers and that it is commonly used in products with a “natural vanilla flavor.” It makes such a great story because even if perfectly safe, there is a certain ick factor to it.

However, while it is not entirely untrue, it is greatly exaggerated. Castoreum is actually very labor-intensive and expensive to make, as you have to actually sedate a beaver and then milk its anus. For this reason, it is far more commonly used in fine perfumes today and not so widely put in our food. Even extra-FDA consumer advocacy groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest, confirm that castoreum in food is very rare and that they agree with the FDA that there is zero cause for concern if it is.^[4]

6 Misleading Claim That Vodka Has Antifreeze as an Ingrdient

Several years back, Dan Akroyd of Ghostbusters fame was shilling his vodka on Larry King, and he bragged that his vodka was extra good because it contained no propylene glycol, which some manufacturers do use to make it have a smoother mouth feel. Unfortunately, as he is known to do, Akroyd took things a step further and went on to say that propylene glycol was antifreeze, which was supposed to make his vodka sound even better.

Now, while it is true that propylene glycol is used in some versions of antifreeze, this is also misleading because it is only one of two major glycols used in antifreeze preparations, and it is the one considered to be generally safe for other applications that could involve human ingestion. When most people think of antifreeze, at least in a dangerous light, they are thinking of ethylene glycol, which is also often used in antifreeze. Ethylene glycol is quite toxic to humans, but it is more efficient, so it is used where chances of accidental contact with food are not as high.

So, while it is true that some antifreeze preparations use propylene glycol, it is misleading to suggest that this relationship somehow makes vodkas with propylene glycol dangerous or bad for you.^[5]

5 Twinkies Don’t Have Scary Ingredients That Make Them Last Forever

Twinkies are a beloved American snack, and when Hostess went under, it wasn’t long before someone bought the recipe and brought back the spongy, creme-filled snack cake. However, some have reservations about Twinkies because they have heard rumors that the snacks have far more processed and artificial ingredients than most and that they can basically survive forever, even through a nuclear apocalypse. Fortunately, for those who want to enjoy a Twinkie on occasion (we won’t judge), they aren’t known to be any more heavily processed than anything else on your shelf and only last about 45 days.

So, how did this myth manage to take shape in the first place? Well, it turns out it is hard to track down one main origin as these things can go, but one popular source is a teacher from Maine who alleges to have kept one out on their chalkboard for years without it disintegrating or getting moldy. While this sounds astounding enough, this does not actually mean it is edible. Furthermore, Twinkies are, in essence, sugary bread stuffed with vegetable shortening and sugar. If you dry out bread under the right conditions, you can keep from growing mold for a very long time—you are basically just creating hardtack.^[6]

4 Licorice Can Be Dangerous, but Most Candy Today Lacks the Real Thing

Some of you may have already heard that licorice root extract can contain something called glycyrrhizic acid, which can actually be quite deadly. If you take too much licorice root extract over a period of time, you can quickly get an imbalance in electrolytes with severely reduced potassium levels. This can cause fun problems like striated muscle breakdown and dangerous heart arrhythmias. Now, it is true that some health officials have sounded the alarm in recent years that herbal teas containing licorice root should contain more medical guidance, but the majority of people with a candy habit do not have any cause for concern.

The vast majority of licorice candy, such as the popular cherry and strawberry-flavored stuff, does not actually contain any licorice root extract. Instead, the candies are usually flavored with a combination of various artificial and natural flavorings. As for black licorice, most produced worldwide, especially in the USA, uses anise instead of licorice root, and those that do use the real thing use it in very small amounts allowed by the FDA. The fact that the amount in any real black licorice candy today is very small does not mean you should eat it with reckless abandon, but reasonable consumption is unlikely to be dangerous.^[7]

3 There Is Zero Credible Evidence That MSG Sensitivity Is Real

The so-called phenomenon of MSG sensitivity has been around for decades and has a bit of a racist, or at least xenophobic, history. As many know, Chinese cooking often uses monosodium glutamate, abbreviated as MSG, as a flavor enhancer in their recipes. People have been making these claims for decades after going to Chinese restaurants and having adverse symptoms of all kinds. This has become so associated with Chinese restaurants that it often goes by the much more offensive name of “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” instead of MSG sensitivity. For this reason, and because it is totally inaccurate to say people have MSG sensitivity, activists are trying to stop the disinformation train.

The bottom line is that there is zero evidence to support the claims that people are having adverse effects from eating food with MSG. A review of studies a decade and a half ago found no links between adverse effects and eating foods with MSG in normal amounts. Furthermore, the review noted that the studies that claimed to find some link had irresponsible methodologies, where they gave people large amounts that would not be found in food and did not even administer it in food form.^[8]

2 Putting Feet in Your Wine? Don’t Worry, the Practice Is Rare Now

Grape stomping, or grape treading, is a practice that goes back to ancient days and is exactly what it sounds like. When grape treading, people take off their shoes and socks and stomp all over grapes to break them down for the fermentation process. While this method is supposed to give better control over the process, which some claim produces higher quality wine, others find it off-putting for health reasons and the ick factor. Now, for those who see the whole thing to be gross, rest assured that the majority of grapes today are pressed using a machine.

However, just because some may find it gross does not actually mean there is anything to be worried about. The reason most winemakers today are using automated systems is because they are way more efficient for large operations, not because science has proved that grape stomping is unsafe. In fact, while it is not very popular anymore, it is still practiced all over the world, and it is not banned anywhere of note. In the United States, the FDA does not recommend the process out of an excess of caution but admits they do not think any bacteria will survive the winemaking process.^[9]

1 Sulfites Are In Many Wines, but Allergies & Sensitivities Are Incredibly Rare

Many of you have probably heard that many wines today contain sulfites as a preservative and that this is bad due to some vague something or other. The myth has been going around for years, and some people will, after a hard night of wine drinking, claim they got super extra sick because of all those sulfites. The hungover individual will lament for the days when wine was purer without so many chemicals and ask for a big hangover-curing fry-up while they are at it. Fortunately, for those of you who want to drink reasonable amounts of wine without worrying about dangerous chemicals, there is no reason for most people to fear sulfites.

The thing about sulfites is that their most common symptoms involve skin breakouts, wheezing, and shortness of breath, which, as you might note, are not exactly common hangover symptoms. While sulfites can cause some gastrointestinal issues as well, the likelihood of you having any issue with sulfites is very unlikely unless you have asthma. Studies have found that between 3% and 10% of people with asthma have a sensitivity. While this does not mean it does not affect non-asthma sufferers, it is so rare there aren’t any reliable statistics on it to track.^[10]