Betcha Don't Know What's in That

Fabric Softener

What could possibly make your sheets feel more Downy fresh than a nice, soft, fluffy layer of animal fat? Dihydrogenated tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride- fat from horses and sheep-is used in commercial fabric softeners to coat your clothes with that extra coat of softness.
 
Pink Drinks

Cochineal, natural red 4, crimson lake, carmine, carminic acid—call it what you will, but the additive that gives many drinks their distinctive pink color, from wine coolers to ruby-red grapefruit juices, is made from a crushed South American bug. The female cochineal insect has been harvested for dye since the era of the Aztecs. Depending on the way in which the insect is killed (methods include boiling alive, exposure to sunlight, steaming, and baking), it produces a range of reddish tints. It takes approximately 70,000 insects to make one pound of dye.

Wine & Beer

Some people drink like fish. Others just drink the dried, ground-up swim bladders of fish. Isinglass, from sturgeon and cod bladders, is used to clarify and remove impurities from many varieties of wine and beer. Small amounts of isinglass remain in the drinks when finished.

Flu Vaccine

Fertilized chicken eggs in the embryonic phase are used to cultivate the inactivated flu virus that is injected into millions of people every year. The vaccine was originally developed by the U.S. military for use in World War II, to help prevent a recurrence of the Spanish Influenza that killed 50 million people in the wake of World War I.

Cigarettes

Among the many “processing aids” found in cigarettes used to control tar and nicotine content is pigs’ blood. New Dutch research found traces of porcine hemoglobin in the filters of cigarettes. In blood, hemoglobin bonds to oxygen to transport it throughout the body; in filters, it bonds to passing toxins and removes them from the smoke before it enters the lungs.

Lipstick

Some shimmery lipsticks owe their twinkle to fish scales. According to The Straight Dope, herring scales are processed into a product called “pearl essence,” which can be found in lipsticks, nail polishes, ceramic glazes, and other sparkly stuff. The fish are caught in giant nets and pumped into boats, a process that flenses the scales from their bodies, often while still alive. The scales are then sold to cosmetic companies.

Sugar

When it comes to sugar, the phrase “bone white” isn’t a metaphor. According to the non-profit Vegetarian Resource Group, cane sugar is often bleached using bone char from horses and cows, a.k.a. “natural charcoal.” Bone particles don’t end up in the final product; rather, the bone char is used as a filter. An average sugar filter contains about 70,000 pounds of bone char from approximately 7,800 animals. You can avoid bone char entirely if you buy sugar derived from beets, not sugar cane.

Bloody Marys

Sometimes it’s the ingredients in the ingredients. Bloody Marys are usually made with tomato juice, vodka, celery, and Worcestershire sauce, which contains anchovies, making it literally bloody. Some Bloody Mary recipes also call for beef consommé.

Heparin

The anticoagulant drug heparin is derived from the slippery mucosal tissue found in pig’s intestines and cow’s lungs. Used to treat blood clots, it was originally isolated in dog livers in 1916, and has since been found in a long list of animals, including sand dollars, humans, camels, whales, mice, fresh-water mussels, lobsters, and turkeys. Its natural purpose in the body is still not fully understood.

Green Motor Oil

Some companies have taken to replacing traditional petrochemical-based motor oil with cow fat. Companies claim to be able to make as much as one barrel of oil per barrel of tallow, as compared with the three barrels of petroleum needed to make one barrel of traditional motor oil.

Anyone bold enough to say they knew any of this?