7 Disturbing Facts About Fast Food

Everyone seems to know that fast food is bad for you, but no one really seems to be able to pinpoint any details why.

Perhaps knowing all the sordid facts behind how your cheeseburger is made or how your chicken nuggets are ground might actually deter you from hitting the drive through line so often, as there are a number of quite alarming practices involved in the fast food industry.

That taco may taste delicious, but if you knew what was really inside of it, you may not want to eat it anymore.

Considering eight out of 10 Americans eat fast food at least once a month, it’s important to know what you really are putting into your body. Next time you’re headed to your favorite drive through, consider these seven disturbing facts about fast food that will probably perturb you.

1. Soda Machines Contain Fecal Matter

You might be getting a side of fecal matter with your coca cola. A recent study found that 48 percent of soda fountains at fast food establishments contain coliform bacteria, a type of bacteria commonly found in feces. Eleven percent of these machines contained E. Coli as well.

Photo by joeymanley 

2. Burgers Can Contain Meat From 100 Different Cows

Unlike steak, which is made from one cut of one animal, burger patties are made with a mish-mash of muscle tissues from an unknown number of different cows. McDonalds even confirmed that they blend the meat of over 100 cattle to make their batches of minced meat.

3. Your Breakfast Sandwich Is Made With Ingredients Found In Soap

You might think that opting for an egg sandwich might be the healthier choice, but it turns out those breakfast sandwiches are made with more than just eggs. Most “eggs” used in these dishes are actually a combination of real eggs and “Premium Egg Blend,” which is really just a mix of ingredients that contain substances such as glycerin, a solvent found in soap, moisturizers, and shaving cream

4. Chicken Nuggets Barely Contain Chicken

Those little nuggets you are consuming don’t really contain much chicken. Studies have found that they are mostly composed of fat, bone, nerve, and connective tissue. These parts are then blended together and fried to form a nugget.

5. The “Healthy Options” Are Worse Than The Main Meals

Many people may believe ordering a salad is the far superior choice, but a large selection of fast food salads are worse for you than a Big Mac, which contains 550 calories, 30 grams of total fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, and 1000 mg of sodium. These salads often contain double the amount of calories than a burger and contain a number of chemicals and additives.

6. Milkshakes Can Contain Up To 59 Ingredients

A milkshake sounds innocent enough, right? Think again. Artificial flavors such as strawberry contain a plethora of chemicals, all mixed in with a variety of preservatives and other unhealthy additives such as high fructose corn syrup.

7. Eating Fast Food Can Shrink Your Brain And May Cause Alzheimer’s

That’s right: Research from the journal Neurology found that consumption of trans fat, one of the main ingredients in fast food, causes brain shrinkage that can not only lead to poorer memory, attention, language and processing skills, but also Alzheimer’s disease.

As always, be sure to consult with a trained medical professional or nutritionist when evaluating your dietary intake and any consumption concerns.