> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Are You Eating These Unsavory Ingredients? Part One
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/unsavory_ingredients_0217140835/
- Published: 2014-02-17T21:34:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T14:06:13.000Z
- Description: Two years after pink slime drove public revulsion, this piece flags azodicarbonamide, a dough conditioner also used in yoga mats and shoe soles. It is banned in Europe and Australia, and CSPI warns it yields the carcinogen urethane when baked into bread.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Comments, Opinion, #vivvo-import

By Martha Rosenberg

Two years ago, the nation's collective stomach churned when people learned they were eating a meat product called "pink slime." [Lean finely textured beef](http://www.beefproducts.com/press%5Freleases.php?ref=foodconsumer.org) as the industry called it was meat scraps that were once [earmarked for pet food, repurposed for the human dinner table, especially the National School Lunch Program. ](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/pink-slime-in-school-lunches-government-is-buying-7-million-pounds-worth/2012/03/07/gIQAKIzRxR%5Fblog.html?ref=foodconsumer.org)While the product looked like human intestines, what caused the national revulsion was that it was treated with *puffs of ammonia* to kill the bacterium E. coli. Yum.

Soon after the hoopla began, the main supplier of pink slime, Beef Products, Inc., announced it [was closing its](http://www.beefproducts.com/press%5Freleases.php?ref=foodconsumer.org) production facilities. But since then, other products the public did not know it was consuming or *want to consume* have surfaced and the manufacturers have not necessarily been as forthcoming. Here are some ingredients there is a good chance you are consuming.

**Azodicarbonamide in Bread** 

Until a month ago, few had heard of this "dough conditioner," intended to provide strength and improve elasticity. Like pink slime, it was azodicarbonamide's industrial overtones that drove indignation--it's "the same chemical used to make yoga mats, shoe soles, and other rubbery objects," wrote food[ blogger Vani Hari](http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2014/02/10/subway-to-remove-yoga-mat-chemical-from-bread-following-food-b/?ref=foodconsumer.org) in a successful petition to get Subway to remove the substance from its baked products. While World Health Organization tests found azodicarbonamide risks "uncertain," it has been linked to deaths in animals and allergic reactions in humans. Azodicarbonamide is banned in Europe and Australia and its use carries a prison sentence in Singapore says Hari. The[ Center for Science](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/chemical-subway-ditched-mcdonalds-wendys-use-it-too-n25051?ref=foodconsumer.org) in the Public Interest warns that when azodicarbonamide is baked in bread, it produces the carcinogen urethane. While Subway announced it is "in the process of removing azodicarbonamide as part of our bread improvement efforts," the dough conditioner is also used in food at McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, Arby's, Wendy's, Jack in the Box and Chick-fil-A. It is also in grocery store and restaurant breads, says CNN.

**Plastic Microbeads in Fish and Waterways** 

For years the consumer products industry has given us plastic microbeads in toothpaste, liquid hand soaps, skin exfoliators, other personal care products and industrial cleaners. While most people know the products like [Olay's body wash,](http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2008/06/scrubbing%5Fout%5Fsea%5Flife.html?ref=foodconsumer.org) Dove Gentle Exfoliating Foaming Facial Cleanser and Clean & Clear Daily Pore Cleanser increase the unethical plastic clogging of the planet's seas ("killing millions of sea creatures every year when they swallow it, choke on it, or get tangled in it and drown," according to Slate) it was widely believed that human health was spared. "Our assessment is that they will largely be removed during sewage treatment," Jay Gooch, associate director of external relations in beauty care at Procter & Gamble, reassured users. But last year, the microbeads were found in water samples in *three of the Great Lakes*, implying that wastewater treatment is not removing them. The remaining Great Lakes have yet to be tested. The beads, which work their way up the marine food chain, "absorb and retain chemical contaminants," says the [*Chicago Tribune.*](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-11/opinion/ct-edit-plastic-0811-jm-20130811%5F1%5Fgreat-lakes-lakes-michigan-and-ontario-water-samples?ref=foodconsumer.org)Some manufacturers are phasing out the beads but consumers should avoid any products that list the ingredient "polyethylene." 

**Brominated Vegetable Oil in Soft Drinks and Beverages** 

Like pink slime and azodicarbonamide, few had heard of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) or believed they were consuming it until recently. And, like pink slime and azodicarbonamide, it is brominated vegetable oil's (BVO) connection to industrial products that sparked outrage--the oil, from corn or soy, is bonded with the element bromine which is used in couches and carpets as [flame retardant](http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/health/an-ingredient-to-avoid-in-sports-drinks-20130401?ref=foodconsumer.org)s. Bromide is an endocrine disruptor and part of the halide family which includes fluorine, chlorine and iodine. It competes for the same receptors in the body as iodine and can cause iodine deficiency. Brominated flame retardants build up in people's bodies, including breast milk and animal and human research have linked them to early puberty and hormone and neurological problems. Excess consumption of drinks with BVO, used to keep flavoring dispersed in a beverage, have been [linked to](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soda-chemical-cloudy-health-history/?ref=foodconsumer.org) headaches, fatigue, ataxia (loss of muscle coordination), memory loss and swollen hands with ulcers. In late 2012, 15-year-old [Sarah Kavanagh of Hattiesburg](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/business/another-look-at-a-drink-ingredient-brominated-vegetable-oil.html?pagewanted=all&%5Fr=0&ref=foodconsumer.org), MS began a petition on Change.org for PepsiCo to remove BVO from Gatorade. Within a month, PepsiCo announced it planned to[ remove BVO](http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/FDA-Brominated-vegetable-oil-BVO-is-safe-so-removing-its-interim-status-is-not-a-priority?ref=foodconsumer.org) from Gatorade and replace it with sucrose acetate isobutyrate but six months later, [PepsiCo said](http://ksn.com/2013/07/23/34602-autosave/?ref=foodconsumer.org) it would *keep* BVO in Mountain Dew sold in the Americas. BVO is still reportedly in Squirt, Fanta Orange, Sunkist Pineapple and some flavors of Fresca and Poweraide.