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Secrets About The Food Industry They Don't Want You To Know

Reddit user Lilyxrx asked: 'What’s a secret the food industry don’t want you to know?'

Assortment of various food
Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash

Whenever we go out to eat, be it at a fine dining establishment or a quick service window, some of us tend to wonder what the journey was for the food that we are looking at on our plates or in our take-out bags.

Many have similar thoughts when buying frozen or pre-packaged dinners at supermarkets.

The answers aren't always readily available, often because the food service industry will go to great lengths to keep them under lock and key. Well aware, most of the time, that current or former employees will spill the beans at one point or another.

Redditor Lilyxrx was curious to hear some of the most well guarded secrets of the food industry, leading them to ask:

"What’s a secret the food industry don’t want you to know?"

Next Time Your Craving Bananas Foster...

"The 'natural flavors' are just big jugs of glycerin with hyper concentrated flavoring in it."

"Banana flavoring is fairly flammable."

"Source: Worked in food manufacturing."- irony_in_the_UK·

Cholesterol Be Darned!

"Chef here."

"It’s salt and fat."

"If you have a question about anything it’s salt and fat."- LongRest

For Efficiency's Sake...

"Olive Garden makes all their necessary pastas for the whole day from 8-10am every morning."

"Partially cooked."

"So when an order comes through, they grab a serving of the needed pasta style and flash cook them in hot water."

"Also, it’s just the brand, Barilla."- Deerhunter86

Justin Bieber Food GIF Giphy

Before You Pay The Extra Money...

"Beekeeper checking in."

"There is no such thing as organic honey."

"I do not treat my bees with chemicals, but I have no idea where they get their nectar."

"A bee can fly up to three miles from a hive to get nectar."

"It is virtually impossible to guarantee they have not gotten nectar from a chemically treated source."- toad__warrior·

If You Ever Wonder What Makes It Taste So Good...

"Unless it’s a health conscious food joint you’re eating at, the food we serve is designed for maximum taste."

"It’s either dense with fat and sugar, or fat and salt "

"E.G. Those mashed potatoes you like?"

"Made with cream, butter, and salt."

"The quiche?"

"Made on cream, not milk."

"Etc, etc."- petuniasweetpea

Before You Start Bragging...

"Dragon fruit isn’t an exotic Asian fruit."

"It’s a cactus fruit, and as such are native to the Americas and can even be grown in the US."- ferretmonkey

dragon fruit GIF by Feliks Tomasz Konczakowski Giphy

In Case You're Wondering why That Taste Is So Familiar...

"A lot of the processed cheese and cream cheese is all the same recipe we just switch the labels and packaging for the different brands we run."

"Source: I work in a cheese factory in a company that services 75% of America's domestic market."- anon5678903276

Another Reason To Have No Guilt Over Take Out...

"Well."

"I work at Dominos, and we are kept afloat by the people who don't coupon and pay full menu price."

"You people are the unsung heroes of labor."- LoweeLL

Unlike Any Chocolate...

"When I worked at a mass production bakery the chocolate for the chocolate covered doughnuts came in giant frozen blocks of 4x4 pieces and contained no actual chocolate what so over."

"When unfrozen it was like some sort of nasty smelling paraffin wax that I would break up with a hammer and place into a melter that would then pour over the doughnuts."- gil_beard

Chocolate Dessert GIF by HuffPost Giphy

What Do Orange Juice And Whiskey Have In Common?

"The reason orange juice tastes consistently the same year round, even though it's a crop harvested once a year, is because citrus oils and citrus flavor are added back to different batches and blended all together."

"Similar to how whiskey is blended from multiple barrels to make it consistent."

"The difference is that even though extra stuff is added back into the OJ, it doesn't need to be labeled because the flavors contain all ingredients from oranges (FTNF-from the named fruit) so the FDA doesn't mandate labeling additional ingredients."- PensiveDoughnut

Does That Explain Their Shape?

"Pringles (and baked Lays/similar) are made of rehydrated and compressed rejected/excess parts of potatoes that go into regular chips."

"I learned that from my dietician at work and thought that was odd."

"I still like them over regular chips."- bluesasaurusrex

A Secret Better Not Known...

"The 11 herbs and spices secret recipe."- NemoTheOneTrueGod

Food Pouring GIF by Great Big Story Giphy

Just Pop It In The Fryer...

"I was a young lad working at Church's Fried Chicken during the summer, many years ago."

"The owner refused to throw out chicken that had already gone bad; to the point where you'd gag if you smell them."

"Apparently if you batter them bad boys up and deep fry them, the rancid smell goes away."

"His customers never knew they were eating spoiled chicken."- Dirt_E_Harry·

Sweet... But Safe!

"The amount of sugar that goes into Costco bakery products is absurd, especially the apple pie."

"That being said; Costco does not f*ck around when it comes to food safety."

"Every area that is responsible for producing food is most likely cleaner than a white room for producing computer parts."

"There are virtually zero roaches, we found one in the bakery once and shut it down until the exterminator did his thing that very night."

"Someone returned a package of dinner rolls because their child had bit into one and a sharp piece of metal was in it, within less than 2 minutes every manager in the building was doing an investigation that led all the way up to the regional manager and his boss for several hours and determined that it had come off of a piece of machinery before it reached our location."

"We throw away rotisserie chickens if they have left (even for a few minutes) the shelf and someone tries to put it back."- Deathnachos

Costco GIF by hero0fwar Giphy

We'd like to think that everyone who works in the food industry shares the same high standards.

But, as in any industry, there are those out there who will cut corners for speedier results.

On the bright side, it does save you the trouble when deciding what cream cheese to buy...


People Explain Which Things They'll Never Tell Their Significant Other About

Reddit user Janine_18 asked: 'What's the one thing you'll never tell your SO?'

woman making the shushing gesture

Bjorn Pierre on Unsplash

Full disclosure at all times with your significant other, right?

Yeah, good luck with that.

Let's get real—there are things we don't tell our partners for a lot of reasons.

Sometimes you just don't feel like having to explain something that doesn't really affect them.

Sometimes you're protecting them from something that will have a devastating effect on them.

These are probably going to be more that second one...

Keep reading... Show less
Caution Tape at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.
Photo by Andy Feliciotti

There are certain theories most deem to be "crackpot."

But, there are some conspiracy theories that have a surprising amount of evidence behind them.

Enough that those conspiracies almost seem to hold water as it were.

If only we could all get a little truth from the higher-ups.

A little truth goes a long way, but they insist on holding onto secrets and lies.

I have a laundry list of questions.

And I'm not the only one.

Redditor CommonBeginning3132 wanted to hear about everyone's theories on what we're NOT being told by our elected officials, so they asked:

"What is something that you’re for sure the US government is hiding from us?"

I want to know about the money they "burn."

I refuse to believe it's all trashed.

The Harvest

artificial intelligence no GIF by ADWEEK Giphy

"That comment sections are just one large data harvest of random human thoughts and that data is used to fine-tune AI."

SLObro152

"Well, time to break out the REAL gibberish then."

nogtank

Past Due Date

"How many members of Congress are taking medications that would early retire anyone in the private sector."

TheBubbaDave"

There are likely several members of Congress taking Aricept or Namenda for dementia. Typically once someone needs to start taking those kinds of meds, they're no longer capable of working in an office job (or any job, to be honest)."

BananaPants430

"I wonder at what moment aging politicians realize they're no longer considered a leader in their party and from now on they'll just be occupying a seat for that party for the rest of their lives."

Stumpfinger1

Live Missiles

"I'm convinced that our ICBM protection system is far more accurate than the Pentagon is willing to admit."

KCalifornia19

"The problem with a system protecting the US from nuclear attack is that such a system, no matter how well designed, would be hugely complex, can never be fully tested, and must be close to 100% effective on its first use to have any value."

Renaissance_Slacker

"I was in the navy and my ship was the designated ICBM test ship for the new AEGIS system, we shot down decoy missiles all the time and were 100% effective."

"The missiles are live, there are just no active warheads on them."

iSniffMyPooper

Locations

"The location of nuclear submarines."

Pennsyltuckey54

"The only people who know exactly where the subs are are the navigational and commanding officers on the sub. Even the intelligence and commanding officers that assign the zones for the subs don’t know exactly where they are at any given point. Only the general area they are designated."

TheEveryEmpireFalls

Look Up

Hover Area 51 GIF by Gashhuds Giphy

"UFOs and not the alien kind. I'm talking about super high-end secret stuff the military has and is still testing out."

DiamondOrBust

Are they out there?

Will we ever truly know?

They keep a tight lid on that one.

Follow the Money

Bugs Bunny Money GIF by Looney Tunes Giphy

"How many politicians have secret offshore bank accounts full of embezzled taxpayer dollars."

Firetaymer70

Money Talks

"The impact wealthy individuals with personal interests have in politics, inside and abroad."

contessamiau

"Just remember when they talk about American interests abroad they aren't talking about the normal citizen's interests. Realistically what happens in some far away land is going to have little impact on my daily life. What they are really talking about is corporate interests every single time. Smedley Butler tried to warn us almost 100 years ago but we just brushed him off."

Slumminwhitey

Budgets

"Good Lord. Clearly, no one commenting here has ever known anyone working for the federal government. The biggest secret they’re keeping from you is that every government agency spends money like a coke addict in the month of September so that their budgets won’t get slashed in the next fiscal year."

tonovay

"Every single bureaucratic organization in the world does this. It’s not a secret at all."

sdreal

What Did They Find?

"I have a very personal reason for wanting to know what they found at Roswell. My grandfather was in the Air Force and was present at the site. All he ever said about it was, 'It wasn’t a damn weather balloon,' then shut down. He was low-ranking, basically just there to drive the higher-ranking personnel, but he saw something, and I wanted to know what it was! He also firmly believed in aliens, so that just adds to my curiosity, especially given how Southern Baptist he was."

GloInTheDarkUnicorn

Happenstance

Always Sunny Reaction GIF Giphy

"Used to believe in this stuff until I started working in government. I’m now convinced that most conspiracy theories can be explained by pure incompetence."

Puzzleheaded_Ice_233

Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.

man in black crew neck shirt making shushing gesture

Sander Sammy on Unsplash

Trust is key to any relationship, whether it's romantic, platonic or even just professional.

But does establishing and maintaining trust require full disclosure at all times?

In professional and platonic relationships, some mystery is understandable. Your friends and especially your coworkers don't need to be all up in your personal life.

But what about a significant other? Is there ever a reason to keep secrets from your sig-o?

Keep reading... Show less

As much as we know about the world around us, we can't know everything. This is especially true when we think about a field or profession we're not directly involved in or with,

The film industry is a good example. Unless we're directly involved, we really know nothing about what it's like to make movies. How much of that computer hacking scene is based in reality? Is that a real disease? Did the actor do that entire stunt himself, or was there a stunt double helping?

Reddit is full of professionals who know the secrets of their industries and are ready to share.

It all started when Redditor pocketcrackers asked:

"What fact is common knowledge in your field, but almost unknown to the rest of the population?"

Let's Get Out Of Here!

"People almost always try to exit through the same door they entered. In a crowded venue ALWAYS take a second to find your exit and then find a second exit. Mark them in your brain just in case. In an emergency most of the crowd is going to go for the main door they came in through. Knowing where another exit is can save your life."

– Spiritual_Worth

Be Aware Of Symptoms

"UTIs will often cause confusion in people over 70."

– silly-billy-goat

"I work in the mental health field. Often I’m told a loved one has dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc. I will ask about symptom onset and they’ll say “a couple days” or something similar. A round of antibiotics later and the loved one is usually back to their baseline. UTIs in older folks are wild."

– ChicagoOwls

Stronger Than You Think

"When you're taking Imodium you're actually taking an opioid. But it's designed to only interact with the opioid receptors in your digestive tract to slow down your intestines. Scientists were like hey. You know that anti-diarrhea medication heroin? Well what if we made a version of that without the pesky side effects of getting you high?"

– NotMyDogPaul

Come On, Stand

"Your calf muscles act as a pump for your lymph fluid, which is basically the garbage pick-up and immunity doordash of your body. Without flexing your calf, the fluid has no way of moving against gravity. Each time we walk, the muscles contract, squeezing the fluid back up towards the core for processing.That's why sitting for long periods causes swelling in the legs."

– Orange-Enough

If We Could Only Speed Up...

"Trucker here and we don't want to be anywhere near you either."

"Go around or stay back don't just ride right beside us. We can't see you very well when you are beside us and if sh*t happens you're gonna go splat."

"It is very very very rare that any driver wants to slow you down it's not like we get our rocks off on making you late. We work extremely long hours on very little sleep and we just wanna get where we are going without getting in an accident and killing someone."

"Trust me if we could go faster we damn sure would."

"Also if you give us the fist pump to honk our horn you just made our whole week. That's one of the greatest joys in a truckers life."

"Be safe out there!!"

– MissPatricia024

Not Your Fault

"Bed bugs don’t make you a nasty person with a nasty home. An infestation isn’t due to a sanitation issue. They’re an imported pest, which means they hitched a ride on something you brought into the house. Usually luggage or furniture."

– LosPetty1992

Real Or Not Real

"In any given nature documentary, the protagonist animal you’re rooting for is ‘played’ by several different ‘actors’ - i.e. that one brown bear’s story is patched together from footage of a bunch of different bears. And in about 90% of the ‘animal reacting’ shots they’re reacting to the camera crew. Nature documentaries are heavily constructed."

– BootsyRootsy

"Also all those amazing closeups of bugs and small critters burrowing and stuff are done on a set in a studio."

"Honestly, when you learn about all the work that goes into creating such a documentary, it's even more impressive."

– donkeyhawt

"I refuse to believe that one iguana running from all those snakes was multiple iguanas. Little man (woman?) ran its little heart out and earned its place in this world!"

– nozer12168

Gathering Info

"The point of most loyalty programs isn't to give you points so you'll shop more (though that isn't a bad thing) it's to gather data (i.e. where do you shop, how often, how much do you buy there, what sort of things at what price points, etc etc.). For us marketing types, data is king (even small things like if a cashier asks for your zip code)."

–inostranetsember

Grey's Anatomy Lied

"When a person “flat lines” you cannot shock them out of it."

– unassumingtoaster

"Chest compressions!! Chest compressions!! Chest compressions!!"

"- Dr. Mike"

– thedanishgirl02

The Movies Also Lied

"Movie hacking: "I've decrypted the firewall and begun a brute force method on the internal systems, but they have a quantum lock on the googleplex, I'll be sure to upload a dinglehopper and slay the Jabberwocky.""

"Real hacking: "I called a random employee and pretended to be IT, they gave me admin privileges in 5 minutes.""

– wererat2000

Ick.

"When I worked as a barista: how much f**king syrup is in flavored drinks. At the cafe I worked at, we measured flavoring by grams. If you got a large mocha, that motherf**ker would have like 110 grams of chocolate sauce in it."

"If you want a little bit of flavor, I suggest only 1 pump. 2 max."

– miss_queeferson

Verify, Don't Trust

"Historian here: everything you read, regardless of source, has the biases of whoever wrote it woven throughout. I will tell a much different account of a Roman Battle if I am a Roman citizen than if I am a Gaul. Same goes for modern times, I will tell a much different account of an event as a liberal woman than if I was a conservative man. That's why checking and vetting sources is our biggest advice, remember the context that the author is writing from when you're reading!"

– Chutzpah3

"The world runs on MS Excel."

– Boulavogue

How very true!

Do you have any tea to spill? Let us know in the comment below.