HEALTH

Taco Bell

The “Seasoned Beef” at Taco Bell doesn’t qualify as ground beef, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Why? Because the second ingredient is water, and the USDA says water cannot be in something labeled “ground beef.” So, seasoned beef. Yum.

Doritos

You know that addictive nacho cheese coating? The powdery kind that sticks to your fingers? Yeah, it takes 36 ingredients to make that. One of those ingredients is MSG, or monosodium glutamate, which sends “eat more!” signals to your brain and has been known to cause side effects like nausea and headaches.

Coca Cola

The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. We’re not ribbing on chemicals, ‘cause really, chemicals make up everything on Earth. But this particular chemical is so acidic, it will dissolve a nail in 4 days.

M&Ms

Like many other red-colored mass-produced foods, M&Ms include Red 40 dye. Though the FDA has said there is not enough evidence of the coloring causing health problems, studies have shown that it can damage the DNA in mice. In the ‘70s, an inconclusive study suggested it could cause cancer. And, oh yeah, it’s so questionable that it’s been outlawed in Europe.

MiO

The only ingredient we can get behind in Kraft’s concentrated “liquid water enhancer” is the first one, water. The others are all chemicals, and some of them are on the dubious side of the safety line: citric acid, propylene glycol, malic acid, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, potassium citrate, red 40, blue 1 and the preservative potassium sorbate. Sure, it’s 0 calories…but so is a squirt of fresh citrus, right?

Oreos

If you’re craving a chocolate fix, you might want to look elsewhere. Chocolate is that last ingredient in Oreos—and we’re not even talking about Double Stuffed. First ingredient? Sugar.

‘Fess up! Which of these is your guilty pleasure?

by Brittany Taylor | 2/1/2016