Being American Means You Can Eat These Incredibly Unhealthy Additives Banned In Other Countries

Being in America, we have freedoms that many other countries do not enjoy. One of them is the freedom to eat foods that are truly horrible for us. Now, if we all knew exactly how bad many everyday comestibles are for our health, at least we could say we’re making the free choice to bombard our internal organs, with arsenic, ractopamine, brominated vegetable oil, chlorine and other, similarly mouth-watering ingredients.

But most us are probably either unaware, or dimly aware at best, of what we’re cramming down our pie holes on a daily basis. So, with a hat-tip to the photo collecting site Piximus, we present these foods that are banned in many other countries, but consumed every day here in the United States.

We should add that not everyone believes these additives are bad for you. One chemist, Derek Lowe of Duke University, told ABC News that revulsion at food additives is nothing but “chemophobia.”

And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration assures the public that it is on the case.

“The law requires that the FDA determine there is reasonable certainty that an additive does not cause harm when it is used as intended. The agency continues to monitor the science on food additives and is prepared to take appropriate action if there are safety concerns,” the agency said in a statement. “When determining that a food or ingredient is ‘generally recognized as safe’ or GRAS for its intended use in food, the same quantity and quality of evidence is required as is needed to approve a food additive.”

Anyway, this one sure looks delicious…

This looks slightly less appetizing.

If not wanting to eat arsenic makes us “chemophobes,” then fine, we’re chemophobes.

Well, at least the pigs were breathing freely.

A little flame retardant after your workout?

And you can use the leftovers to lubricate the engine of your car.

We prefer our chlorine in our swimming pools, actually.

The flame retardant bromine turns up in sandwich buns, too.

The same stuff in the soles of your favorite sneaks.

More appetizing ingredients.

Yes, antibiotics can make you sick, too.

Antibiotics — with a side of radiation!

In fairness, “ringspot virus” doesn’t sound too good, either.

Even little babies have the freedom to consume unhealthy chemicals.

If you think it’s unhealthy to eat atrazine, how’d you like to be these guys?

Yes, you read that right. “Anal leakage.”

And with that — what’s for dinner?