This Disgusting Ingredient Could Be The Real Reason Behind Chocolate Allergies
Allergies are the worst, especially when you're allergic to delicious things like chocolate. But recent research claims that your allergies might actually be caused by something other than cocoa. And that secret ingredient is actually crushed cockroach parts. LiveScience reports:
...the average chocolate bar contains eight insect parts. Anything less than 60 insect pieces per 100 grams of chocolate (two chocolate bars' worth) is deemed safe for consumption by the Food and Drug Administration.
Allergists say most foods contain natural contaminants. Aside from chocolate, cockroach parts also make their way into peanut butter, macaroni, fruit, cheese, popcorn and wheat. The roach bits can affect people with asthma, as well causing migraines, cramps, itching or hives in people who are allergic to them.
And it gets worse:Allergists say most foods contain natural contaminants. Aside from chocolate, cockroach parts also make their way into peanut butter, macaroni, fruit, cheese, popcorn and wheat. The roach bits can affect people with asthma, as well causing migraines, cramps, itching or hives in people who are allergic to them.
According to Morton Teich, an allergist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, contamination by cockroaches and their droppings is unavoidable, because it happens at cocoa beans' source — the farms where they are produced. Preventing them from infiltrating the harvest would require the use of more pesticides, which Teich says are much worse for you than consuming a few extra bug parts.
Avoiding insects in your food is "almost impossible," Teich told ABC. "You probably would have to stop eating completely."
The good news is that these cockroach allergies can be
treated... via allergy shots that contain trace amounts of the insect.
So if you're willing to have that under your skin for chocolate, then we wish you the best of luck.Avoiding insects in your food is "almost impossible," Teich told ABC. "You probably would have to stop eating completely."
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