Friday, April 13, 2012

7 Products You Didn’t Know Were Made From Animals

InsuranceQuotes.org informs:


  1. Red dye


    Strawberry yogurt, red lipstick, fruit punch, blush; these everyday products have one thing in common – their red coloring. But where does this rosy red color come from you ask? Oh, why the cochineal bug of course! This scale insect is native to South America and Mexico and has been harvested for its red-colored dye for centuries. The cochineal extract is obtained by grinding the dried bodies and eggs of the insects and mixed with another substance like aluminum or calcium salts to make the commercial dye known as carmine. Although carmine is considered safe by the FDA, it has been found to cause allergic reactions and asthma in some people.


  2. Perfume


    Ahh, perfume. Can't live without it, can't believe what's in it. The secret behind the stinky stuff is a little something called ambergris, which is – wait for it – basically whale puke. The ingredient is a byproduct of digestion from whales. Waxy and putrid-smelling, ambergris is the ideal perfume fixative to reduce the evaporation rate and stabilize the mix. Can you say P.U.?
  3. Sugar


    Sugar might seem sweet and simple, but have you ever thought about how it got that white coloring? That familiar "bone white" color of your granulated sugar comes from, gulp, the bone char of cows. During the refining process, bone char is used to whiten cane sugar by absorbing color-forming impurities. According to the Vegetarian Resource Group, the use of bone char, or "natural charcoal" as it's now called, is still commonplace in large American cane sugar companies. Turns out there's nothing sweet about white sugar after all.
  4. Mascara


    Mascara can do wonders for your eyelashes, but have you ever wondered what that black goop is really made of? No, it's not guano (bat poop). It's actually made with guanine, a substance extracted from fish scales. This additive gives cosmetics a pearly iridescent effect, which explains why shampoos, nail polishes, eye shadows, and lipsticks also have that shimmery luster.
  5. Shellac


    Considering how much shellac smells like chemicals, no one would really guess that it's made with something as natural as resin. Shellac uses the secretion made by the female lac insect that lives on trees in India and Thailand. The resin is processed and broken down into tiny, dry flakes that are sold to make liquid shellac that's commonly used as a varnish, furniture sealer, and glaze for food and pharmaceuticals.
  6. Piano keys and violin strings


    This won't be music to your ears, but some musical instruments are made with animal products. Piano keys, for example, are rarely made from ivory these days, but they can contain animal hooves, horns, and bones. But the most common animal-derived musical instrument is the gut-string. The gut-string is exactly what it sounds like. It's made from the intestines of sheep, cattle, or goats, as well as kangaroos and water buffaloes. It can take up to three animals just to produce one string.
  7. Fabric softener


    Fabric softener gives your clothes a soft, cuddly feel unlike any other product, but can you guess what ingredient is responsible for this effect? A rendered form of animal fat called tallow is the answer. Tallow comes from beef or lamb fat and its commercial forms may contain fat from other animals like pigs, sheep, and horses. The fatty acids that make up tallow coat the fibers of fabrics to make them soft. Still want to snuggle up with your animal fat-coated blankets now?

(ViaMarkPerry)

1 comment:

  1. somewhat false...ambergris has been replaced by synthetics for a while now. Thought it was used in perfume for many years, this article is rather misleading.

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