The baking industry's ”hairy” little secret...

Who would have imagined that the slice of garlic bread that you just served to your family for dinner contained human hair? Yes, you are reading that right…human hair!! It can be found in many baked goods such as, bread, pizza crusts, cake doughnuts, bagels, and cookies. Human hair is listed on the ingredient panel as L-Cysteine. It is a non -essential amino acid that is added to these foods to enhance the stretchiness of the dough. L-cysteine is isolated through a chemical process by dissolving the human hair in acid. The source of L-Cysteine is not limited to only human hair, but to chicken and duck feathers, cow horns, and petroleum by-products.

L-Cysteine is only manufactured in China, Japan, and Germany. The majority of all USA L-Cysteine comes from human hair because it is the cheapest source. Now, for those of you wondering whose hair you’re eating, the majority of it comes from Chinese women who sell their hair to chemical processing plants.

I don’t know about you, but the thought of consuming someone’s dissolved hair is very unsettling, or might I just say down right disgusting! Oh, and did I mention that it can be found in baby formula!! I guess they figure what better way to give your baby some added nutrients (another reason to breast feed)! With China’s less than perfect reputation when it comes to their manufacturing practices and with the recent nuclear explosion that took place in Japan, the thought of not only consuming human hair, but the very real possibility of consuming radioactive human hair, scares me enough to put any product containing that hairy little ingredient back on the shelf!





Sources: http://www.albalagh.net/halal/col2.shtml