Common Bread Ingredient, L-Cysteine Derived From Human Hair

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Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
32,886
12,165
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Yep, they start with a huge empty vat and employees start cutting their own hair... :rolleyes: it's "derived" from hair, your not eating actual hair, it's used as a dough conditioner to help speed up processing time. If enough people complain then this will stop, as in now your seeing tons of products without any high fructose corn syrup on the shelves.

"pink slime"

HFCS is a different argument, IMO. a lot of people say the sugar-based products actually taste better. i've never done a side by side comparison though.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,137
9,580
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HFCS is a different argument, IMO. a lot of people say the sugar-based products actually taste better. i've never done a side by side comparison though.

I get Mexican, and American special sugar release drinks every so often, and I don't notice much of a difference. The Mexican Coke tastes a bit different, but I'd attribute that more to differences in plants, rather than sweeteners. I'm not a soda connoisseur though, so who knows?
 

SKORPI0

Lifer
Jan 18, 2000
18,469
2,409
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L-Cysteine in Bread Products Still Mostly Sourced from Human Hair, Duck Feathers, Hog Hair D:

A manager of company that produces non-animal L-cysteine stated in September 2010 that the major animal source of L-cysteine today was "human hair mostly" followed by "duck feathers or hog hair when the human hair supply was low." According to this source, feathers and hog hair "are reportedly inefficient compared to [human] hair [in yielding great quantities of L-cysteine]. So if there is a problem with hair [supply], then hog hair or feathers may be a backup."
In September 2010, the VRG asked companies that produce non-animal versions of L-cysteine how their product was doing on the market. Estimates given by the leading companies put the vegetable-based fermentation or synthetic product at approximately 10% of the L-cysteine market today. The reason given for the low market share is the high price of non-animal L-cysteine (two to three times as much) compared to the much cheaper and much more plentiful Chinese (and Indian, to a lesser but growing degree), supply.
A second reason given is that a growing number of food companies are demanding a "natural" product and a "synthetic" L-cysteine does not meet that criterion. Furthermore, a major reseller of L-cysteine told us in September 2010 that the company policy is to label anything using an animal-derived (i.e., hair or feathers) L-cysteine as "non-vegetarian" even though it is still technically "vegetarian" and considered "natural." Their labeling decision was precautionary in response to those who prefer to avoid all animal-sourced ingredients. (Note: one company does sell an L-cysteine manufactured through microbial fermentation and another is in the process of developing their own fermentation technique. The latter company estimates that it may take two-three years to perfect the process on an industrial scale and then bring it to market.)

True fact: A common ingredient in commercial breads is derived from human hair harvested in China

(NaturalNews) If you read the ingredients label on a loaf of bread, you will usually find an ingredient listed there as L-cysteine. This is a non-essential amino acid added to many baked goods as a dough conditioner in order to speed industrial processing. It's usually not added directly to flour intended for home use, but you'll find it throughout commercial breads such as pizza dough, bread rolls and pastries.

While some L-cysteine is directly synthesized in laboratories, most of it is extracted from a cheap and abundant natural protein source: human hair. The hair is dissolved in acid and L-cysteine is isolated through a chemical process, then packaged and shipped off to commercial bread producers. Besides human hair, other sources of L-cysteine include chicken feathers, duck feathers, cow horns and petroleum byproducts.

Most of the hair used to make L-cysteine is gathered from the floors of barbershops and hair salons in China, by the way.

While the thought of eating dissolved hair might make some people uneasy, most Western consumers ultimately have no principled objections doing so. For Jews and Muslims, however, hair-derived L-cysteine poses significant problems. Muslims are forbidden from eating anything derived from a human body, and many rabbis forbid hair consumption for similar reasons. Even rabbis who permit the consumption of hair would forbid it if it came from corpses -- and since much L-cysteine comes from China, where sourcing and manufacturing practices are notoriously questionable, this is a real concern. In one case, a rabbi forbade the consumption of L-cysteine because the hair had been harvested during a ritual at a temple in India.
 
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RapidSnail

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2006
4,257
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It will be both humorous and disappointing to watch people panic over a completely natural amino acid in their food sources simply because of its source. It does not matter AT ALL where the product is derived from so long as it is isolated and purified following extraction. L-cysteine is L-cysteine whether it comes from "natural" food sources, a laboratory, or discarded hair. The only things that are important, with respect to the identity of a chemical product, are molecular constitution and stereochemistry. Nothing else matters.
 

Nintendesert

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2010
7,761
5
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Some of you anti-science fuckers need to go back to the dark ages and let the rest of us keep progressing.
 

SandEagle

Lifer
Aug 4, 2007
16,809
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It will be both humorous and disappointing to watch people panic over a completely natural amino acid in their food sources simply because of its source. It does not matter AT ALL where the product is derived from so long as it is isolated and purified following extraction. L-cysteine is L-cysteine whether it comes from "natural" food sources, a laboratory, or discarded hair. The only things that are important, with respect to the identity of a chemical product, are molecular constitution and stereochemistry. Nothing else matters.

shit is a natural source of protein and other vitamins and minerals. here, let me add some to your milkshake and see if you like it. oh don't worry, we'll isolate and purify it before giving it to you :rolleyes:

they should label all food with all ingredients. natural flavor just don't cut it no more.
 
Nov 3, 2004
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shit is a natural source of protein and other vitamins and minerals. here, let me add some to your milkshake and see if you like it. oh don't worry, we'll isolate and purify it before giving it to you :rolleyes:

they should label all food with all ingredients. natural flavor just don't cut it no more.

Did you know that manure is often used to fertilize crops? So those veggies you're eating came from shit!! Ohh noooooo.
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
shit is a natural source of protein and other vitamins and minerals. here, let me add some to your milkshake and see if you like it. oh don't worry, we'll isolate and purify it before giving it to you :rolleyes:

they should label all food with all ingredients. natural flavor just don't cut it no more.

If you ever drink water, you're drinking the processed pee pee of countless millions of other people.:eek:
 

RapidSnail

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2006
4,257
0
0
shit is a natural source of protein and other vitamins and minerals. here, let me add some to your milkshake and see if you like it. oh don't worry, we'll isolate and purify it before giving it to you :rolleyes:

they should label all food with all ingredients. natural flavor just don't cut it no more.

You completely missed the point. :(

Nowhere did I say we should add discarded hair to bread or food products. L-cysteine is nothing more than an amino acid common to both body tissues and food stuffs (should be obvious that things we eat become part of us). Extracting L-cysteine from hair is equivalent to recycling the amino acid from an organic source. The hair is not what's in your bread; only the purified amino acid. Your analogy entirely missed the target.