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Human Hair Used As Food Ingredient!!!

27K views 80 replies 46 participants last post by  GNUmoe 
#1 ·
Quote:
I'll have a hair pizza please!

China's barber shops are about the last place you might expect to find a food ingredient. None the less, this is where the food industry obtains a good proportion of the raw material - human hair - for one of its favorite additives. It is commonly seen on packaged food ingredient lists as L - cysteine, or L - cysteine Hydrochloride (HCL). The additive can be produced in two ways: synthetically, from non-organic bases such as petroleum, or directly from human hair. It can be much cheaper to use human hair, which contains up to 8 per cent of the natural amino acid cysteine.

Cysteine is used as a flavoring and a dough enhancer, but by the time it reaches our pizzas and snacks the hair has been thoroughly processed and reduced to its chemical constituents. Still, it is extraordinary to think that the body can be recycled and re-enter the food chain so abruptly. More extraordinary, perhaps, is the journey it makes from the the Far East to our food. Why the food - additives industry should favor hair from this particular region is clear: its homogenous abundance - China has a head count of one billion - and according to the food - ingredient expert Dr John Meyer, because "it's easy to collect nice, clean, tied - up bales of human hair there". The hair is collected, cleaned, processed and then chemically converted into L - cysteine in Far East factories.

"There are very few renewable human resources, but cysteine is one of them," says Dr Meyer, who is responsible for sourcing kosher foods for the Jewish Orthodox Union of America. "You often find it in yeast flavors and you might find it in a savory flavor for almost anything." Muslims are also aware of its presence in food. According to Koranic law, Muslims are forbidden to eat anything containing L - cysteine because it may be derived from human hair. America is ahead in keeping track of all the added ingredients in processed food - kosher food marked with a "U" on the ingredients means it is free of L - cysteine, but elsewhere in the world there is no standard method of identifying foods containing L - cysteine.

"L - cysteine may be present in a number of foods, but it is not always listed on the ingredients," says Richard Ratcliffe, the executive secretary of the British Food Additives and Ingredients Association. "Additives regulations in Europe require manufacturers to list additives and class them as a coloring, for example. But L - cysteine is not regarded as a food additive. It is seen as a processing aid. The food processors decide whether or not to list something like L - cysteine depending on the amounts used. "Nor, of course, do the manufacturers have to state if the L - cysteine used is hair-derived or otherwise."

"The chemical process of converting hair to food additive has been known for a hundred years and couldn't be simpler," says Professor Derek Burke, the former chairman of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes. For those of us who do feel queasy about hair chemicals in food, not only may the use of cysteine seem cannibalistic, but there are also chilling associations with Auschwitz, where it was produced in a hair - chemicals plant. But if cysteine's provenance appears somewhat stomach-turning, then consider the chemical's benefits. Health - supplement fans rave about it. According to a health-products retailer, cysteine is one of the body's most effective anti-oxidants and destroyers of the metabolism's toxic waste products, that are said to accelerate aging. Cysteine is also naturally produced in sulphur-containing foods such as egg yolks, red peppers, garlic, onions, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

The Government's of America and Europe believe cysteine, human hair-derived or otherwise, as a perfectly safe. In fact, the view is that it is just one of several additives regarded as essential if we are to continue to enjoy safe, cheap food with a long shelf life. And, say its champions, since cysteine is hairy by nature, it can help prevent hair loss and stimulate its growth.
http://www.keratin.com/ar/ar010.shtml

Quote:
Eating Human Hair by Another Name?

L-Cysteine from human hair is haram.

By Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed

Posted: 26 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1422, 18 June 2001

Your bakery product may contain human hair and you may not even realize it. It comes in the form of L-Cysteine, a non-essential amino acid. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. There are 20 amino acids of which 8 are essential for human growth. The amount of these essential amino acids in a protein determines its quality. Casein, a milk protein, has the highest quality of protein whereas wheat proteins are lacking in amino acid Lysine, so they have less quality than milk protein.

L is refers to levorotatory a type of optical rotation of a compound under plane-polarized light.

L-Cysteine is used as a reducing agent in bakery products. It is used to:

Reduce the mixing time of the flour dough.

Stop shrinking of pizza crust after it is flattened.

Help move the dough through various bakery processing equipments or dough conditioners.

L-Cystein is used in Bagels, Croissants, Hard Rolls, Cake Donuts (from human hair in Dunkin Donut's cake donuts only, Yeast raised donuts do not contain L-Cysteine), Pita Bread, some Crackers and Melba Toast. It is also used as a nutrient in baby milk formula and dietary supplements.

The source of L-Cysteine is human hair, chicken feathers, cow horn, petroleum by-products and synthetic material. It was reported by a food company that a Rabbi refused to Kosher certify L-cysteine from human hair obtained from a temple in India where hairs are cut because of religious rituals.

L-Cysteine is manufactured in Japan, China and Germany only. Human hair is the cheapest source for L-cysteine.

Majority of L-Cysteine used in USA is from human hair, which is its cheapest source. There is no pressure from consumers in USA and Canada to ban it.

Some reports suggest that European Union countries are thinking to ban the use of L-Cystiene from human hair in food products. There is no pressure from consumers in USA and Canada to ban the L-Cysteine from human hair. It is a haram product for Muslims because it is a part of human body. Islam does not allow to consume any part of human body. Some Rabbis accept it as Kosher ingredient saying it is dead part of the body but some do not.

Majelis Ulema of Indonesia has halal certified L-Cysteine from synthetic material for Ajinomoto Company and this L-Cysteine is used in USA by Caravan Products of New Jersey in their mixes for bakery industry.

Majority of L-Cysteine used in USA is from human hair, so please read the ingredients on the package, if you find it call or write to manufacturer and find out the source of L-Cysteine and also tell them that you can not use it from human hair.
http://www.albalagh.net/halal/col2.shtml

What is cysteine/cystine?

Also known as l-cystine, our research indicates that the source of cysteine is human hair. Cystine is an amino acid needed by humans, which can be produced by the human body. A very small quantity is used in less than 5% of all bread products. Often the hair of third world women is used.

-http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faqingredients.htm#cystine

Ingredient: L-CYSTINE

Description

How the chemical is regulated: Flavor, Direct food additive; chemical is used as: FLAVOR ENHANCER, FLAVORING AGENT OR ADJUVANT, NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT, DOUGH STRENGTHENER;

Description

According to the researh by Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed, 99% of L-Cystine in the US is obtained from HUMAN HAIR. It is used in Pizza crusts, hard rools and crooissants. It is Kosher certified ingredient even if it is from Human hair. It is suggested check the source of L-Cystine even if the product is certified Kosher

http://www.whatisinit.com/frames/fra...gredients=1068
 
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#7 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by YumHummus

http://www.keratin.com/ar/ar010.shtml

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

According to the researh by Syed Rasheeduddin Ahmed, 99% of L-Cystine in the US is obtained from HUMAN HAIR. It is used in Pizza crusts, hard rools and crooissants. It is Kosher certified ingredient even if it is from Human hair. It is suggested check the source of L-Cystine even if the product is certified Kosher

http://www.whatisinit.com/frames/fra...gredients=1068
I am so glad I no longer order pizza.
 
#13 ·
Yummie..Nothing surprises me...My first job was answering calls for a major cereal maker.....lets just say over the few months of answering these calls I no longer eat cereal for a morning snack....Here are a few that I recall.....spiders, moths, flies, ants, larvae eggs, condoms, cig butts, glass, fingernails, a block of sugar, burnt cereal....A lot of this crap falls out of workers pockets in the production phase of the product. I handled each call the same way...."one moment while I transfer you to a consumer relations specialist"...After leaving them on hold for 30 minutes, these people that were annoying the hell out of me with all of their problems, would finally hang up. The fine art of customer relations by KC Kid.
 
#16 ·
I first read this article a long, long, time ago... but seeing this thread put it back in my head last week, when my mother went shopping and bought some flatbread instead of pitas for me. So when I read the label and shook my head, she asked what was in it and I told her the usual, and hair. She didn't believe me and demanded a printout on it, it was really funny.

Then she showed it to her best friend, who said that doesn't bother her since it's as sanitized as everything else in food. To me there's a difference between eating something that might get my own hair in it, and eating something derived from a stranger from who knows where.

I think I have a newfound fear of cereal now.
 
#17 ·
I find hair to be kind of gross unless it belongs to me or someone close to me. I hate that there are so many ingredients that can be naturally or sythetically derived and you may not be able to tell which it is. It makes label reading really hard. I would deffinatly prefer my food without hair though thank you very much. Kiwis are about as close to "hairy food" as I want to get.
 
#18 ·
truly, although the idea of great gobs of hair in my mouth doesn't appeal to me in the least (*yak*), i am nonplussed by the idea of hair being recycled into something useable. what everyone seems to forget it, even if left to decompose naturally, hair will eventually get back into the soil, and enter our food chain or water table once again, broken down into different components. you're eating lots of all kinds of things that have gone into the soil and water table all the time; other people's hair, dead things, insects, sewage, semen, blood, etc. it's just not chemically processed like this other stuff is.
 
#19 ·
Just because our food grows in the ground containing all kinds of gross stuff does not mean that it is in the food. The food takes its nourishment from the ground, yes, but it is not made up from what is in the ground. Just as we take our nourishment from the food we eat that is not what we are made of. If you eat a carrot say, after it passes through your body you are not carrot you are human you have just been nourished by that carrot. It is not the same as some added ingredient to a food product. Hair yuk!
 
#20 ·
yarnblossom...I think I feel pretty much the way you do. I know that there are probably some gross things in most things I eat. Little buggies ect., but to know that something is made up of hair is just really really icky. Maybe it's just a mental thing but it really does gross me out. I guess it's like saying ,well urine has some water in it and you could purify the water out untill you just have water again but I think it would be really hard to drink that water knowing it had once been part of urine. So even though the hair is being broken down into other stuff I still have it in my mind that it came from hair. (Sorry for the gross example but I couldn't think of anyhting else)
 
#21 ·
but, you are missing the big picture.

"ashes to ashes, dust to dust"

everything goes back from whence it came.

we are all made up of the same stuff.

our food, the trees, the dirt, the air...

it's all the same matter, just converted into different things that we have chosen to see as exclusive rather than a part of everything.

and yes, the dirt IS made of decomposed dead matter. and yes, plants DO absorb what they grow in.
 
#24 ·
Thank you for the info, YumHummus. Very interesting. I always wondered where the L-cysteine used as a "yeast-nutrient" came from.

By the way, L-cystein is used in just about every single loaf of commercial bread sold, not just in pizza dough. I know this simply by reading labels of thousands of different brands and kinds, and seeing it in almost every one. The only exceptions are some loaves marketed as containing only plain yeast, or only sourdough starter, and stating that there are "no other ingredients." Bread sold in the US that is not sold interstate frequently has it, but without it being mentioned. Such breads also frequently have eggs, dairy, and animal fats too -- without any mention of them on the label. The presence of a label listing "ingredients" does not imply that those "ingredients" are the only ingredients. Unless it is specifically stated that "these are the only ingredients," or unless the product is sold interstate, where it is usually required that all the ingredients be listed, you can assume that an ingredient list is not a complete ingredient list. This used to be particularly aggravating for me, w/ re to bread, before automatic bread machines arrived.

Bread, bread, bread, everywhere, but not a drop to eat.

By the way, beer sold interstate is exempt from complete ingredient labeling. Beer is usually not labeled with ingredients, at all, but if it is labelled, you usually get a partial list. You can assume the list is partial, unless it specifically states it is complete.
 
#25 ·
Plants often absorb materials in the soil that are there, but which they do not need. They absorb them only because they are there. Sometimes they are altered, to one degree or another. Materials that are not noxious to the plant may not be altered, and may simply be absorbed thru the roots and carried throughout the vasular system, unchanged. This is why plants grown in different kinds of animal excrement acquire a flavor vaguely remininescent of the kind of excrement used. The substances that provide the reminiscense are chemcicals produced by micro-organisms thriving in the excrement.

Another reason to support veganic agriculture, in my opinion.

http://www.materials.addr.com/food3.html
 
#26 ·
I would imagine the amount used is rather small. The amount of yeast used to make bread is less than a teaspoon per loaf, and L-cysteine is always listed after yeast, so there must be less than a teaspoon of the stuff in each load (it probably weighs roughly the same as yeast)..

========================

According to a health-products retailer, cysteine is one of the body's most effective anti- oxidants and destroyers of the metabolism's toxic waste products, that are said to accelerate aging.

========================

This may be just hype. Is it true? I don't know, but let's, for the sake of argument, say that it is true. The first article doesn't say that L-cysteine is made by converting another chemical in hair, into L-cystein, it says that L-cystein is a component of hair, up to 8 percent, and therefore it may be simply isolated from hair. If that is the case: then we obviously manufacture it ourselves, and plenty of it -- what do we need to get it in our diet for?

Further, if we were to need it in our diet, how much do we need? Would the amount used in breads be a significant dietary source? Does it either provide us with way too much or way too little? Micronutrients sometimes have narrow ranges of usefulness.

My text (Matter Energy and Life by Baker and Garland) says that cysteine (it doesn't mention the L and D forms) is an amino acid -- it is a therefore a macronutrient not a micronutrient -- and is one of those amino acids that we can manufacture ourselves from other amino acids. It is not a dietarily essential amino acid

We need some chemists here to help out. But we normally consume amino acids in large quantities, and the amount present in bread would be dietarily insignifcant, therefore the statement at the beginning of this message, if true, is nevertheless useless information masquarading as helpful information -- it is hype. Bull****.

1) we make it ourselves so we don't need to ingest it at all

2) we need it in large quantities; even if we needed to ingest it, the amount in bread would be insignificant

that's how "scientists" mislead people without "lying" They say something that's true, about which they know you are probably going to make further assumptions based on what they say, that they know aren't true. But they neglect to inform you that your probable assumpitons will be false, and if you later say why did you tell is it is useful, in the context of people eating it, but neglect to tell us that 1) we don't need to eat it to get it and 2) the amount we are talking about in food is insignificant -- they reply: i didn't think of it. Now that is something no-one can prove or disprove -- but it seems unlikely that they didn't think of it. But that's their modus operendi. Tell you things but carefully leave out what they want to leave out.
 
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