(NaturalHealth365)  Citric acid.  High fructose corn syrup.  Caramel color.  Monosodium glutamate (MSG).  These are just a few of the most common ingredients found in junk food and fast food items – ingredients associated with a wide range of negative health effects, from joint pain to systemic inflammation to obesity to neurotoxic and reproductive problems.

And as if all that isn’t bad enough, just stop and think about what your fast food could be unintentionally contaminated with!

You won’t believe what researchers found in popular fast food items

Moms Across America is a 501c3 nonprofit organization with a mission to “educate and empower mothers and others with actions and solutions to create healthy communities.”  “By raising awareness about GMOs and chemical farming,” they write, “we improve the health of our community, increase the prosperity of our country and support future generations.”

Recently, on their website, the group shared the results of an experiment they initiated with the support of Children’s Health Defense and the Centner Academy.  The experiment involved testing 10 of the most popular fast food brands for more than 100 different drugs and hormones used in veterinary medicine.

Why veterinary medicine?  Because the vast majority of America’s non-organic meat, which is what you’ll find at any fast food joint (other than maybe fake meat made with GMO soy and other junk), comes from livestock that has been raised in unethical environments and treated with a variety of chemical substances, including growth hormones, antibiotics, and even an anti-parasitic drug known as a bird contraceptive.

In an article describing their report, Moms Across America notes that additional compounds tested for among the samples included glyphosate and other chemicals, heavy metals, phthalates, PFAS, minerals, vitamins, and calories.  The samples came from ten of the most popular brands: McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Burger King, Subway, Domino’s and Chipotle.

Here are some of the key findings:

• 60% of the fast food samples tested positive for the antibiotic Monesin – this is not approved for human consumption by the FDA and “has been shown to cause severe harm when consumed by humans”
• 40% of the samples contained antibiotic narasin – in animal studies, this contaminant has been associated with “anorexia, diarrhea, dyspnea, depression, ataxia, recumbency, and death and pathologically by degeneration, necrosis, and repair of heart and skeletal muscles”
• Both monensin and narasin antibiotics cause weight gain in cattle (hence why they are widely used, to “beef up” the livestock, no pun intended), but have also been associated with heart cell death – these antibiotics are also extremely toxic to other animals, like horses and dogs, even at extremely low levels of exposure
• One sample from Chick-fil-A contained a contraceptive and anti-parasitic called nicarbazin, which has been prohibited
• Chipotle and Subway stood out as the only two brands that had “no detectable levels of veterinary drugs and hormones”

Is it finally time for Americans to swear off the drive-thru line?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than a third of both American adults (37 percent) and American kids (36 percent) eat fast food on any given day.  Millions unknowingly expose themselves to harmful drugs, chemicals, and other ingredients that could interfere with their well-being and increase their risk for long-term health problems.

Meanwhile, these ten fast-food brands’ collective annual gross sales exceed $134 billion.

It’s something to think about, isn’t it: what industries are we allowing to (and in some cases helping to) profit so heavily at the expense of our current and future health?  It’s sickening (literally) on so many levels.  The solution is simple: don’t eat this toxic food anymore.

Sources for this article include:

Momsacrossamerica.com
Nationbuilder.com
CDC.gov
CDC.gov
NIH.gov
Howstuffworks.com
Childrenshealthdefense.org