Beef is one of the biggest and most profitable commodities in the United States, with Texas, Nebraska and Kansas taking the lead when broken down by states. Most people know about cattle being injected with growth hormones and that alone is enough to give it up altogether. But there are some nausea-inducing things about beef that will have you questioning everything. Here are some of the grossest facts about beef that will make even the most die-hard meat eaters think twice. 

1. It’s Legal to Have Rat Hair in Ground Beef

Your ground beef could contain a lot more than just the beef you thought you were buying. That’s because in the United States, ground beef only qualifies as meat if it contains at least 35% of actual meat. As for the remaining 65%? Well, that could be anything including soy, water, maltodextrin, cornstarch, food coloring and, you guessed it, rat hair. In fact, FDA regulations state that it’s perfectly okay to have four rodent hairs in every 100 grams of processed food. 

2. Ground Beef Might Contain Fecal Matter

As if rat hairs weren’t enough, there’s the slight chance that fecal matter could end up in your ground beef. That’s what happened in 2015, where meat from 103 stores in 26 cities in the United States were recalled after testing positive for fecal contamination. Just how did this happen? Turns out that the slaughtering and processing of large animals can be really messy and sometimes the feces from the intestines can transfer to the meat. Food poisoning, urinary and blood infections are just some of the signs that you received a really nasty batch.

3. E. coli Bacteria Can Stay Alive in Processed Meats

As mentioned above, the entire process of slaughtering large animals is a really messy one that involves mechanically tenderizing and cutting the beef by driving needles and blades into it. Sometimes, E. coli that was simply resting on the meat’s surface gets pushed into the flesh where it remains alive. So, this means that undercooked meat, such as rare and medium steaks, are particularly risky to eat because the meat isn’t cooked thoroughly. This puts you at risk of developing diarrhea, UTIs and even pneumonia.

4. Some Beef is Bound with Meat-Glue

Although transglutaminase or meat glue has been banned in the EU since 2010, it seems that the U.S. has yet to do the same. Many companies will use meat glue to bind pieces of meat together so it can appear more appetizing to consumers. According to the FDA, meat glue is generally recognized as safe even though there is a higher risk of food poisoning from eating meat with it. The reason for that is because meat glue is created using bacteria from a cow’s blood plasma that has a greater chance of multiplying due to the several individual pieces of meat.

5. Toxic Pesticides End Up in Beef

If you’ve made it past the rat hair, fecal matter, E. coli and meat glue then congrats, you have a tough stomach. But this one is less gross, but scarier. We all know that farmers use pesticides on plants to kill weeds and unwanted insects, right? But what you may not know is that it ends up in our food with some people experiencing nausea, diarrhea, rashes, blisters and dizziness. That’s because the cow’s body not only absorbs the nutrients but the pesticides as well, and that gets stored throughout their body including the meat.

We all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but that eye is constantly being influenced by society’s ever-changing standards. The current trend is being “thick” and going under the knife to gain that desired shape. But at some point, being skinny was all the rage, and the skinnier, the better. This drew the attention of obvious grifters who preyed on desperate people, mostly women, selling them false dreams. Below are a few of the worst diet fads that we, as a society, have taken part in thus far.

1. Tapeworms

What would possess someone to willingly ingest a parasite? Well, many people were sold the idea that swallowing a tapeworm would result in losing weight as the organism fed on their food from their intestines. While it’s true that this would indeed lead to weight loss, the tapeworm doesn’t discriminate and will eat everything resulting in malnutrition, anemia and diarrhea. There’s also the chance that the tapeworm or its offspring could exit the gut and infect other parts of the body. Those health scares were enough to push many dieters away from this practice.

2. The Cotton Ball Diet

The thought of gaining even just a little bit of weight was so scary for some people that they went as far as eliminating calories all together. Cue the cotton ball diet, where extreme dieters resorted to eating non-edible items because it supposedly created a feeling of fullness while shedding those unwanted pounds. Turns out the human body isn’t designed to consume objects with no caloric value and the end result was just a sickly and malnourished body with little to no energy to do anything.

3. The Breatharian Diet

Here’s another diet where people acted like calories are the creation of the devil himself. Instead of healthy eating and regular exercising, the breatharian movement implied that our body can survive on air alone because, you know, oxygen. And followers of said movement pointed to so-called breatharians as proof of its efficiency. Little did they know that the frauds were doing more than just breathing. They were–wait for it–eating food! Unfortunately, the body has some not so pleasant ways of letting us know that breathing alone isn’t enough, like constantly passing out, for one.

4. The Clay Diet

It’s not just regular folks who get sucked into these kooky ideas and beliefs. Celebrities, such as actresses Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Woodley, have played a huge role in the popularity of the clay diet trend. The logic is that since bentonite clay is highly absorbent, it will bind to unwanted toxins and you’ll pass them out when you go number two. The problem is that bentonite clay will absorb everything around it, including much-needed nutrients. This can have some scary side effects including swelling due to the binding, followed by distention and even perforation of your bowels.

5. The Baby Food Diet

This one, like all the others, is pretty much self-explanatory. That’s where you replace ⅔ of your regular, adult meals with baby food. You know, since baby food contains like 75 – 100 calories. Sure, they’ll shed some pounds like they wanted to but they will lose a lot more than just fat. Weaker muscles and bones are some of the unforeseen side effects and even death, if people keep starving themselves. Where did this fad come from? Celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson was the brains behind the operation with celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow jumping on the bandwagon.

Electrocution is perhaps one of the most unpleasant things to experience and it doesn’t matter if it’s a quick zap or random lightning strike. Common as it may be, not many people know the details of what happens during this process. Aside from mild discomfort, the human body can have some unexpected reactions after coming into contact with electricity. If this is something you never thought about, keep scrolling to learn some shocking facts about electrocution.

1. Electricity Does NOT Enter the Body

First thing’s first, let’s clear up the biggest misconception about getting shocked- that electricity flows through your body. It really doesn’t. What actually happens is that when you come into contact with current, your electrical charge is shifted as your body’s electrons become highly active. The excess energy created by your body will then arc to the easiest route out. If you’re still confused, let’s compare it to boiling water. The water heats up not because there’s fire in it, but because of a change in the energy of its own molecules.

2. You Could Be Thrown Across the Room

Seeing someone get electrocuted is pretty terrifying. But what’s even scarier is watching them stiffen up before being thrown across the room like a rag doll. Now as mentioned earlier, electricity doesn’t flow through your body, so this isn’t due to the sheer force of the shock. The culprit is actually your own nerves that start to misfire and contract all at once, leading to an involuntary parkour move. Once you regain consciousness, you’re going to be really sore and even suffer physical damage such as cuts, concussions, bruises and possibly broken bones.

3. Your Skin Can Turn into Charcoal

For most people, getting shocked is nothing more than an uncomfortable tingle that lasts a few seconds. But for some unlucky fellows, massive electrocution leaves them with some really nasty burns. If you want to get technical, here’s a word to add to your vocabulary: carbonization. That’s the scientific term for when your skin becomes charred to a crisp, blocking the flow of electricity. This is one of the most painful consequences of getting shocked, but this usually only happens if the voltage is high enough.

4. Your Eyes Can Melt

If you’re squeamish, then you can go ahead and just scroll right past this one. As mentioned above, electrocution really does melt your eyes. Sounds grotesque, but in rare cases these delicate organs become so electrified that they melt right out of your head. Remember that electrocution causes your nerves to fire up and well, there’s a cluster of nerves connected to your soft and moist eyeballs. Apply a strong enough or long enough voltage, and they might become a sort of milky looking mixture.

5. It Messes Up Your Brain Chemistry

The brain is one of our most sensitive and powerful organs, with over one billion nerves constantly sending and receiving information from the body. Can you imagine what a sudden jolt of electricity can do to it? Well, our brain chemistry gets all messed up, causing all sorts of problems, not only for the victim but their families as well. Sudden personality changes, mood swings and memory loss are some of the things they might have to deal with. Thankfully, this usually subsides within a few weeks or months as the brain heals, though there are rare cases where changes become permanent.

Con artists are slick scammers who take pleasure in preying on naive individuals. While most people are on the lookout for phishing emails and strange phone calls, many fail to realize that most con artists are still up to their old school tricks. Even if you think you won’t fall for it, it won’t hurt to take a look at these five classic cons you might actually fall for. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

1. The Flop

So, you’re out for a drive when someone steps in front of your car, slamming onto the hood. What seems like a regular, unfortunate accident is actually one of the oldest scams in the book. Con artists have long been using their old injuries as a way to make some quick cash, demanding monetary compensation for the injury you caused them. Today’s scammers however, use already broken items instead of their bodies to carry out their schemes. If you think someone’s trying to pull a fast one on you, offer to get the police involved. The scammer will most likely get scared and leave.

2. The Fake Workmen Scam

Some con artists are even bold enough to show up at your home! They’ll show up in uniform, posing as the employee of a gas, water or electrical company. They’re supposedly there to check on a leak or shortage and once inside, will ask you to go outside or to the basement to check on something. While you’re distracted, your home is actually being looted and by the time you’ve caught on, it’s too late. The best way to avoid becoming a victim is to ask for their ID and call the company to verify their claims.

3. The Overpayment Scam

The ever-increasing popularity of online shopping has led to scammers sprucing up the old overpayment trick. If you’re an online seller, a con artist could send you a bad check for more than the agreed amount, and upon notifying them, they’ll tell you to deposit it then wire the difference back to them. Days can pass before the bank realizes this, and because federal regulations require funds to be available the next day you are held liable for the check. To avoid this, never accept checks over your set prices and definitely don’t wire funds to a stranger.

4. The Bank Examiner

No sane person will allow a stranger to examine their bank account, and those con artists are very much aware of that. That’s why they present themselves as investigators who convince you to withdraw your money so they could match serial numbers, mark bills or examine it because a teller was suspected of passing counterfeit bills. And without noticing it, the real cash is switched out for fake ones, or they simply walk away with it for, you know, “business reasons.” And how do you avoid all this? Simply turn down their offer and refuse to cooperate.

5. The Melon Drop

The melon drop scam gets its name from a time where melons were pretty expensive in Japan. Hustlers took advantage of the insane prices by bumping into Japanese tourists, dropping the melons, then demanding some large payment, which the tourists would hand over without much thought. Now, instead of a melon, they’ll throw some pieces of glass in a box and claim it was a valuable item, sometimes with a fake receipt as proof of its value. Most people, due to guilt, will quickly pay up. Remember that inattentive people are usually targeted, so be alert while out and about!

Disease, unfortunately, has been around from the time that life has existed on earth, and while it seems to be a part of the cycle of life, medical advances and treatments have made it easier to live with those illnesses. Infectious diseases, by definition, spread from the environment or from one person or animal to another and can infect a large number of people in a community or region. Although many stay localized to a small town or household, there have been some diseases that have spread so far beyond a country’s borders that populations around the world were significantly reduced as it destroyed civilizations. With that being said, humanity managed to endure every time, as seen with the current coronavirus pandemic. Here is a list of some of the worst pandemics that the human race has survived.  

1. Spanish Flu 

The Spanish Flu of 1918 was the deadliest flu pandemic in history, infecting one-third of the world’s population and killing one-tenth. Sources claim that the disease was first observed in Europe, the United States as well as Asia, but it spread so quickly that it was impossible to track. The illness was said to be different from other influenza pandemics because rather than attacking weaker or immunocompromised individuals, it went after the healthy. Additionally, the lack of treatment worsened the avian-borne flu pandemic which claimed the lives of 50 million people.   

2. Third Cholera Pandemic 

The Third Cholera Pandemic was the worst of the seven cholera outbreaks that occurred over the course of history. From 1852, the illness began in India, like the first two, slowly spreading through Asia and then Europe, Africa, and North America. British doctor John Snow identified the contaminated water as the source of transmission, but it didn’t save the 23,000 who died in that year in Great Britain alone.  

3. Black Death  

The Black Death, also known as the Great Bubonic Plague, occurred in the mid-1300s and was the worst pandemic of the century. The virus started in China in the 1330s and because it was one of the world’s largest trading hubs, the virus quickly spread to other countries. Less than 20 years later, it arrived in Europe where it was mostly spread through infected fleas and rat bites. Transmission then switched to human-to-human, further decimating the population. The infected experienced red spots on the skin that turned black, giving the disease its name. In total, over 20 million people lost their lives.  

4. HIV/AIDS Pandemic (1981 – 2012) 

HIV/AIDS was first identified in 1981 as a virus that destroys a person’s immune system, leaving it unable to defend against disease. Believed to have been developed from African chimpanzees in the 1920s, the virus slowly spread until it was identified and by the end of the 20th century, it had become a pandemic. People infected initially experience headaches, fever and enlarged lymph nodes, after which symptoms subsided, making them extremely infectious. Today, the disease has no FDA-approved cure, but medication allows people with HIV to live normal lives. Unfortunately, the virus has claimed over 35 million lives since it was discovered.  

5. Antonine Plague (156 AD) 

The Antonine Plague, also known as the Plague of Galen, was a pandemic that ravaged parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Although the exact disease was never identified, many believe that it was either Measles or Smallpox due to the skin eruptions, fever and vomiting. It was thought that it began with the Huns who spread it to the Germans who then spread it to Romans troops. Those troops returned home and unknowingly spread it throughout the empire. The plague killed approximately 5 million people including Emperor Marcus Aurelius, allegedly.