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Forget checking the expiration date.
Americans have found a new reason to fear the grocery aisle. Stomach-churning videos showing rubbery fruit, stretchy meat, and eerily resilient bread are racking up millions of views, with horrified users attempting to expose what they believe is an increasingly artificial American food supply.
The clips are part of a growing genre of social media food sleuthing, in which everyday groceries are dissected to reveal what they claim is “fake” — or even “poisonous” — food.
But experts say bizarre textures aren’t proof that shoppers are being poisoned, and many of the viral oddities have surprisingly ordinary explanations.
Still, the anxiety behind the shock value of some of these items isn’t entirely unfounded.
“We understand why these videos take off, because they’re tapping into something real: people have lost a lot of trust in where their food comes from,” Justin and Travis Maderia, commercial fishermen and founders of Lobsterboys, told The Post.
The brothers, who believe in getting as close to the source of their food as possible, have seen firsthand how ingredients and preservatives are added during transportation and processing.
The reasons they give for much of it come down to aesthetics and economics. Ingredients are added to extend shelf life, change texture, lower costs, or make a product more consistent.
As a result, ultra-processed foods now account for nearly half of all calories consumed by Americans ages 1 and older, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sandwiches and burgers were the leading sources of ultra-processed calories, which is not surprising because of the known preservatives and additives in meats. But baked goods, savory snacks, and sugary drinks were also major contributors.
For adults specifically, breads, rolls, and tortillas cracked the top five.
But it’s not just the internet questioning what’s in our food.
Federal regulators have been increasingly scrutinizing hard-to-pronounce ingredients and artificial dyes.
HHS, FDA and USDA are working toward the nation’s first uniform federal definition of “ultra-processed food.”
Earlier this month, the FDA proposed tightening its “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, system to require manufacturers to notify the agency when they determine that a substance added to food is safe — a move aimed at increasing oversight and transparency.
But some of the horrifying foods have surprisingly boring explanations.
Watermelons stored below roughly 45 degrees for extended periods can suffer “chilling injury,” leaving the flesh water-soaked or mealy, according to UC Davis. Bananas can sustain similar cold damage, leaving them distorted.
Other strange textures may be intentional.
Manufacturers use starches, oils, gums, emulsifiers, flavorings, colors, and preservatives to alter everything from texture and appearance to shelf life, certified nutrition coach Rena Awada told The Post.
But unfamiliar ingredients aren’t necessarily a smoking gun. Awada recommends looking at a food’s entire nutrition profile. For example, frozen vegetables and canned beans are processed, but she noted they aren’t unhealthy.
Some foods are also engineered to imitate the real thing without being unsafe.
Imitation crab, for example, is typically processed white fish flavored and formed to resemble crab. On the flip side, processed cheeses and some flavored beverages are formulated to achieve a particular taste, appearance, or texture.
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with someone choosing that if they know what they’re buying,” the Maderias said of the phony fish.
The bigger concern, experts say, isn’t whether a food bends, bounces, or stretches — but how much ultra-processed food a person’s overall diet contains.
Common examples include chips, cookies, candy, sugary drinks, frozen pizzas, sweetened cereals and processed meats, Jill Darminio, a registered dietitian and System Clinical Nutrition Manager, told The Post.
Manufacturers often use preservatives, flavor enhancers, stabilizers and emulsifiers to extend shelf life and improve texture and taste, Darminio said. Ultra-processed products can also contain high levels of added sugars, sodium, and saturated fats, but even those foods don’t need to disappear from the pantry.
“Ultra-processed foods are safe to include in a diet and do not need to be eliminated,” Darminio said, recommending consumers focus instead on balance, portion size, and frequency.
So while TikTokers may continue bouncing watermelons and pulling apart cheese in search of something sinister, Darminio cautions against simply sorting the grocery aisle into “good” and “bad.”
Instead, she recommends building most meals around whole foods and enjoying packaged or processed foods in moderation — preferably alongside fiber- and protein-rich foods such as vegetables, whole grains, eggs, and fruit.
