1. Trans Fats

One of the reasons to ditch fast food and never look back resides in the lies literally fed to you. Trans fats, for example, represent food processor trickery at its finest. Companies don’t have to list these fats if used "sparingly." Even if they're included in the nutritional facts, lawyers can dress up the ingredient with big names to fool the consumer. Examples of covert trans fats include canola, corn, cottonseed, and partially hydrogenated oils.

2. Soy-Based Products

I know what you’re thinking-“McDonald’s doesn’t serve tofu burgers!” Check out the ingredients. Hamburger buns contain soy flour, meat is supplemented with soy protein, and soy is found in ice cream. Soy may seem innocuous, but high levels reveal its phytoestrogen effects. That’s just a fancy way of saying it's like taking an estrogen supplement. This stimulates weight gain, reduces fertility, and decreases testosterone levels.

3. Ammonia

Yes, you read that correctly. The facilities that make chicken nuggets are so filthy that they’re considered biohazardous. What better way to clean food than with Windex’s active ingredient? I don’t know if that’s an improvement, because ammonia has an “ick” factor to consider. This ammonia treatment destroys any flavors in the meat, forcing the addition of fake ones just to make it palatable. Guess which flavor they use…

4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

The go-to meat flavor that food processors know and love is abundant in fast food. MSG is not only unessential to the human body, some are allergic to it. What’s worse, glutamate is already a common neurotransmitter in the body. Doping the diet with excessive MSG has been shown to overload nerves to the point of toxicity. In other words, fast food meat flavor is brain poison. Yum.

5. High Fructose Corn Syrup

I don’t know about you, but I put salt on my meat, not sugar. Many fast food companies don’t share that logic. Sadly, it’s used in just about every item on a fast food menu. Furthermore, it decreases sperm motility and disrupts ovulation. I’m surprised they don’t dip the forks and knives in it, too!

6. Tertiary-Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ)

If I’m to be frank, I’m not even sure if I spelled that right. This exotic compound is chemically similar to certain skin-bleaching agents and the stuff in lighters. It’s purpose: to keep frying oils from spoiling. I don’t know how TBHQ accomplishes this, but nothing says farm fresh like cancer-causing lighter fluid.

7. Fries

Behold the poster child of fast food chains. These slices of potato heaven are delicious, but this flavor comes at a price. If you look at the potatoes in your home, they aren’t always perfect like french fry potatoes. That’s because they use this insecticide called “monitor” that is so toxic that the farmers won’t walk near the potato fields for almost a week after spraying. I don’t blame them, considering its method of toxicity is similar to sarin nerve gas.

The more I look at fast food ingredients, the more I think the most edible item on the menu is the menu itself. If you eat what you can pronounce, you really can’t go wrong. What “red flag” ingredients do you watch out for?