Urban legends abound in the world of food and drink, helped along by rumours of chicken heads found in fast food packs and tales of severed fingers in packs of frozen custard. Then there was last week's scandal when Tesco got in trouble for having horse meat in their beef burgers.
A recent article detailed the rise of the pig-rectum-as-imitation-calamari urban legend thanks to a radio segment. For the record, it's not true.
Another rumour that seems to have all the hallmarks of an internet hoax is the claim that bread contains chicken feathers.
One website claims it is a "true fact" that bread can contain human hair, feathers, and cow horns.
But it's not an urban myth - or not quite, anyway. Some manufacturers use a chemical extracted from poultry feathers to condition their bread dough.
It's called l-cysteine and Food Standards Australia and New Zealand say it's pure and safe. A spokeswoman said if it is present, it's in tiny amounts.
"Different food ingredients, food additives and processing aids can be derived from a number of different sources and processes," she said.
"We are aware of (l-cysteine) being chemically synthesised or extracted from poultry feathers.
"We're not aware of it being sourced from human hair."
One of Australia's biggest food companies, Goodman Fielder, said they do not use l-cysteine from poultry feathers in their products. Coles and Woolworths were unable to confirm by deadline whether they stock products with l-cysteine sourced from poultry.
Vegetarians and vegans should look for bread marked 'suitable for vegetarians and vegans'.
Other common pitfalls for vegetarians include gelatin (which can be made from horses or cows), cochineal (which is made from a scale insect and is sometimes used to make lollies a red colour), and eggs used to ‘fine' wine.
Even with all the best procedures in place, insects and small animals still sometimes get into our food during picking or processing.
On the other hand, there are vegan chicken stocks available.
FSANZ say all food in Australia has to be safe and suitable, and that we have one of the "safest food systems in the world".
A spokeswoman said people should learn to read labels and research various ingredients.
"You don't have to do a tonne of work to find out what things come from," she said.
"There are resources available and you can look at our website to find these things out."
