When you hear the phrase top 10 grossest you probably imagine something truly nasty – and beef certainly delivers. From the sprawling cattle farms across all 50 states to the billions of dollars in revenue, the industry is massive. In 2020, cash receipts topped a staggering $62,013,996. Yet behind the sizzle lies a slew of unsettling details that will make you question every bite.

Why the Top 10 Grossest Facts Matter

Understanding these unsettling truths isn’t just about shock value; it’s about making informed choices. Whether you’re a backyard grill master or a fast‑food fan, the hidden ingredients, chemicals, and practices in beef production affect health, the environment, and even your peace of mind.

1 Its Legal to Have Rat Hair in Ground Beef

If you thought a little extra flavor was the worst thing you could find in ground beef, think again. In the United States, regulations allow ground beef to contain as little as 35% actual meat, with the remaining 65% made up of fillers like cornstarch, water, soy, maltodextrin, food colorings, and even rat hair. The FDA permits up to four rodent hairs per 100 grams of processed meat, meaning your next burger could be sprinkled with a few stray whiskers. While it sounds like a horror‑movie plot, it’s legally acceptable, and the tiny hairs are indistinguishable from the meat itself.

2 Tested Ground Beef Packages Contained Poop

As disgusting as it may sound, your ground beef can definitely have poop. In 2015, Consumer Reports tested 300 packages of ground beef to see if there were bacteria in the meat. Meat from 103 stores in 26 cities across the United States tested positive for fecal contamination.

I’m going to take a moment here… Everyone’s stomach okay? Okay, let’s continue.

Since producers had ground up the meat, the testers found fecal bacteria spread throughout the entirety of the package. If you don’t cook your meat properly or if you touch anything around you after handling the raw meat, you can contaminate your surroundings. Bacteria showing fecal contamination can cause various illnesses, including urinary and blood infections. So make sure to be cleaning conscious.

How did the poop bacteria get in your meat, though? Well, the slaughtering and processing of large animals such as cows can be messy. For this reason, feces in the intestines or on hides can end up in the meat.

3 Carbon Monoxide Injected in Beef Can Mask Freshness

To keep the meat in supermarkets looking red, fresh‑looking, and appetizing, manufacturers will treat the meat with carbon monoxide gas. This gas is injected into the meat to help prevent it from turning gray or brown. The FDA recognizes this gas as a color stabilizer to help maintain the typical red color of fresh meat. While it isn’t directly harmful to humans, it does mask how fresh the beef is. Without the naturally occurring discoloration, the beef might fool you into thinking it is fresh.

What an unpleasant surprise.

Generally, stores can sell packaged ground meat 28 days after the slaughter and solid cuts up to 35 days after leaving the manufacturer’s plant. If you don’t trust the sell‑by date on the package, other ways to identify if the meat is spoiled and shouldn’t be consumed include:

• Packages will bulge from multiplied bacteria.
• There will be a strong spoiled odor when opened.
• Beef may have a slimy or slippery texture.

Packaged beef that is temperature abused could also spoil before the use‑by date, so knowing these signs are important. Additionally, carbon monoxide‑treated beef can have a higher risk of growing salmonella. Michel Doyle, the director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, found this out in a study with carbon monoxide treated meat stored in a refrigerator 10 degrees above the recommended temperature.

4 Some Beef Is Bound With Meat‑Glue

Okay, really—meat‑glue? Hey, we’re just presenting the facts here.

Although banned in the European Union in 2010, transglutaminase, also known as “meat glue,” is still commonly used in the United States. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) classifies it as “generally recognized as safe.” Many processed food products will use meat glue to bind pieces of meat together. By creating more uniform pieces of meat, it can appear more appetizing to sell.

So what is meat glue? It is created using bacteria from a cow’s blood plasma. If that isn’t gross enough, there is also a greater risk of food poisoning from eating meat glued together. Not only do bacteria have a higher chance to grow on the separate pieces, but “glued beef” can also be harder to cook.

5 Toxic Pesticides End Up in Beef

Many pesticides used on plants in the United States are toxic and end up in the food we eat. When animals, such as cows, eat pesticide‑contaminated food in factory farms, it ends up in their system and part of their meat. Common pesticides found in beef include:

• 6.8% of DDE p,p’
• 2.4% of Cyhalothrin
• 1.7% of Diphenylamine (DPA)
• 0.7% of Endosulfan sulfate
• 0.3% of Bifenthrin
• 0.3% of Cyfluthrin

Pesticides can come with gross side effects. In the short term, they can cause symptoms such as rashes, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, blisters, and stinging eyes. In the long term, they can lead to:

• Blindness
• Reproductive harm
• Neurological and developmental toxicity
• Disruption of the endocrine system
• Congenital disabilities

6 U.S. Beef Commonly Have Copper and Arsenic

When we say “heavy metal beef,” we don’t mean an argument between guitar‑shredding Metallica fans. We actually mean there are literal heavy metals in the beef.

The United States has no limits for heavy metals in its meat. For this reason, there are high levels of metals in beef, such as copper and arsenic. Because of this, most foreign countries refuse imported beef from America. For example, in 2008, due to high traces of copper, Mexico denied a shipment of U.S. beef.

While we need small amounts of copper to maintain good health, high traces can lead to liver damage. Our liver is crucial for filtering blood and detoxifying chemicals in our body. A severely damaged liver can lead to symptoms such as:

• Jaundice, which is the yellowing of the skin and eyes.
• Swelling in the feet, ankles, and legs caused by fluid build‑up.
• Swelling in the abdomen, known as ascites.

Arsenic is also present in non‑organic animal feeding operations. It is a carcinogen fed to cattle and thus found in the beef we consume. In humans, arsenic can increase the risks of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Scientists tracked the diets of 63,257 people aged 45 to 74 for 11 years and found that consumption of red meat increased the risk of diabetes. The study recorded 5,207 new cases of Type 2 diabetes in the group tracked.

7 E. Coli Bacteria Can Stay Alive in Processed Meats

Since farmers pump so many antibiotics into cows, the meats they produce are often tough and chewy. Therefore, slaughterhouses mechanically tenderize the steaks and cuts of beef. The tenderizing process involves driving needles and blades into the meat. The gross thing is, this process pushes any bacteria on the meat’s surface into the flesh. So instead of cooking away bacteria when you sear your meat, you can end up with live bacteria still living inside of it. Blech.

Undercooked meat, such as rare or medium steaks, is especially risky to eat.

A common bacterium living on beef is E. coli. While not all types of E. coli can make you sick, the ones that do cause various illnesses such as diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and pneumonia. E. coli cases are still prevalent today and mostly transfer to humans from food. This bacterium can end up on the meat during slaughter or processing and be harder to cook away because of the tenderizing methods mentioned above. In April 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a food safety alert on the following recalls for ground beef contaminated with E. coli:

• Approximately 53,200 pounds of raw ground beef from Grant Park Packing in Franklin Park, Illinois.
• Approximately 113,424 pounds of raw ground beef from K2D Foods, doing business as Colorado Premium Foods, in Carrollton, Georgia.

8 High Beef Consumption Can Also Lead to Heart Disease

Many studies have found that consumption of red meats, such as beef, can lead to illnesses, including heart disease. High levels of saturated fat that exist in some red meats lead to increased blood cholesterol. Low‑density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol is considered the “bad” type of cholesterol. It can increase the risk of heart disease. While eating leaner meat with less fat can help you avoid this, excess consumption of red meats is still risky.

Most manufacturers in the U.S. feed ractopamine to cows to produce leaner meat while speeding up weight gain. This drug ends up in our bodies when we eat beef. It’s actually so dangerous for humans that over 100 countries, including the European Union and China, banned ractopamine from animal farming and refuse to import U.S. meat. Health experts have linked ractopamine to health concerns in humans, such as anxiety and increased heart rates.

9 Red Meat Can Increase Risk of Cancer

In 2007, the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research reported that red or processed meat, such as beef, are probable sources of cancers. There are various reasons linking beef to cancer. All the drugs listed above and hormones pumped into cows can increase your risk of cancer. The heme iron found in meat can also lead to damaged body cells that eventually cause cancer. Lastly, cooking your meat at high temperatures, such as over a grill, can create carcinogens. A carcinogen is a cancer‑causing chemical that is dangerous to eat.

The most common cancer that can develop from eating red or processed meat is colorectal cancer. However, there are also links to:

• Esophageal cancer
• Lung cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Endometrial cancer

Man, what a buzzkill.

10 Antibiotics in Beef Are Creating Superbugs

Farmers commonly use antibiotics in their livestock to prevent, treat, and control diseases by stopping the growth of bacteria. They also use them to make cows grow bigger, faster. The use of antibiotics can increase the amount of meat by 1%‑2%. Additionally, about 50% more antibiotics are used on pigs and cows than on humans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has even found traces of harmful veterinary drugs in beef, including:

• Penicillin: that can lead to life‑threatening reactions for people allergic to it.
• Flunixin: that can cause bloody stools, kidney damage, and stomach or colon ulcers in humans.
• Ivermectin: that is an animal dewormer but can cause neurological damage in humans.

A USDA study has also posed concern that routine use of antibiotics contributes to antimicrobial‑resistant pathogens. These stronger pathogens are commonly called “superbugs” and can cause negative effects on human health. Superbugs can be deadly for infants, seniors, or people with compromised immune systems. So, why do farmers need antibiotics to prevent disease? It’s because the conditions of factory farms are usually unhygienic due to overcrowding.

You know how you’re not supposed to go number two where you eat? Well… tell that to the cows. The cramped conditions mean diseases are easier to develop and spread among the cows.

Welcome to the wild world of the top 10 grossest cravings that show up once a baby bump starts to bloom. After surviving the nausea‑filled first trimester, many pregnant people enter a second‑trimester phase where the body’s appetite turns into a bizarre food‑hunt. Whether it’s a sudden urge for something that looks like garden soil or a craving for straight‑up vinegar, the list below captures the most eyebrow‑raising, tongue‑tingling, and occasionally hazardous desires that expectant mothers have reported.

Top 10 Grossest Cravings Explained

10 Dirt

Feeling an inexplicable pull toward the earth itself is more common than you might think. The brain can send signals that say, “Hey, maybe a handful of soil would be a good snack,” but the reality is that munching on soil is a risky business.

This phenomenon falls under the umbrella of pica, a condition where individuals crave non‑nutritive items such as ice, starches, paper, clay, laundry detergent, charcoal, and, yes, dirt. The term “pica” comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird known for eating just about anything—much like a pregnant person’s adventurous palate. Researchers suspect that iron‑deficiency may be a driving factor behind these odd cravings.

Studies suggest that somewhere between 27 % and 68 % of pregnant people experience pica at some point. Consuming soil or other chemically‑laden substances can introduce toxins into the body, endangering both mother and child. So, while the image of someone scooping up a bag of Miracle‑Gro is undeniably comedic, the health hazards are very real.

9 Vinegar

Vinegar is a kitchen staple: it cleans windows, eliminates odors from Tupperware, makes vinaigrettes, and turns cucumbers into pickles. Yet, you’ll rarely hear of anyone sipping it straight—unless they’re at a midnight bar doing a pickle‑back. Pregnant friends, however, sometimes swap the whiskey for a swig of pure vinegar.

It sounds downright odd, but many expectant mothers turn to vinegar as a natural remedy for persistent morning sickness. While nausea often eases after the first trimester, some women endure it for the entire pregnancy. Because many over‑the‑counter anti‑nausea pills aren’t recommended during pregnancy, they explore holistic options, with apple cider vinegar ranking high on the list.

Apple cider vinegar helps neutralize stomach acidity, balancing pH levels and soothing that queasy feeling. Most people dilute it with water and a drizzle of honey to make it more palatable, but the hardcore cravings involve drinking it undiluted. Some even crave the brine from a pickle jar purely for its tangy punch, no nausea required—just pure, unfiltered bravery.

8 Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Dipped in Lemon Meringue Pie

Believe it or not, this combo isn’t a random internet meme. One pregnant acquaintance confessed to dunking the fiery dust of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into a smooth lemon‑meringue pie. The craving splits into two distinct layers: the burn of capsaicin and the sweet, airy bliss of meringue.

Both heat and sugar trigger a release of endorphins—the body’s natural feel‑good chemicals. When hormones are constantly in flux, any surge of endorphins feels like a mini‑celebration, even if it comes from a bowl of processed snack dust and a sugary dessert. The downside? Spicy foods can upset a sensitive stomach, especially in later pregnancy, so the safer route may be to stick with just the pie.

7 Onions

Ever wondered what biting into a raw onion feels like? Some pregnant people have taken the plunge, crunching down on a raw globe just to satisfy a craving. While the idea may trigger a gag reflex, the craving itself isn’t inherently harmful.

Onions pack a nutritional punch: they’re rich in quercetin, a flavonoid that supports the immune system and reduces inflammation. They also supply vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, and other essential nutrients that pregnant bodies need for healthy development.

The trade‑off is the notorious onion breath that lingers long after the snack is gone—no amount of brushing can fully erase it. Still, if you catch someone munching on an onion like an apple, know they’re getting a quirky, vitamin‑rich snack, albeit with a lingering odor.

6 Hot Dogs Out of the Package

Cold, straight‑out‑the‑package hot dogs might seem like a quick protein fix, especially when cravings demand iron, B‑vitamins, and a bit of comfort food. The idea of a chilly, slimy wiener can be oddly appealing during pregnancy.However, eating a “raw” hot dog is a big no‑no. Pregnant people are advised to avoid certain foods because they can harbor Listeria, a bacterium that poses serious risks to both mother and baby. Hot dogs, even when pre‑cooked, can become contaminated during processing, packaging, or storage.

Because Listeria can thrive in deli meats, the safest approach is to heat hot dogs until they’re steaming hot before consumption. Skipping this step could expose a pregnant person to a dangerous infection, making the craving more trouble than it’s worth.

5 Mayonnaise on Everything

Mayonnaise—some love it, some find it downright repulsive. Expectant mothers who develop a craving for the creamy, egg‑based spread often spread it on everything from fries to pizza, turning ordinary foods into a slippery, indulgent treat.

The texture and richness can feel comforting, and the calorie boost helps meet the extra 500 calories per day that pregnancy demands. Moreover, mayonnaise is a surprisingly good source of vitamin K, delivering about 25 % of the daily requirement in a single serving, which aids blood clotting and can support a smoother labor.

While the idea of spoon‑fuls of mayo may raise eyebrows, it’s generally safe (as long as it’s commercially prepared) and can serve as a quick way to add healthy fats and essential nutrients to a pregnant diet.

4 A Mashed Potato Sundae

Imagine a bowl of fluffy mashed potatoes topped with a drizzle of caramel sauce—a sweet‑savory sundae that sounds both delightful and bizarre. This indulgent mash‑and‑sweet combo appears in a niche cookbook aimed at satisfying odd pregnancy cravings.

Mashed potatoes are a common go‑to for many expectant mothers because they’re easy on a queasy stomach, provide a solid carbohydrate base, and contain vitamin C and B‑complex nutrients that support fetal development.

The added caramel sauce delivers a hefty sugar hit, which can offset some of the nutritional benefits. Nonetheless, when cravings strike, a little sugary indulgence can feel like a well‑earned treat during pregnancy.

3 A Cottage Cheese Swirl

One Instagram post that went viral featured a cup of cottage cheese swirled with bright yellow mustard. While it might look like a culinary experiment gone awry, the components each bring their own nutritional strengths.

Cottage cheese is a calcium powerhouse, offering a valuable source of the mineral essential for building the baby’s bones and teeth. Pregnant individuals are advised to aim for at least 1,000 mg of calcium daily, and cottage cheese can help meet that goal.

2 Mustard

Mustard may seem like an odd standalone craving, but many pregnant people reach for the tangy condiment straight from the jar. Though it may appear simple, mustard seeds are packed with minerals such as iron, copper, and manganese, all of which support immune health.

Additionally, mustard contains sulfur, a natural antibacterial agent, and offers anti‑inflammatory benefits. It also provides folate—a B‑vitamin crucial for brain development in the fetus—making it a surprisingly functional addition to a pregnancy diet.

Adding a dollop of mustard to meals can help supplement folate intake, complementing the prenatal vitamins that doctors often prescribe.

1 Hot Sauce and Milk

Picture the iconic scene from “Anchorman” where Ron Burgundy chugs a half‑gallon of milk after a scorching day. Now swap the scorching day for a craving for hot sauce, and you’ve got a pregnant woman balancing fiery heat with a calming glass of milk.

One forum user described her ritual of grabbing handfuls of hot‑sauce packets to douse everything, then drinking copious amounts of milk to soothe the burn. The capsaicin from the sauce releases endorphins, while the milk supplies calcium and fat, creating a satisfying, if unconventional, flavor combo.

Even though the mental image of hot sauce swirling with milk might make you wince, the pairing can deliver both a spicy kick and essential nutrients that a pregnant body may be yearning for.

The period between the 1980s and 2000s was considered the golden age for breakfast cereals. It was during this time that companies produced endless varieties, shapes, colors, and especially some questionable flavors. Whether you preferred something sweet, healthy, or anything in between, there was something for everyone.

We all have our favorite cereals (ahem… Peanut Butter Captain Crunch), but this category is full of cereal you purchase once and never try again. Here are ten of the grossest cereal flavors that got canceled.

10 Ice Cream Cones

In 1986, General Mills decided that if parents could serve their children cookies for breakfast, they might as well serve them ice cream. So, what did they do? They created ice cream cone cereal that was nothing short of gross. The breakfast food came in two flavors: chocolate and chocolate chip.

It’s fair to say these cereals didn’t live long enough to see the light of day. They were discontinued the same year they debuted. Parents couldn’t stand the idea of serving their children ice cream for breakfast. What seemed like a great idea from the start turned out to be a miscalculated move.

There were plans to bring the ice cream cones back in 2003, but that also failed. Today, we can only remember Ice Cream Cones as one of the grossest cereals that melted before consumers ate it.

9 Cupcake Pebbles

The classic Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles are a true staple in many homes. But, thankfully, Cupcake Pebbles bit the dust. Popular between 2010 and 2011, Cupcake Pebbles came in boxes scripted with words sweeter than the cereals themselves. “Good old wholesome sweetened rice cereal with artificial flavor.” Yikes! If you’re going to inadvertently sell artificial flavors, you don’t advertise them.

Cupcake Pebbles were so bad that even Barney and Fred weren’t touching them. Their kids, Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles, were the chosen cereal box character reps. It doesn’t matter if you loved or hated this cereal. There’s one thing we can agree on—that slogan is just poor marketing.

8 Batman Cereal

Everything about the Batman cereal was iconic. From the bat-inspired shapes to having an iconic superhero name, Batman cereal was destined for greatness… except for its awful taste.

The first few months after its release saw tremendous sales with the inclusion of a plastic Batman collectible bank. Children everywhere nagged their parents to buy them the Dark Knight’s breakfast cereal, and they did.

However, the cereal’s “greatness” started and ended with its shape. It turns out that the “natural honey nut flavor” described on the box couldn’t convince consumers. They tasted nothing like their overhyped commercial promises, which prompted a backlash that led to its cancellation in 1990.

I guess you just can’t beat the Honey Nut Cheerios invented back in the ’70s.

7 Nickelodeon Green Slime Cereal

Speaking of the ’70s, the Nickelodeon channel started late in this decade as well. Still, it wasn’t until the early ’80s that it hit the ground running. One of the shows aired on the network was You Can’t Do That on Television. Here, participants would participate in trivia, and whenever someone mentioned the word “water,” they would have water poured on their heads.

Here is where it gets interesting, whenever someone said “I don’t know,” they would have slime poured on their head. Despite being a simple gimmick, the challenge was exciting since nobody in the show was immune to it.

Following the show’s popularity, Nickelodeon decided to create and sell slime-related products, including Green Slime cereal. In a partnership with General Mills in 2003, Nickelodeon introduced the first batch of Green Slime cereal to the public to promote the upcoming Kids’ Choice Awards.

There was just one problem: the cereal was nothing close to the show’s success that inspired it. Besides the awful taste, the smell and color alone were just about how you’d imagine slime. Not very appetizing. It wasn’t long before Nickelodeon’s cereal was off the shelves to pave the way for other healthier, sweeter, and less disgusting cereals.

6 Sour Patch Kids

The Sour Patch Kids cereal was so awful that there was no official announcement about its discontinuation. If you’ve been wondering where it went, now you have your answer! While many factors contributed to the rainbow sugar pellets’ cancellation, one thing was constant: they were definitely considered a “novelty” cereal.

Sour Patch Kids cereal had appetizing and alluring commercials that many people loved. But most families wouldn’t dare eat the cereal every day. Ironically, they were named “Sour” Patch Kids cereal yet contained a whopping 40% sugar. And anybody who wants to live more than 40 years would most likely avoid that kind of sugar content.

Yet, somehow, the cereal wasn’t really that sweet at all. You know a product has failed when its commercials are sweeter than the cereal.

5 Nintendo Cereal System

If you are a Super Mario super fan, you might have heard about the Nintendo Cereal System produced by Ralston Cereals in 1988. The cereal had its basis in two of the most popular video games at the time: The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros.

However, as with many other franchise-inspired kinds of cereal, the Nintendo Cereal System didn’t last long, thanks (again) to its terrible flavor.

Of course, the first few months saw tremendous sales. But it was only because Super Mario fans wanted a cereal to match their favorite game. It didn’t take long for people to discover that the cereal was essentially a red turtle shell, knocking them off track during the most important meal of the day.

The flavor was so bad that it led to its discontinuation, but that didn’t stop super fans from hunting down this lost piece of history. The cereal has been sold as memorabilia for collectors over the years. One box was sold for over $200, but there’s no way someone paid that much for the flavor.

4 Urkel-Os

The Urkel-Os was a super sweet strawberry and banana-flavored cereal that millennials loved but Gen Z found repulsive. This breakfast meal was inspired by the sitcom Family Matters, a popular show aired throughout the ’90s.

The cereal paid homage to Urkel, the quirky yet lovable nerd who often donned shirts similar in color to the cereal created in his image. Unlike the other nasty cereals we’ve covered, Urkel-Os managed to appear on many breakfast tables before being exposed as a cereal wannabe. The taste just couldn’t keep up with other circular-shaped brands like Froot Loops.

I guess Urkel can still say, “Did I do that?”

3 Banana Frosted Flakes

This pick is likely to spark a debate. But yes, many people found the Banana Frosted Flakes to be terrible. I’m not surprised that Kellogg discontinued the flavor. The idea of having actual bananas built into your breakfast was cool. But the bananas in the Banana Frosted Flakes were crunchy and extra sweet, which, if you’ve ever had a real banana, is a little disconcerting.

The cereal was introduced in 1981, and it wasn’t long before the brand canceled it in 1984. Recently, though, Kellogg introduced the Banana Crème Frosted Flakes, which, in my opinion, are better than the original ones. Who knows? Maybe this version will be around longer.

2 Mr. T

Wrestler and actor Laurence “Mr. T” Tureaud was trendy in the ’80s. He played critical roles in the TV series The A-Team<.em> (1983–1987) and the film Rocky III (1982), making him even more popular. In fact, he was so famous that Mt. T cereal was introduced to feed the ever-hungry Mr. T fraternity.

The cereal assumed the shape of the letter “T” to symbolize the great actor’s prowess. However, the cereal’s taste wasn’t as great as the person who inspired it. Since this cereal was universally considered inedible by many, it was canceled shortly after it was released.

Even the cereal’s memorable appearance in the film Pee Wee’s Big Adventure didn’t save it from discontinuation. From its creation to production and marketing, it was destined for success, but I guess they forgot to do a taste test.

Maybe this time we really can pity the fool… who purchased this awful cereal.

1 Frute Brute

Frute Brute was introduced in 1974 but was canceled in 1982. It was a frosted, cherry-flavored version of Monster Cereal with a werewolf mascot. General Mills is among the industry’s heavy hitters but with this particular cereal, they got their calculations all wrong.

Frute Brute was nothing short of a total disaster, and it’s only by chance that it managed to stay on the shelves for as long as it did. If anything, the cereal was only popular because of its numerous film appearances that became memorable. This cereal had cameos in classic films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

But its sales were a work of pulp fiction too. Cherry cereal? I don’t know about you, but I prefer not to eat breakfast that tastes like cough syrup.

I’ve got news for you: in physical terms, you’re just a walking sack of meat that keeps threatening to rot unless you constantly clean it and replace it with new meat. It’s not just the wet, lumpy contents of the sack that are gross. The sack itself is its own special brand of flaky, oozing, bacterial meat specifically designed to constantly die so you can replace it with new flaky, oozing, bacterial meat. That sack, the slimy trash-bag of an organ we call skin, is the largest organ in/on your body, and it’ll wrap you up tight until the day you die (and a few years afterward). 

Aside from fire or Buffalo Bill, there’s no escaping it. So it’s best to know everything you can about it. Here are ten facts about your skin to get you started, and like every fact about skin there is—they’re gross.

10 Your Feet are Fungus Heaven

At any given time, your body is covered in fungus. And not just one or two (literal) hotspots; it’s almost every inch of you. It’s also not just one or two different kinds of fungi; it’s dozens. In one study, a group of scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute took the time to catalog all the different species of fungi on your body at any given time, and the results are not what you want to hear.

Your head and chest are the least rich. They each have only about ten different species apiece. Predictably, your hands and arms have a bit more, with each supporting about 20-30 different types. But you’re feet are a fungal Elysium. Between your toes, you tend to have about 40 different kinds; there are about 60 in your toenails. But wait, there’s whopping 80 on and around your heels. That’s around 200 different species of fungi on your feet alone. You can’t take a step without walking on fungus.

9 It’s Covered in a Layer of Acid

The entirety of your skin is covered in a fine layer of oily film known as the acid mantle. The mantle is formed by a combination of sweat and sebum, an oily secretion of glands in your skin meant to lubricate. (Excess sebum, unfortunately, is the reason you get acne.) The acid mantle maintains a pH of around 4.5-6.0, making the surface of the skin forever acidic.

Luckily, this isn’t a ‘burn whatever you touch scenario’ but instead a ‘make life a bit harder for opportunistic bacteria’ scenario. Bacteria on the skin’s surface have to adapt to the acidic conditions, so any that manage to enter through wounds have an extra hard time adapting to our alkaline blood. As beneficial as the mantle can be, it is the primary reason you’re not allowed to touch the exhibits in museums.

8 It Can Become Scales

Like any organ, skin is a complicated mixture of different types of cells working in harmony to perform an important homeostatic function. That complexity makes it prone to messing up from time to time. One example of this is Ichthyosis Vulgaris, or more commonly “fish scale disease.”

In those with fish scale disease, a defective gene (or less commonly another condition such as cancer or HIV) causes your skin to shed more slowly. This means that the protein keratin builds up in the upper layer of the skin instead of gradually flaking off. The result is thick, dry scales that form tile-like patterns. In both makeup and appearance, this can become almost identical to the scales found in fish, reptiles, etc. Oddly enough, one simple way to help with symptoms is to stay in warm, moist environments like our first scaled ancestors did when they ventured onto land.

7 Books are Made From It

It’s true. There are so far 18 confirmed examples of books bound with human skin. It’s a common enough practice to have earned its own scientific label—Anthropodermic bibliopegy—as well as its own dedicated research team, the Anthropodermic Book Project. The team has confirmed the existence of 18 human skin books and debunked another 13 alleged examples as mere animal skin.

Strangely, there’s no one location, group, profession, or ritual that explains the majority of these dermic books. Their sources are varied and it’s clear that, somehow, many individuals came upon the same ghoulish idea. One famous example is the autobiography of career criminal James Allen, who insisted that upon his death, a copy be bound in his skin and given to one of his victims, whom Allen admired for fighting back against his robbery.

6 Furniture and Clothing, Too

You likely heard in history class about the abhorrent uses that some Nazi doctors found for their victims’ flesh during the Holocaust. In many cases, those stories are true, but the practice of using human skin for uses other than as skin actually has a long, wide-ranging history.

One weird example is the skin of executed criminal Big Nose George, which was removed from his corpse by Dr. John Eugene Osborne. The doctor turned the skin into shoes- shoes that he wore to the inaugural ball when he was elected the third governor of Wyoming.

5 You’re Allergic to It

The dust in our homes that has so many seeking antihistamines and allergist appointments is mostly made up of our skin. Though different studies have produced a range of values for exactly how much of our skin makes up the dust in our home, with reports typically ranging from 40-80%, the average and accepted number is around 50%.

It’s no surprise that so much dust comes from skin when you learn how much it continually sheds. Your skin completely sheds its cells and regrows replacements every four weeks or so. That requires about 30,000 cells be shed every minute. Adding all that up, it’s estimated that our skin has contributed approximately one billion tons of dust to our atmosphere.

4 Just How Much it Sweats

It’s not just dead cells. Skin is constantly at work, producing sebum and a whole lot of sweat. There are a few tens of millions of sweat glands across the average body, and on a hot day, they can release more than three gallons of sweat.

Most of your sweat comes from sweat glands called eccrine glands and it’s almost entirely water. But some of that sweat comes from apocrine glands and it makes you stink. Its smell is mostly neutral upon release—even good, as it can contain attractive pheromones—but microbial activity on the skin quickly degrades its contents into gross, smelly oil.

3 You Can Grow Fingernails Instead of Hair

A woman named Shanya Isom has an illness so rare and mysterious that there is no known treatment or cure. There is not a single documented occurrence of this disease aside from her own. It has no name, but the condition causes Isom’s hair follicles to grow fingernails instead of hair. It’s awful to think about and really sad to see.

The cause of Isom’s disease is unknown, perhaps due to a one-of-a-kind allergic reaction to steroid medication. It results in her hair follicles producing 12 times the normal amount of skin cells in the form of dense keratin-rich growths. Essentially, human nails. This has made her hairless and covered in nails, which grow as sharp black scabs across almost her entire body.

2 It’s Home to an Entire Ecosystem

The surface of your skin is absolutely teeming with microbes, and not just the fungus we mentioned before. Over 1,000 species of bacteria call your skin home, and at any given time, every square centimeter of your body is host to tens of millions of individual bacteria.

In the darker, moister areas of your body—you know the ones—a handful of strains dominate the ecosystem, likely more specialized for those conditions. One of the more popular strains is lactobacillius. You may recognize this name as “good bacteria” found in the gut. That’s right, those probiotics you take are a little taste of what’s growing on and in you. But out in the more open, dryer areas of the skin, the bacterial diversity jumps dramatically. The most exposed parts of your skin are like the Mos Eisley Cantina, serving a whole host of different species of every shape, size, and color.

1 And A Second Ecosystem On Top of That

If we go up a few orders of magnitude in size, there’s an entire second ecosystem on your skin above the microbial one. Don’t worry, it’s still extremely small. Several mite species call your skin and hair home, the most famous of which belong to the genus Demodex—Greek for fat worm.

The tiny arachnids spend most of their time safely hidden in your pores, where they feed on your sebum. They sleep by day and by night emerge to eat and mate. Though they pose no threat to their host, it is a bit disconcerting to realize that tiny arachnids have sex on your face while you sleep.