We are what we eat. But if the recent brouhaha over Maggi noodles has proven anything, it's that we probably have no idea what we're eating. In an effort to educate, here are five foods that may have nasty ingredients that you wouldn't know of, yet.

1. Chewing gum

What you think you’re eating (or, chewing)- a gum with lower calorie count as compared to candies, that cures bad breath and curbs your appetite, right? Well.

What you’re really chewing on to- is most probably sheep sweat. That's right, all gums contain lanolin (wool wax) or paraffin wax and such, similar ingredients. That’s not all, almost all chewing gums replace sugar with aspartame, which is an excitotoxin. It causes overexcitation of neurons in the brain until they burnout, which can result in lower IQ. The long term effects of aspartame include Diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

2. Bread

What you think you’re eating- a little bit of protein and fibre, and a whole lot of carbs.

What you’re really eating- cancer causing potassium bromate or potassium iodate. The dough improvers are commonly used across the baking industry as maturing agents in breads.