People vow to never eat bacon again after discovering how it’s really made
Sometimes, ignorance truly is bliss.
And, when it comes to finding out how our favourite foods are made - that couldn't be more true.
Now, Quavers lovers have already been sent into a right spiral after seeing the extremely lengthy process behind how their go-to snacks are made but the latest disgust over a food's manufacturing process revolves all around the breakfast staple, bacon.
In fact, seeing the up-close-and-personal factory scenes have grossed people out so much they've actually vowed to never touch it again - and, to be honest, I don't blame them!
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Discovery+ shared all the nitty-gritty details about the process of making pre-cooked bacon in one of its How It's Made episodes.
The clip in question, which is a little over five minutes long, starts off by showing some pretty hefty pieces of pork belly being chucked into a tumbler which softens them up, making it easier to remove the skin.
I'm already queasy.
The pork bellies are then placed skin-side down on a conveyer belt before a blade slices the skin right off - which are later made into pork rinds.
The remaining parts of the pork belly are then flipped over, so factory workers can inspect the carcass to see if any excess skin needs removing too.
This brings us to the curing process.
Once salt and water is mixed together, the likes of liquid smoke - among other flavourings - are added to the mix which is then injected into the pork belly slabs in a repeated stabbing motion.
Once thoroughly stabbed with the curing liquid, a metal hanger gets attached to the very edge of the meat to make for easy hanging on a rack.
At this point, we're introduced to the grimly-named 'drench cabinet' which sees the hanging pork bellies blasted with liquid smoke to add flavour and colour to the meat.
After this, the meat is transported to a big oven to be cooked on a low heat for five whole hours which allows the flavouring to 'permeate' the meat.
Once cooked, it's moved to a freezer to cool down before being transported once again to another cooler for a couple days.
This process, which firms up the meat, makes it easier to slice.
The pork bellies are then taken to the 'sizing station'.
Doing exactly what you'd expert, the step in the length process sees the meat get trimmed down.
Oh yeah, and it's at this point too that the meat is passed through a metal detector to ensure sure no pieces of the metal hanger have gotten lodged inside.
After that, they're stacked and wrapped before being stored in a freezer until ready to be sliced into bacon.
At the 'slice line' the slabs are then put into chutes, which sway back and forth over a blade to cut them into 'bacon-sized pieces'.
The bacon strips then fall onto a conveyor belt, primed for the 'browning microwave' which cooks it and sees the fat fall into a trough.
At long last, the cooked bacon is finally given a look-over by an inspector who throws away any slices that don't quite make the cut.
The approved bacon slices are then rolled onto parchment paper by mechanic wheels and, after what feels like eternity, it's finally read to be packaged up and distributed to retailers before landing in your supermarket trolley and, eventually, in your belly.
It's no surprise that, after seeing the gruelling process, people were pretty grossed out with one social media user via The Sun writing: "When you're disgusted by the skin removal and fascinated at the same time."
"Not gonna lie, the first part looked a bit gross," slammed a second, while a third declared: "I'm going vegan."
Another echoed: "God... That looks disgusting."
And a final viewer vowed: "I’m never eating bacon again!"
What about you?
Topics: Food and Drink, Health, Life
Rhiannon Ingle