Sawdust for breakfast, dinner, lunch and dessert
Over the decades, the food industry has perfected the art of giving consumers less of what they think they are buying, preferably as little as possible, while keeping prices up. One of the most cunning moves is the use of sawdust, an industrial filler extracted from wood, which is used to thicken food.
This is not a small detail – it is a systematic practice where real ingredients are replaced with cheap, nutritionally-free fillers.
They test their skills with professional tasters, and closely monitor sales, to see where the line is before you find the product inedible. If they could have sold you just sawdust, they probably would have, because this is cheap crap, which reduces the amount of real food in your "food".
At the same time, we are sicker and weaker than ever, and the human animal is in the midst of a very obvious health crash.
What do we call sawdust?
What we here choose to call sawdust – because that's what it is, pure wood pulp – is a so-called polysaccharide ("more sugar") which forms the main component of plant cell walls. The industry most often calls it “cellulose” to camouflage the fact that it is in reality finely ground wood.
Although technically it is a dietary fiber (an invented word), it is not a substance the human animal was developed to eat. This is completely indigestible to us, and has no nutritional value, and goes straight to the intestines. It has no nutrients, no energy, and has no function other than to increase the volume and weight of food, without having to use expensive, real ingredients.
When you look at the price per kilo in the store, you should ideally know what it is that costs 200 kroner per kilo – because if there is sawdust on the ingredient list, you are paying that price per kilo for sawdust – and probably water. With the help of sawdust, you can also use more water, and extract even more of the real fat, where the nutrients actually lie.
Sawdust acts as a hydrocolloid, a substance that absorbs and retains water. When manufacturers add it to food, they can increase the liquid content without making the product runny or unappetizing.
The price per kilo you see is therefore for sawdust, water, and anything else they may put in it. It's a classic scam, similar to filling your gas tank with 30% water and still charging full price for "gasoline".
Where do we find sawdust in food?
Sawdust has crept into a number of foods where you least expect it. This is not about improving your health, but about reducing production costs and increasing margins for the food industry. Some of the most common products containing sawdust are:
Bread and baked goods: The food industry adds sawdust to bread to give it a fluffier texture and increase volume, so they can use less flour. This makes for a cheaper product for them – but you still pay full price. They try to figure out how much before you react, and you may well feel it especially in cheap breads now that you know about it.
Grated cheese: Many pre-grated cheeses contain up to 4% sawdust to prevent clumping. In practice, this means you pay full price for a product that is partially strewn with wood dust. What's wrong with a whole, clean cheese? I don't think we'll get tennis elbow from grating it ourselves 😉
Ready meals and processed meat products: Sausages, minced meat and breaded fish products are often filled with sawdust to bind water and increase volume. Many breaded fish products contain less than half fish. This means that if you pay 200 kroner per kilo, the actual food costs 400 kroner per kilo – or what?
Ice cream and dairy products: First they trick us into eating fat-free products. Then they take the fat out and use it in other processed foods they can come up with. And then, to prevent low-fat products from appearing watery, sawdust is added to give it a creamy feel – because without fat, it is not creamy. This is especially used in reduced-fat dairy products, which gives the illusion of real ice cream or yogurt – but the reality is that you are paying good money for a dubious product.
Why do manufacturers do this?
The short answer is money – tadaa! By replacing real raw materials with cheaper fillers, they can drastically reduce production costs, without lowering prices. At the same time, sawdust is often marketed as “dietary fiber,” which gives the impression that it has health benefits – because that’s what they’ve managed to sell us! – even though it contains no vitamins, minerals, or anything of nutritional value.
Modern Food Fraud: The Hidden Thumb on the Scale
In the old days, a cunning butcher would trick you into paying for more meat than you actually received by thumbing your thumb on the scale. We may laugh at the old practice, but today the exact same thing happens – only on an industrial scale. You think you’re buying a wholesome product, but you’re getting adulterated, watered-down, and adulterated food.
Is sawdust safe to eat?
Sawdust is approved as a food additive by the food authorities and is not considered problematic (yet), but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Eating wood dust may not be dangerous in itself, but it’s replacing nutritious food that your body actually needs. You’re filling your stomach with “nothing,” and your cells, including your heart and brain cells, are suffering.
The problem is not that it is toxic, but that the industry is systematically removing nutrients from your diet while you pay full price for less food and less energy, and perhaps even incurring diseases that “no one understands where they come from.” This is the standard medical response to almost all modern health problems; It's just the way it is, we don't know why., and the even more tragic it just comes with age.
What happens if you are allergic to wood and pollen?
If you have a pollen allergy, asthma or a known sensitivity to wood materials, sawdust in your food can potentially trigger inflammatory reactions, respiratory problems or stomach upset. This is especially true for people who react to:
- Birch pollen (which has known cross-reactions with foods)
- Wood-based particles in the air (such as wood dust)
- Cellulose in pharmaceutical products and food
The food industry gets away with it completely because sawdust is not considered a classic allergen – even though it comes from wood material that many people react to.
Cross-reactions – an unknown risk
The body can also misinterpret proteins from sawdust as similar allergens, which can trigger reactions even if you are not directly allergic to the wood itself. Some possible cross-reactions include:
- Birch pollen allergy sufferers may react to sawdust from birch-based cellulose
- People with sensitive intestines (IBS, Crohn's, celiac disease) may experience irritation because the body is not designed to digest wood dust
- Those with histamine intolerance may experience worsening symptoms if sawdust negatively affects the intestinal flora
The food industry takes no responsibility
Since sawdust is not considered an allergen, there are no labeling or warning requirements, even though there are clear biological mechanisms for how it can trigger reactions in sensitive individuals.
So what does it mean? That people who react to this are told they are “imagining things,” while the industry continues to thicken their food with wood pulp and call it dietary fiber.
How can you avoid being scammed?
If you want real food, you need to be aware of what you're buying. Here are some concrete steps you can take:
- Read the ingredient list carefully: Look for words like “cellulose,” “microcrystalline cellulose,” or “cellulose powder” – it’s sawdust in disguise.
- Choose whole foods: Buy whole cheese instead of pre-grated, and make your food from scratch.
- Be skeptical of ready-made foods and convenience foods: These are often packed with cheap filler and cheats.
And read this article about what real food is!
By the way, what happens to the animals that are fed like this?
And this is where it really gets doubly grotesque. The food industry feeds us the same feed they feed factory farmed animals, and what we call “food” is often not much better than what they feed cattle, pigs, and farmed fish. Sawdust and seed oils are junk food for both animals and humans, and unfortunately, animals also become junk food when the industry manipulates them, feeding them a feed they were not made for.
Cattle on concentrated feed develop inflammation, fatty liver and are slaughtered before they collapse from serious illness.
Farmed salmon have their livers burst with seed oils and lose their color and disintegrate.
Pigs get sick and overweight – just like the human animal does when we eat the same thing
So why should vi become healthy by eating this garbage? We know that this does not work for the animals, and many of us feel terrible pity for animals who have to eat all this junk food that we know is wrong for them – but at the same time we have been fooled into believing that it is good for us.
Sawdust, seed oils and industrial feed actually turn you into a "factory-farmed version of yourself" – sick, weak and poorly nourished, and eternally hungry from a lack of real nutrition – and not least dependent on more and more processed foods that give you these brief flashes of intoxication and happiness.
We are predators too, just like the salmon, and today we sit and practically eat factory pellets just like them. Is it any wonder we are just as sick?
But then, can a pollen allergy sufferer or a person with intolerances also react to animals that have been fed sawdust and seed oils? Yes, it is absolutely possible, and it is No reason to reject this connection just because it is not "approved" by today's health authorities.
From McDonald's To Organic Valley, You're Probably Eating Wood Pulp
A Brief History of Wood Pulp in Food
31 Foods You're Eating That Contain Sawdust
Is Cellulose Fiber Safe to Eat?
Understanding Cellulose Allergy: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
Can Feedstocks Trigger Allergic Reactions in Humans Up the Food Chain?
Potential Transfer of Peanut and/or Soy Proteins from Poultry Feed into Meat, Eggs, and Tissues
Trees and plants can become new additives in light products
Food additive changed gut flora in humans
Commonly used additives under scrutiny by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority
Allergic Reactions to Cellulose and Its Derivatives
Cross-allergy – Norwegian Asthma and Allergy Association
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