# Does candies contain something the companies don't want me to know?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candies-contain-something-the-companies-dont-want-me-to-know/76737>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 17, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candies-contain-something-the-companies-dont-want-me-to-know/76737 "2001-08-17T15:06:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Smoker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@Smoker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smoker)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candies-contain-something-the-companies-dont-want-me-to-know/76737/1 "2001-08-17T15:06:57Z")

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Someone told me that gummybears (my favorite candy) contain rat piss and that they add it for the color, instead of having artificial colors in the candy. Supposedly the rat piss goes by the name of “E 20X” (X being a number), so my questions if this is true and if so is there a list somewhere on the net that tells me what the different E 2 whatever actually mean?

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**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candies-contain-something-the-companies-dont-want-me-to-know/76737/2 "2001-08-17T15:12:07Z")

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This barely even rates a reply, but I’ll go ahead anyway.

No, it doesn’t contain rat’s piss. Why on earth would a food manufacturer add animal urine to a product? Think it about it, okay?

The number you’re probably seeing is the food dye number (you know, like Red Dye #2). While some organic food enthusiasts might consider food aditives harmful, it’s doubtful even they would claim one is made from rat’s piss.

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**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candies-contain-something-the-companies-dont-want-me-to-know/76737/3 "2001-08-17T16:07:22Z")

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The “E numbers” are a European standard for all kinds of food additives. Colors and flavorings, both natural and artificial, make up the bulk of the list, but other things like plain old baking soda are on there too. If you’re in Europe, any decent bookstore should have or be able to order a small book listing what the numbers stand for in your local language.