More on food additives

Chemicals have long been added to food for a number of reasons, few of which have any relation to improving human health. In fact, too many food additives are harmful, even damaging,

to human health. But the food industry uses more than three thousand food additives in the processing of foods to improve their appearance, their shelf life, texture or consistency, and sometimes their taste.

Look out for these food additives in the products you buy and decide how badly you want that product:

• Sugar (also sucrose, fructose, dextrose, corn syrup, maltodextrin, etc.) - overconsumption may lead to obesity, Type II diabetes, insulin resistance, Candida, and heart disease and has been linked to depression, suppression of the immune system, and a higher risk of certain cancers.
• Aspartame (also mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, saccharine) – is grown from genetically modified E. coli cultures, composed of an isolated – and harmful - amino acid, and has the characteristics of a neurotoxin. Aspartame can cause a host of side effects including headaches, behavioural changes and seizures.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup – this sweetener is usually derived from genetically modified corn. It’s ratio of glucose to fructose is unbalanced, and therefore goes straight to the liver when it is consumed, where it is stored as fat. HFCS has been shown to cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and poses the same other health risks as sugar.
• Natural Flavours – this category can include virtually anything as long as its source was a natural substance. This broad category has the potential to a substances beyond the imagination, the details of which are too gruesome to mention.
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – a natural product originally used in East Asian cooking but whose use has grown to many manufactured foods such as canned vegetables, soups and meats, as a flavour enhancer. MSG is an unnecessary additional source of sodium and can cause allergic reactions. It is a neurotoxin which can throw of the body’s glutamate receptors and interfere with many systems of the body.
• MSG is also labelled as yeast extract and hydrolyzed protein and it can be hidden under the very misleading heading “natural flavors”.
• Artificial colours – are manufactured from industrial chemicals including antifreeze and petroleum. A dangerous class of additives, food colourings are capable of damaging your immune system, speeding up aging and promoting cancer. Foods containing natural colours derived from plants are safe but we need to avoid the words green, blue or yellow followed by a number.
• Nitrates and Nitrites – a type of preservative added to processed meats such as hot dogs, bacon, ham and other deli meats. They can create highly carcinogenic substances called nitrosamines in the body.
• BHA and BHT – synthetic additives which may promote carcinogenic changes in cells.

Safe food additives

• Citric acid and ascorbic acid – natural antioxidants
• Acids: Malic, fumaric, lactic
• Ammonium bicarbonate
• Lecithin
• Xanthan
• Guar gums
• Calcium chloride
• Monocalcium phosphate
• Monopotassium phosphate

Because it can be difficult to differentiate a harmful additive from a safe one given these long lists, as a general rule, it is best to avoid products whose chemical ingredients outnumber the familiar ones.