When buying and cooking food for our families, we all want to provide the
best nutrition and the safest produce we can for the price we can afford, as
well as putting together tasty meals that all family members will enjoy. But
these days we hear more and more about the dangers of the chemical additives
which have become commonplace in our foodstuffs. What are these additives, and
which ones should we be avoiding?
Firstly, we should remember that food additives are in almost all packaged
goods, and if we buy pre-prepared, pre-packaged goods we will almost certainly
be subjecting our families to them. These practically unavoidable substances
have become an unseen staple in our daily diet and a quick glance at the list of
ingredients on many "ready-to-cook" dinners may well give us a long lists of
ingredients we can neither identify nor pronounce!
What are food additives?
Food additives are chemical compounds that are used to enhance the flavour,
colour and texture and prolong the shelf life of manufactured foods. The FDA and
other authorities around the world tell us that permitted food additives are
safe in small quantities. The reality, however, is that some food additives are
consumed in far greater quantities than may have been foreseen, and that many
are consumed with other chemicals in combinations that have not been (and cannot
possibly be) extensively tested. You need only do a search on the internet for
such additives as "MSG" or "Aspartame" to find that many specialists are worried
about the long-term effect on consumers.
If you want to know what you are putting into your body and feeding your
children, you must become adept at reading food labels and understanding the
implications of those incomprehensible lists of chemical ingredients.
MSG
MSG is a food additive originally developed to enhance the flavour of Chinese
food. It is now used extensively in snack foods - particularly heavily flavoured
potato chips (crisps), stocks and sauces. MSG stands for Monosodium
Glutamate, and Monosodium Glutamate or MSG is an excitotoxin. Excitotoxins are
designed to excite the taste buds on your tongue, thereby enhancing the flavour
of the food. But MSG is also known to cause nerve damage by overexciting your
nerves.
An unknown percentage of the population reacts badly to MSG with symptoms that
can include numbness or burning on the back of the neck, back and arms, tingling
sensations on the face, neck and back, headache, nausea, rapid heart beat and
weakness. Some scientists believe that MSG also contributes to long term
neurological damage and could be a factor in such diseases as MS and
Alzheimer's.
You will rarely see "MSG" on a list of ingredients. It is usually hidden within
other common ingredients such as yeast extract, autolyzed vegetable protein or
hydrolyzed vegetable protein - all three of which contain MSG and should be
avoided.
Sodium Nitrite
Sodium Nitrite is added to many packaged and deli counter meat products, to add
red colouring to meats in order to make them look fresher and more appetizing.
The "sodium" in the name leaves many people thinking it is a form of salt, but
Sodium Nitrite is, in fact a carcinogen (a cancer-causing substance) that has
been linked to brain tumours, leukaemia and cancers of the digestive tract.
Amazingly this is an "accepted" ingredient and you will find no warnings on food
labels.
BHA and BHT
These food additives are preservative and are used to prevent oils or fats from
going rancid. They slow down the autoxidation rate of ingredients (reaction with
oxygen in the air) that can cause changes in taste or colour. Despite Department
of Health and Human Services findings that BHA is considered to be "a reasonably
anticipated human carcinogen", the FDA continues to allow this additive to be
used.
Aspartame
Aspartame is a chemical sweetener that is used extensively in diet soft drinks
and deserts. There is huge controversy over this sweetener, with over 90 health
symptoms reported in various studies. Many children (and their weight conscious
parents) consume vast quantities of aspartame by drinking supposedly "healthy"
sugar-free drinks and eating sugar-free yoghurts and snacks.
Carmine
And here's an ingredient that while not dangerous to our health, is misleading
to
consumers. Carmine, also known as Cochineal, is a red coloring found in many
food products to turn them a pretty pink colour. Strawberry yoghurt, pink
grapefruit juice and countless other products contain it. You might like to know
that Carmine is actually a paste made from the dead husks of female red beetles
from the Canary Islands. Would your children enjoy their strawberry milk drink
as much if they knew it contained dried, squashed beetles? I think not! This is
an excellent example of the "spin" that food manufacturers are allowed to use
when labelling the food we routinely buy from the supermarket shelves.
Trick or Treating - Keep
Your Kids Safe Halloween is a holiday loved by kids everywhere. It’s a fun time
to dress up like silly or scary characters and go trick-or-treating in the
neighborhood. Be sure your kids are safe while trick-or-treating with these
quick tips..
