Website design By BotEap.comFood additives, used by mankind for centuries, are chemicals that are applied to food at home or by the food industry to improve the taste, color, texture, and longevity of food. Salt, sugar, and vinegar were some of the first food additives discovered and were used both to improve taste and to preserve food. Although salt, smoke, spices, and sugars have been used sparingly for millennia, in the past 30 years, with the advent of processed foods, there has been a massive explosion in the chemical adulteration of foods with additives. Food additive technology through research and development has become big business.

Website design By BotEap.comConsiderable controversy has been associated with the potential threats and potential benefits of food additives. Commercial food additives are regulated in the US by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and food additives tend to receive the most detailed scientific attention due to regulatory scrutiny. Today, there are literally thousands of chemical additives that are used in our food, and many of them are considered harmful elements. A brief discussion of the most popular additives will serve to illustrate potential health concerns and hopefully help you start thinking about avoiding these harmful substances:

Website design By BotEap.comSulfites are used as bleaching additives, antioxidants, and preservatives in foods. They have been implicated as allergens due to the fact that a typical sulfite reaction involves flushing, dizziness, shortness of breath, or wheezing. Sulfites can cause asthmatic attacks and some deaths have also been attributed to their use. Unfortunately, sulfite sprays have been used extensively on fresh produce in stores and restaurants to prevent browning due to exposure to air. French fries, an American favorite, are treated this way too. As preservatives, sulfites were found at some point in processed foods, alcoholic beverages (wine and beer), and drugs. Even the sprays used to treat asthmatics contained sulfites as preservatives in the past! The growing notoriety of sulfites in 1985 led to new regulations limiting their use, and the FDA has banned the use of six sulfite preservatives in fresh fruits and vegetables. However, the ban still allows manufacturers of processed foods, nuts, wines, and beer to use sulfites, although if these manufacturers are prudent on behalf of their customers, they will voluntarily restrict or restrict the use of sulfites.

Website design By BotEap.comNitrates and Nitrites – Various chemicals used as food additives are also found naturally in many foods. Nitrates and nitrites are always present in plants. They are part of the essential chemistry of soils and plants, and as every gardener knows that nitrogen is essential for plant growth, nitrogen fertilizers containing nitrates are the most abundant agricultural chemicals. Surprisingly, some very beneficial foods like beets, radishes, spinach, and lettuce contain the highest levels of nitrates. We know that daily nitrate intake is estimated to be in the range of 100 mg per day.

Website design By BotEap.comAlthough nitrites are found in nature, they are less common in the food supply, but they are produced in the mouth and intestine by bacterial action on proteins and nitrates. Its intake is in the range of 2-3 mg per day. Nitrites, generally as sodium salts, have been used extensively as preservatives, especially in bacon and other processed meats. Saltpeter is the best known nitrite with its undeserved reputation as an inhibitor of sexual desire. The main concern is the ability of nitrites to combine with amino acids in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) to form nitrosamines, potentially carcinogenic molecules. Vitamin C inhibits nitrosamine formation and is believed to protect against GIT cancer. Vitamin C, as an antioxidant preservative, can replace less desirable preservatives in some foods. Tobacco smoke is the main source of human exposure to nitrosamines.

Website design By BotEap.comSalicylates are common in vegetables and fruits. Medicinal salicylates (aspirin) come from plant sources such as willow bark methyl salicylate. Like wintergreen oil, methyl salicylate has been rubbed on many cold-affected chests and inhaled by children who have coughed for years. Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), or aspirin, is one of the most popular and useful drugs of all time. ASA is an effective drug with several benefits, but it commonly causes irritation and bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract. It is a major allergen and causes many rashes and hives and can occasionally trigger asthma. Dr. Feingold postulated that salicylates and food dyes caused hyperactivity in children, popularizing low-salicylate diets. Feingold recommended avoiding foods that contain natural salicylates or chemically similar substances. Their lists excluded foods like peaches and cucumbers, for example, which are among the lowest on our list of foods that produce symptoms.

Website design By BotEap.comFood colors and preservatives have been suspected of producing allergic reactions and behavioral disturbances for many years, and their exclusion was part of Dr. Feingold’s program for the treatment of hyperactive children. Food colors are used liberally throughout commercial food manufacturing and are also very popular in home use. We know that the yellow dye tartrazinea and the preservative benzoate can cause hives. In the study of hyperactive children by Egger et al, tartrazine and benzoate were the most common substances for causing abnormal behavior in children, although they were never the only cause of behavior problems. Tartrazine is a yellow food coloring that is commonly found in a wide variety of manufactured foods. It produces a variety of symptoms, usually within 90 minutes of ingestion, including asthma, hives, generalized swelling, headache, and behavioral changes (usually hyperactivity). Colors derived from natural plant and animal sources are generally exempt from FDA control in the US and are generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Beet pigment, beta-carotene, grape skin extract, paprika, saffron, turmeric, and vegetable juices are examples of GRAS colors. While these substances are not known to be toxic or carcinogenic, there is no guarantee that they are not allergenic or otherwise bothersome to some people. Certified colors are approved by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and bear the certification name FD&C Red No. 2 and so on, with tartrazine being FD&C Yellow No. 15. Of the nine colors currently certified, seven can be used in quantities consistent with good manufacturing practice.

Website design By BotEap.comMonosodium glutamate, known as MSG, is perhaps the most vilified additive. MSG is blamed for almost everything that goes wrong in Chinese restaurants, with many people scanning food product labels and rejecting any MSG it shows. However, glutamate is a normal and respectable amino acid that is continuously present in all of our cells and always available in the blood. One possibility that monosodium glutamate acts negatively in the body would be with the sudden absorption of a large amount. In this case, an individual may experience a rapid rise in blood glutamate, activating the receptors that sound the alarms, causing the headache and throbbing pains associated with MSG. A variety of other symptoms are frequently reported, including flushing, numbness and tingling, chest pains, racing heart, abdominal pain, and behavioral changes such as irritability, hyperactivity, and outbursts of anger. In pure form, we would not expect MSG to trigger allergic effects; however, MSG products can contain allergenic contaminants of plant origin, such as corn, beets, and wheat. Monosodium glutamate is often mixed with a common enzyme (papain) in commercial food enhancers such as “Accent.” Papain is derived from papaya and is a protein allergen, so MSG can often be blamed for papain’s allergenicity. Sometimes papain is injected into ruptured intervertebral discs as an alternative to back surgery. The injection is potentially dangerous if the patient has previously been sensitized to papain by ingestion.

Website design By BotEap.comAspartame, a well-known popular artificial sweetener, contains two normal amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid, and is well tolerated in reasonable doses. The fact that combining them produced a sweet taste was a surprise (and lucrative) discovery. Problems ingesting large amounts can occur in people with a known intolerance to phenylalanine. Additionally, excess phenylalanine could negatively affect brain function by increasing the excitability of brain cells and, in the worst case, promoting seizures. The occasional reports of “allergic” reactions to aspartame are surprising, as this molecule should not act as an allergen.

Website design By BotEap.comAs we are all informed and educated about how chemical additives in our food affect our bodies, we will be able to make better-informed decisions to ensure our health and well-being. This author hopes that more and more Americans will make healthy, organic, and unprocessed foods a more important part of their daily diets.