Food Additives - Are They Dangerous to Your Health?

November 20, 2008 – 3:20 pm

Welcome back!

Food additives have become a significant part of the American diet. Today we spent a whooping 90 percent of our food budget on processed foods. And, almost all processed foods contain food additives. But are they harmful to your health? Which ones should be avoided? In this article, we’ll explore what we consider to be the twelve most dangerous food additives.

Just by looking at the label of most processed foods you’ll find a list of flavor enhancers, preservatives, and food colorings. Some of which you probably can’t even pronounce. But why do food processors include food additives anyway? They include additives in their products to make them look and taste better and to increase shelf life. After all, when you buy blueberry yogurt, you expect it to look blue and not have a bland color. But what you may not know is that some of the common food additives in everyday products can have long-term harmful consequences on your health.

Here’s a list of twelve food additives that fall into this category.
1. Aspartame - This sweetener is typically found in no sugar diet foods such as diet sodas, low-calorie desserts, gelatins, and drink mixes. Nutrasweet and Equal contain aspartame. Some possible side effects include fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and breathing problems.
2. Acesultame K (potassium) - This artificial sweetener is 200 times sweeter than sugar and is commonly found in baked goods, chewing gum, and gelatin deserts.
3. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT butylated hydrozyttoluene) - These two preservatives are commonly found in everyday household foods such as cereals, vegetable oils, potato chips, and chewing gum. They have an oxidizing affect, which may damage cells.
4. Food Colorings: Blue 1,2; Green 3; Red 3; Yellow 6 - These food colorings are typically found in foods where color may influence their purchase. Blue 1,2 are found in baked goods, candy, beverages, and even pet food. Green 3 can be found in beverages and candy. Red 3 is usually found in fruit cocktail, candy, and baked goods. Yellow 6 is found in baked goods, gelatin, candy, sausage, and beverages,
5. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) - MSG is used to enhance the flavor of such items as chips, frozen entrees, salad dressings, and soups. Possible side effects are nausea and headaches.
6. Olestra - This synthetic fat can be found in some brands of potato chips. Possible side effects include diarrhea, gas, and abdominal cramps. Olestra has been shown to inhibit vitamin absorption.
7. Propyl Gallate - This preservative is occasionally found in vegetable oils, meat products, chewing gum, potato sticks, and chicken soup base. It helps reduce spoilage in oils and fats.
8. Potassium Bromate - Used to increase the volume in white flour, bread and rolls and to produce bread with a fine crumb structure. Use of this additive appears to be decreasing.
9. Sodium Chloride - Also know as salt, this popular additive is utilized to improve the flavor of food. Excessive use of salt may cause kidney problems, blood pressure problems, heart attack and stroke.
10. Sodium Nitrate (or Sodium Nitrite) - Used as a preservative in meats and to improve the flavor of hotdogs, ham, lunchmeat, smoked fish, and corn beef. Sodium nitrite stabilizes the red color in cured meat. Without it bacon and hotdogs would look gray. The meat processors justify the use of these additives because they believe they prevent the growth of botulism causing bacteria.
11. Trans Fat - This additive is typically found in food served at fast food restaurants, icing, baked goods, and microwave popcorn. Recently, food processors have started to replace trans fat with healthier substitutes. Foods labeled as “no trans fat” are not allow to have any trans fat, while those labeled as “0g trans fat” may contained up to .5g per serving. Health-conscious shoppers need to check the labels of foods claiming not to have trans fat to ensure there aren’t large amounts of saturated fat present.
12. White Sugar - Sugar and other sweeteners are common ingredients in desserts, cereals, baked goods, crackers, sauces, and many other processed foods. Although they make up 16 percent of the average person’s diet, they are void of helpful nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, or protein. Consumption of sugar and other refined sugars may lead to obesity, tooth decay, and other potentially harmful health conditions.

Food additives can be found in many of the processed foods sold today. Unfortunately, manufacturers aren’t required to list the amount of food additives contained in their products. So, it is difficult to compare products to find which ones have the smaller amount of additives. Check the labels to see if they are in the foods you eat. If so, you might consider looking for other items. If you see other additives that concern you, do a search for them on the internet and you likely find a description of the additives along with any possible harmful side effects.

Many of the above additives have been tested in animal studies and have been shown to cause cancer in lab animals. Whether these additives would also cause serious diseases in humans has not been thoroughly researched. But why take a chance with your health. Perhaps, the best strategy is to avoid them all together wherever you can.