Five Myths About Food Additives
There are so many food additives that it is difficult to keep up with all of them and what they actually do. There is a lot of misinformation floating around that you need to be aware of. The Swedish Consumer Coalition has analyzed five of the most common myths and are listed below.
Myth #1 - Additives are safe
Manufacturers may lead us to believe that additives are safe by use of improper comparisons. Quite often comparisons between unrelated risks are used to put your mind at ease that has nothing to do with the safety of additives. For example, your chances of becoming ill from nitrites in lunchmeats are far less than getting into a plane crash. Nitrites have been reported to cause cancer.
Myth #2 - Additives are thoroughly tested
Experimental designs are neither consistent nor complete. Often additives are tested on animals in terms of a lethal dose but interactions of multiple additives are ignored. We have very little information on how additives affect children or individuals that may be allergic. Often manufacturers (drug and chemical companies) determine what is safe during normal consumption of the additive but ignoring all of the other toxins that we take in as well as an accumulative affect over time. Also, most of the research done by companies is not published so we don’t have access to this information but rather what they tell the public. So what can we believe?
Myth #3 - Additives are necessary
Many additives are not needed. Some additives do nothing for the quality of the food but rather create an inferior product such as when cheap fillers are put in processed meats and breads. Other additives are used to create an addiction for that food. Soda pops are a good example. A number of manufacturers added caffeine to their sodas so that you would buy more to get your caffeine fix. Interestingly, the caffeine they put in sodas comes from the caffeine that they took out of coffee and tea for individuals who can’t tolerate this very addicting drug.
Myth #4 - Numbers of additives are getting less
Definitely a myth. New additives are constantly being developed to replace older additives that have found to be harmful. I wonder what the next artificial sugar will be.
Myth #5 - Additives are not present in the end product
In general, additives will remain within the finished food product unless removed by the manufacturer if they can. Some margarines are a good example of this. As you know margarine is supposed to resemble butter. You start with liquid oils of some type that may be green in color. The end product is yellow and solid so that it looks like butter. Many additives that go through a number of chemical reactions have been used to generate this product.
