Dangerous Food Additives

Dangerous Food Additives by Nicky Webber

Parts 1 & 2 below
of Healthscripts.co.nz

Part One:

I always advise people to “read the labels” which would be OK if we could understand them!

Some Food additives contribute to food safety, like acidity regulators, which prevent food from spoiling. Other additives occur naturally, like Vitamin C for instance which often acts as a preservative. But there are many additives that are seriously worth avoiding so here are a few key ones to watch out for. Keep these handy when you go shopping – never mind the calories – make sure you aren’t putting any of these things into your body and you will naturally improve your digestion!

Food Additives have a code number and these start at 100 and go to 1521. As a rule of thumb if the list of ingredients on any food label is lengthy you can bet dollars to proverbial bull dust – that the product contains chemicals and toxins.

Here are some obvious ones to watch out for and are regarded as dangerous:

Colour in Food:

102 Tartrazine

110 Sunset Yellow (FCF), found in jelly beans, smarties, cheese spreads, cream cheeses, custards, often with 102. Check the additives in the wide range of gravies and sauces too.

120 Carmines or Carminic Acid or Cochineal (red colour)

123 Amaranth – banned in USA and Russia

124 Ponceau (4R)

Others that are known to have caused health disturbances such as:

Intestinal Disorders – these are all preservatives

220 Sulphur Dioxide

221 Sodium Sulphite

222 Sodium Bisulphite

223 Sodium Metabisulphite

224 Potassium Metabisulphite

Digestive Problems

338 Phosphoric Acid (acidity regulators)

339 Sodium Phosphates (acidity regulator, emulsifier, stabilizer)

340 Potassium Phosphates (acidity regulator, emulsifier, stabilizer)

341 Calcium Phosphates (acidity regulator, emulsifier, stabilizer, anti-caking agent)

450 Potassium Pyrophosphate or Sodium acid pyrophosphate or Sodium pyrophosphate (acidity regulator, emulsifier, stabilizer)

461 Methyl Cellulose (thickener, emulsifier, stabilizer)

465 Methyl Ethyl Cellulose (thickener, emulsifier, stabilizer, foaming agent)

466 Sodium carboxymethylcellulose (thickener, stabilizer)

There are a few others worth mentioning too – so will do that in my next Blog. Both articles will be helpful in determining what to avoid. To make this more pragmatic please copy and paste the list – edit what you don’t want and keep it handy for your next supermarket visit.

It’s always best to eat nutritious fresh food and try good quality health supplements, if you suffer with a vitamin absorption problem or vitamin deficiency and feel you are operating under par. See http://www.healthscript.co.nz/vitamins-supplements/VitaminGuide.aspx for more details around health supplements that work!

Part Two:

Dangerous Food Additives (Part 2)

After reading research around food additives, the forces of fate conspired to deliver a sticky chocolate mud-cake muffin on my first day back at the coal-face! It was some solace to “let me eat cake” as compensation for having to front up to work after the Xmas break.

The delicious smell permeated my senses. I just wanted to hoover it up and hide the evil evidence of my wicked ways! As I frantically started to peel the cupcake paper off – some got stuck and so did I. All the stuff I’d been writing about toxic food additives loomed large in my psyche. The green and red ink printed on the cupcake paper would not come off – bits were left behind much to my frustration.

Was this Destiny? Forcing me to make the ultimate choice – the cake or the health standards I am trying so desperately to live by. It doesn’t get any tougher than this folks….I knew eating those coloured cupcake paper fragments would undo all the “clean” eating I had done for a week.

Conveniently, I have a fall back position. I’m not god – although some say I do have godlike qualities, (yeah right!). So in accepting my mere mortal status, I forced it all hurriedly down my throat. Speed to digest should minimize any internal damage – right? The result. FANTASTIC. I will be working my laptop for a straight 8 hours without a break after that dioxin laced hit! As for the guilt – go to hell I say – this muffin crossed my path. It was Fate. Karma. Whatchamacallit …. and it was Oscar Wilde that said the only thing he couldn’t resist was temptation! What a genius!

However, in the cold light of day, I realised I had promised to impart more on the BAD food additives in this blog. So this continues from my previous blog by the same name (Part 1), with a focus this time on more cancer causing additives which are best to avoid in any foods…..(not to mention the horrors in soaps or cleaning agents). A rule of thumb – avoid anything with benzoic/benzoate and paraben in the chemical name. This can also apply to most things with sulphite or nitrite on the labels too.

Have a look at the backs of packet food and instant food in particular and you’ll often see these chemicals lurking in the fine print.

142 Green S (colour) contributes to hyperactivity, asthma and allergies and is carcinogenic (cancer causing) Found in beverages and food.
150Cc and 150d Caramel (colouring) hyperactivity, inhibits the metabolism of vitamin B6 – serious doubts currently exist around its safety. Found in various beers and wines, cigarettes and cosmetics.
210 Benzoic acid (preservative) Asthma, skin and eye irritations, behavioral problems, aspirin sensitive people may wish to avoid.
211 Sodium Benzoate (preservative) same as above
212 Potassium Benzoate (preservative) same as above but found in jams, preserves, chili paste, icings, coconut milk, glace cherries etc.
213 Calcium Benzoate (preservative) same as above
216 Proylparaben or Propul-p-hydroxy-benzoate (preservative – part of the dangerous paraben family of toxins) Similar conditions as above and is found in a wide range of foods and shampoos, skin lotions, soaps, foundation creams and baby preparations.
319 tert-Butylhydroquione (and similar looking “Buthyl” names) are all dangerous antioxidants, found in edible oils, emulsions, fortified wines, cosmetics, etc.

Now back to my toxic rich chocolate muffin – a little bad now and again has got to be OK! But eat it before you do a Google search for dangerous food additives! I make sure I take my daily health supplements and a brisk walk, to compensate for my misdeeds, so my shiny halo of good health is maintained