Food & Drink
Finance12 Food Additives To Avoid
Posted in Diet & Nutrition on June 7th, 2008 by Lisa Musick
More: acesulfame k, additives, artificial sweeteners, aspartame, bha, bht, Cancer, chemical, dangerous, Food & Drink, food coloring, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, msg, nitrate, nitrite, olestra, potassium bromate, processed food, propyl gallate, sodium chloride, trans fat, white sugar
More: acesulfame k, additives, artificial sweeteners, aspartame, bha, bht, Cancer, chemical, dangerous, Food & Drink, food coloring, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, msg, nitrate, nitrite, olestra, potassium bromate, processed food, propyl gallate, sodium chloride, trans fat, white sugar
I remember the trips that I used to take to the grocery store when I was younger. I would go up and down the aisles, filling my cart up with colorful, pretty boxes and bags of processed foods that had been constant companions since I was a little girl. I never read a label or had even one thought or concern about the chemical additives that those so called “foods” had lurking in them. Ignorance truly was bliss.
It was a shortly lived bliss though, because I started getting really sick, in my early 20s, from eating a diet that was full of chemicals and low in nutrients. Educating myself about our food supply was a real eye opener and my health began to slowly improve with each new thing that I learned about food additives and other toxins to avoid.
It might not be pleasant learning all of this and I know, from experience, that it can be bothersome reading labels. But, you owe it to yourself and to your health to put in a little extra time and effort and to become informed. It just might save your life.
1. Sodium Nitrate/ Sodium Nitrite
- What is it? Nitrates/Nitrites preserve, flavor and maintain a red color in many processed meat products.
- You can find them in: Processed meat products-Bacon, sausage, ham, hot dogs, lunch meat, pepperoni, smoked fish, corn beef, canned meat. It’s also found in some cheese.
- Why you should avoid them: Nitrites can form potent carcinogenic nitrosamines in the body. Nitrosamines are among the most powerful carcinogens known and even small amounts can lead to cancer. Studies confirm that nitrates and nitrites can cause prostate, breast and stomach cancers in humans.
- Nitrates are associated with increased miscarriages, fetal deaths and birth defects in laboratory animals.
- Both US and Canadian regulatory agencies have lowered the permissible levels of nitrates/nitrites for use in processed foods.
- Alternatives: Health food stores offer a variety of nitrite/nitrate free meats.
2. BHA and BHT
(Butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydrozyttoluene)
- What is it? BHA and BHT preserve many common processed foods
- You can find them in: cereal, chewing gum, potato chips, and vegetable oils.
- Why you should avoid them: Repeated studies show that BHA and BHT increase the risk of cancer and accumulate in body tissue, causing liver enlargement. They also slow down the rate of DNA synthesis and cell development.
3.Propyl Gallate
- You can find it in: some processed meat products, chicken soup stock and gum.
- Why you should avoid it: Propyl Gallate is a suspected carcinogen. It is also known to cause kidney, liver and gastrointestinal problems.
4. MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)
- What is it? Monosodium glutamate enhances flavors
- You can find it in: most canned soups, salad dressings, chips, crackers and frozen foods. It is also found in most spice and flavoring blends.
- MSG can be legally concealed on food labels behind harmless-sounding names like “natural flavoring”, “spices”, “seasonings” etc…
- Why you should avoid it: MSG can cause severe reactions in some people- headaches, nausea etc… Animal studies link it to damaging nerve cells in the brains of mice.
5. Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil
- What is it? Hydrogenated vegetable oil sometimes goes by the name “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.” It is more commonly known as a trans fat.
- You can find it in: Processed chips, microwave popcorn, crackers, cookies,pastries, pies, cakes, most fast foods, butter, margarine, lard, coconut oil, cottonseed oil & palm kernel oil etc…
- Why you should avoid it:Trans fats raise levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol and lower levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, which increases your chances of developing heart disease,having a heart attack, stroke or kidney failure.
- Alternative: Monounsaturated fats like Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil, help to lower bad LDL cholesterol and raises good HDL cholesterol.
6. Aspartame:
- What is it? Aspartame is sold by the brand names Nutrasweet and Equal. It’s found in 6,000 products worldwide.
- You can find it in: Diet foods- diet soft drinks & drink mixes, low calorie desserts, gelatins, puddings, frozen desserts, yogurt, some childrens vitamins etc…
- Why you should avoid it: Aspartame is responsible for 75 percent of the complaints that the FDA receives. The FDA has compiled a list of 92 Aspartame poisoning symptoms, from over 10,000 consumers. These complaints include- headaches, memory loss, seizures, vision loss, coma, and cancer.
- Aspartame was once listed as a “Biochemical Warfare Agent” by the Pentagon.
- For 8 years The US Food and Drug Administration did not approve Aspartame because of the evidence that was brought to light by numerous scientists, litigators and consumer groups, that aspartame damages the central nervous system and causes cancer in animals.
- Alternatives: Stevia and Xylitol are low calorie, natural sweeteners
7. Acesulfame-K…(Sunette, Sweet-n-Safe, Sweet One)
- What is it? This is a relatively new artificial sweetener, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1998.
- You can find it in: Diet soft drinks, baked goods, chewing gum, and gelatin desserts.
- Why you should avoid it: Acesulfame-K often is on many top 12 lists of additives to avoid because further study is needed in order to decide whether or not it is harmful to humans.
- Some studies showed this additive causes cancer in rats.
- Alternatives: Stevia and Xylitol are low calorie, all natural, safe sweetners.
8. Food Colorings: Blue 1, 2; Red 3; Green 3; Yellow 6
- Blue 1 and 2: used in beverages, candy, baked goods and some pet food. It has been linked to cancer in mice.
- Red 3: used to dye cherries, fruit cocktail, candy and baked goods. Causes thyroid tumors in rats.
- Green 3: used to color candy and beverages. Has been linked to bladder cancer.
- Yellow 6: used to color beverages, sausage, gelatin, baked goods, and candy. Causes tumors of the adrenal gland and kidneys.
9. Olestra (brand name is Olean)
- What is it? Olestra is a synthetic fat that prevents fat from getting absorbed by your digestive system. It also prevents valuable fat-soluable vitamins (A,D,E & K) and carotenoids from being absorbed by the body.
- You can find it in: some brands of potato chips
- Why you should avoid it: More than 15,000 consumers have filed complaints saying that Olestra has caused health problems- gas, diarrhea and abdominal cramps so severe that they had to go to the emergency room.
10. Potassium Bromate
- What is it? Potassium bromate is a bleaching agent in white flour.
- You can find it in: breads, rolls and pizza dough
- Why you should avoid it: It is known to cause cancer in animals and humans. It is still legal for it to be used in the United States and Japan. The state of California has it listed as, “chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity” and requires a cancer warning on products that have Potassium Bromate as an ingredient.
- Alternative: Look for flour and bakery products marked “UNBROMATED”
11. White Sugar/ High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Why you should avoid it: Too much white sugar/high fructose corn syrup in the diet puts on the pounds, causes depression, rots teeth and messes with blood sugar levels, which can lead to diabetes. It also leaches valuable vitamins and minerals out of the body.
- Alternatives: Maple Syrup (not the kind with High Fructose Corn Syrup, dye & synthetic “maple flavoring”), Brown Rice Syrup, Sorghum Molasses, Barley Malt Syrup and Date Sugar are all nutritious sweeteners that won’t put you on a blood sugar rollercoaster ride.
12. Sodium Chloride
- What is it? Sodium chloride is more commonly known as table salt. It enhances flavor and acts as a preservative. Processed foods have extremely high levels of sodium, so read those labels carefully.
- Why you should avoid it: Refined, table salt is 99.9% sodium chloride. During the refining process, naturally occurring minerals and trace elements are stripped away, then it’s blasted with high heat, bleached and chemicals like aluminum and anti-caking agents are added to it.
- Too much processed table salt intake burdens the kidneys and adrenal glands, depletes calcium and interferes with the absorption of essential nutrients. It also causes high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke.
- “Low-sodium salt” is even more toxic than table salt. More chemicals are added to the mix, in order to remove the sodium and stimulate the synthetic taste of salt.
- Alternatives: Flavor your food with herbs, a squeeze of lemon or lime, unrefined sea salt, Spike (an all natural salt substitute that has 37 herbs and spices) or Herbamare (a blend of sea salt and 14 herbs).
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June 11th, 2008 at 3:39 am
I have read that there are now many concerns about the safety of stevia … what do you think?
June 11th, 2008 at 9:31 am
I was not aware that Stevia had any safety concerns. From what I know, it is an all natural sweetener, made from a member of the daisy family. There are also many claims that it has medicinal properties.
Here’s a link with more information:
http://steviainfo.com/
I don’t personally like Stevia. I think it tastes too much like Sweet N Low. I prefer raw honey or agave nectar when I need something sweetened.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Just saying that something is “all-natural” doesn’t make it safe. Nightshade is all-natural, for example.
You’re aware that both honey and agave nectar are mostly just fructose and glucose, right? The impurities that exist in them don’t change the fact that they might as well be HFCS. Refined sugar is at least a disaccharide so your body has to do a little work to unravel it into its monosaccharides.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:34 am
RAW HONEY IS:
a complex combination of carbohydrates (mainly fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose),small amounts of protein, live enzymes, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids, bits of pollen and propolis.
Propolis is an anti oxidant, anti inflammatory, anti allergenic and has antimicrobial properties
Raw honey is naturally antibacterial,antiviral and antifungal and has been used by the Greeks, Romans and Chinese as a health tonic since ancient times.
One of the enzymes in raw honey, glucose oxidase, converts glucose into gluconic acid, which kills bacteria and heals wounds. Gluconic acid also increases calcium absorption.
Raw honey’s antioxidant properties help keep free radicals from damaging our bodies (free radicals contribute to premature aging and degenerative disease)
REFINED SUGAR IS:
Sugarcane that is stripped of any naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. It is then heavily processed with several toxic chemicals and is bleached white with pork by-products.(blood albumin or animal charcoal.)
Refined sugar contains high levels of carbonic acid, which disturbs the body’s nutritional balance, robbing the body of important nutrients, especially chromium, zinc, calcium, vitamins C and B-complex.
Refined sugar destroys live enzymes in the mouth, stomach, small intestines and the pancreas, which leads to difficulty digesting food and weakens the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food.
Refined sugar causes blood sugar levels to skyrocket, which leads to the pancreas having to secrete large amounts of insulin,in order to return blood sugar levels back to normal. This can lead to depression, lethargy,irritability and other health problems, like Diabetes.
WHICH ONE WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE AFTER READING THIS? RAW HONEY, THAT IS FULL OF VITAMINS, MINERALS, LIVE ENZYMES AND LIFE FORCE….OR REFINED SUGAR THAT IS FULLY STRIPPED OF ANYTHING NUTRITIONAL, FULL OF CHEMICALS AND RUINS YOUR HEALTH.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
thats like all the things i eat though? do u want me to starve?
June 24th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Nobody’s diet is going to be perfect all the time. You can make changes gradually, by removing one thing at a time that you know is bad. It’s doesn’t happen overnight. Go to a weekly farmers’ market and see what’s there that interests you. Go to your food co-op, make a meal from scratch once a week to start.
Just making small changes adds up. And nobody needs to prove their own way is perfect. No one diet is right for everyone. Nobody was ever converted to eating differently by getting yelled at. (Stop the all caps. Just say no! lol)
This is a really good list to start. I also like the Blood Type Diet, which works for me and several folks I know. I would add two things to the list that will be controversial, so if you think I’m crazy, I’m ok with that. But humans just are not equipped to digest either thing: dairy products and anything made with or related to wheat. I lost 60 lbs. by just cutting these two things out of my diet, and lost the last 20 by eliminating sugar. Now, I do eat sugar on occasion, but it’s not an every day part of my diet. My philosophy on food is all about avoiding things that are bad for me, not making them taboo. Taboos are too much fun to resist!
That’s all, folks. Don’t make yourself miserable, don’t beat yourself (or anybody else) up, just do loving things for your body. It’s a miracle, and should be treated like the valuable gift that it is.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
The so-called “MSG effect” has been proven to be false.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I like honey, but also prefer Fructose as a sweetener (though my sweet intake is very low).
Crystalline Fructose should not be mistaken for HFS or HFCS. They are not the same.
For more info, you can check out this link:
http://www.fructose.org/default.asp
June 25th, 2008 at 2:18 am
Arsenic and Lead are also natural.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:22 am
The ‘MSG effect’ is real! A few months ago I was searching on the internet why every time I had a soup (cup-a-soup), I had a headache!
I still have around 10 envelopes if anyone wants them…
June 25th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I read this and started laughing m butt off. I guess the author is suggesting your grow your own meat and butcher it. I wonder if the blog author has ever butchered an animal in his life? I’ll eat the preservatives. How in the world is the life expectancy what it is if all this is true?
June 27th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Dave Thomas – I’m pretty sure the author is not suggesting you raise and butcher your own meat…just to be careful and responsible about what you buy. Instead of buying the ballpark franks that are loaded with nitrates….buy all natural hotdogs or tofu dogs. Instead of highly processed lunch meat, get some that has been freshly roasted at the store (many high end supermarkets offer it).
It isn’t difficult to avoid additives, we just need to make better decisions about our diets. Hot dogs and chips are part of the reason why America is so fat anyway.
June 28th, 2008 at 4:05 am
Thanks. Good to know.
Sad to learn. Now what can I eat??
June 28th, 2008 at 8:58 am
I have no idea why it is deemed alright by the government for food manufacturers to add these things to our food at all…
I just don’t get it! Eat organically and fresh…
Kimberly Edwards
June 29th, 2008 at 11:21 am
A good scale to follow:
The larger the company that produces it, the worse for you it probably is.
Profit implies cheap methods. Cheap methods are rarely good methods.
Big companies
If you’re that afraid of processed foods, buy:
Small scale (Preferably specialized) producers,
local producers,
“supermarket” organic,
brand names,
large company (Kraft, Post, etc.) generic products.
In that order.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:54 am
lol@omg
i agree
July 1st, 2008 at 11:42 am
read the wikipedia article on stevia if you have doubts to its safety. the experiments were faulty and would have made distilled water appear to be mutagenic.
stevia has been safely used for over a hundred years in africa, and asian cultures have used them for over 30 years with no ill effects. they have coca cola sweetened with stevia, and the FDA is actually currently being petitioned to have it used in the US again.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Bread too!? Are you kidding me?
I would LOVE to be able to eat organically and healthy, but where I live you can’t buy anything but… well, the foods you listed above.
I don’t eat fast food, nor do I eat nasty snack foods, (fritos, hohos, etc).
But seriously, what CAN I eat?
It’s easy to tell me what I can’t eat… write the other side of this article and I’ll go from there.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Is our life expectancy shinking or growing?
What do healthy people die from?
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
“stevia has been safely used for over a hundred years in africa, and asian cultures have used them for over 30 years with no ill effects.”
The same can pretty much be said about MSG and other glutamates.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:16 am
““stevia has been safely used for over a hundred years in africa, and asian cultures have used them for over 30 years with no ill effects.”
The same can pretty much be said about MSG and other glutamates.”
That is correct, and they are perfectly safe as well. So is salt.
This article would have had more credibility if it was shortened to more like 6 Additive to avoid.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:50 am
so…what about all us poor college kids that can only afford the things listed above? are we just supposed to starve more than we already are? it’s not fair. healthy food should be affordable for everyone, not just the people who happen to have been blessed with more money.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
i like plane food, heavy additives have long term side effects.
July 4th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Lalalali, lalalalai, sooner or later we all have to die….
July 6th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I would love to see links to the scientific articles and research backing this list.
July 7th, 2008 at 9:50 am
I have a hard time believing people can only afford the foods listed. I am far from well off- probably more like lower middle class. I do not put priority on expensive material items…clothing, vehicles…etc. I spend my money on healthy food for myself and my family. I was a college student too as well as a stay at home mom…it is better physically and economically to buy non-processed, bulk foods…compare the price of a bag of rice to rice a roni….it all comes down to priorities…and i believe someone commented about the bread…I read that as processed white flour. If you are eating whole grain I don’t believe it is an issue.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Site like this are wonderful in helping us eat healthier and live longer. You can be very poor and still cut out the unhealthy foods and improve your well-being. It was because I was on food stamps that I became a vegetarian,learned how to make my own whole grain breads,cheeses,yogurt,jams,granola,soups and more. My family loves my home-cooking and our food dollar goes a long way.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
You people that are complaining ‘what will i eat now??”, do a little research. Yes, it is a little more expensive to eat well and even organic. But you know what-this is it, one body, one life. I prefer to be healthy for my only go around, thanks.
July 13th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
People used to eat foods with no preservatives and very little processing whatsoever…and had an average lifespan of forty years. The average lifespan is now over eighty. This argument is specious at best.
July 24th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
We’re not living longer because of all the chemicals they’re adding to our food…give yer head a shake fella…our lifespan has increased because of the cures that scientist’s have developed for so many diseases and for the prevention of many diseases…for the technology that has made our lives easier, but certainly not because companies like Kraft produce a cheese slice that has so many chemicals in it, it will never grow mold. Anyone that wants to eat healthy need only to consider this..if it’s man-made, don’t buy it…fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, whole grain foods and organic meats and dairy.
Another simple rule is, if you can’t pronounce the words in the ingredient list, don’t eat it!
October 13th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
1. i’m a career chemist.
2. sugar/HFCS should be REDUCED, but we americans are fat–this is what leads to health problems. there is no proven inherent risk in the consumption of either (in appropriate quantities).
3. table salt and sea salt carry the same health risks b/c they are the same compound. actually, the processing that takes place to make the “unnatural” salt leads to a significantly less impure form (though neither is really bad…again, fat americans). subbing one for the other isn’t going to buy you any extra time.
4. always be skeptical of the equation of human health with mouse health. we have wildly different metabolisms and living conditions. while it may seem scary to hear that mice get cancer from what you eat, it may not necessarily be relevant (for example, many drugs effective in mice don’t do a damn thing in humans…hit the literature). that being said, lots of things that kill mice do kill us too…i’m not saying that dioxins won’t fill you with tumors here…
October 24th, 2008 at 9:39 am
It really isn’t that the average adult is living longer, it is that overall the average life span of all people is longer because we have reduced infant and child mortality by preventing many of the killer childhood diseases. In the past, those individuals who survived childhood were quite hardy and lived much longer than 40 years. And, they probably ate a lot better than most of us do now!
February 25th, 2009 at 10:10 am
The shear abundance of additives going into our foods is literally making us sick. And the corporations force feeding it to us don’t care. Diseases like autism and asthma and disorders like hyperactivity have jumped in relation to the introduction of additives to our food. This is a huge issue and in the years to come as the general awareness increases we will see some drastic change… and hopefully lawsuits against greedy, immoral food manufacturers.
March 20th, 2009 at 6:48 am
There are people who don’t care about eating healthy, and that’s their problem. Some people are so addicted to their junk food they don’t want to change, and that’s their problem. EVERYBODY knows how to eat healthy, naturally, but most CHOOSE NOT to give up the crap they eat. No sense in trying to advise people on how to eat healthy. Obviously if they cared they would do it. The people here are just cry-babies “what will I eat?”, “where’s the science to back this up?”, “all these additives are safe”, and on & on.
April 21st, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Unfortunately, the alternative to all those nitrates & nitrites in meat is botulism poisoning.
April 24th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
for heaven sake! Terms such as Blue 1 etc to name food dyes are just about useless. Use simple terms ok, but give the more universal and more correct names as well. otherwise we think you don’t really know what you are talking about
April 25th, 2009 at 8:11 am
MSG = sodium + glutamate. One is an ion we need for our bodies to function properly (e.g. proper renal function), the other is an amino acid (what we build proteins out of). Neither of these things, in moderation, is bad for you. In fact, eating lots of MSG is pretty equivalent to eating lots of salt – not good for you, certainly, but nothing something you need to eliminate from your diet.
August 26th, 2009 at 9:46 am
[...] damage, and heart disease, to name a few unpleasant conditions. Here’s a handy list of Twelve Food Additives To Avoid, complete with pretty [...]
August 26th, 2009 at 9:48 am
[...] damage, and heart disease, to name a few unpleasant conditions. Here’s a handy list of Twelve Food Additives To Avoid, complete with pretty [...]
January 3rd, 2010 at 12:07 am
[...] organ damage, and heart disease, to name a few unpleasant conditions. Here’s a handy list of Twelve Food Additives To Avoid, complete with pretty [...]
March 28th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
what a pile of unsubstantiated horse shit!
April 7th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Great site great information!
April 11th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
While I like the information you put here, this all isn’t necessarily true. A little bit of any food is okay. Our bodies are made to process out any excess or impurities in food. In fact in some cases, a purely organic diet is worse then a normal, balanced diet.
In addition, while I fully support local foods and produce, sometimes the chemicals (or even in some instances the lack of chemicals) is worse than something you could buy at a food market.
May 14th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Moderation . . . all things in moderation.
May 18th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
You know what I wonder? How much SLOWER our bodies decompose when we die because of all of the preservatives that we eat… kinda gross to think about what we’ve done to ourselves.
May 20th, 2010 at 9:26 am
Thanks for the information. It’s nice to see all the info I was looking for on one page. If you have any kind of liver ailment, stay away from all of these products, but if you’re not sick everything in LOW moderation. If these products can kill mice and rats, of course it will kill us all if we keep eating all of these chemicals.
We all need to go back to the basics, grow your own fruits and vegetables. Everything is made to order now and it sits on a shelf somewhere collecting dust until someone buys it. In reality we really don’t know how long this stuff has been sitting on the shelf because with all of the chemicals it can last for a long time. Sounds nasty, doesn’t it
June 13th, 2010 at 12:58 am
Okay.. so maybe some people here are not too “well off” *rolls eyes* and can still some how eat this all organic healthy diet… I find it hard, here is my predicament;
I go to University, around $3,000 + books a semester, I have to work full time around that as well to be able to afford rent 1,000 per month (yes, thats a cheap place here), bills, school, gas, car payments (no fancy vehicle but I do NEED to get around) etc. & that is on a min wage paycheque. I take a full course load and when you pile homework on top of that I barley have time to eat in the first place …
So… if you get up at say 7 am, have to be at school by eight, come home at say… three, go to your lovely place of work until ten – ten thirtyish, come home to do home work and then TRY and get a decent amount of sleep, because as health freaks we ALL KNOW that 8 hrs of sleep is just as important as healthy eating..
where can I go to pick up healthy food if I have a five dollar a day food budget and where would you suppose I get the time to cook my own organic food…also I refuse to be a vegitarian and do not want tofu or soy substitutes, I dont have anyone around to cook for me, and I have 100$ grocerie limit.. if that.. a month. Tell me what to do. I want usual 3 small meal 2 snack diet plan with the health guide suggested amounts of grains, dairy, fruit& veggies, protien etc. How about you make me a diet plan for a month, all organic meals, all made under ten minutes, all with a 100 spending limit..
July 4th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Antioxidants are one of the biggest “health food” farces out there. There have been exactly zero studies conclusively relating the increased consumption of antioxidants with improved health.