Common Food Additives

What are common food additives? What are the ill-effects of harmful food additives and preservatives? Find answers to these questions and more, in this article

Certain chemicals are added to food during processing, to enhance the taste, aroma and flavor; to make the food colorful and attractive; to preserve the food; to make liquids thick; to sweeten the liquid or food, to make it nutrient rich, to make it easy to digest, to stimulate appetite, etc. Some of the most common food additives and preservatives contain harmful chemical compounds which can cause adverse effects on our body. These days, artificial sweeteners like saccharine and sucralose are used like other common food additives such as vinegar and citric acid. Let us take a look at the dangers of food additives and preservatives.

Dangers of Food Additives and Preservatives

The list of food additives and preservatives consists of more than 14,000 synthetically manufactured chemicals, which can cause a number of disorders and diseases like hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, asthma, cancer or learning difficulties and behavioral problems. Saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame K and sucralose are the FDA approved artificial sweeteners used by diabetic patients and by those who want to lose weight or prevent weight gain. Excessive use of these sweeteners may lead to hypoglycemia, tumors, cancers, headache, eczema, nausea, diarrhea, and various other disorders. You should read more on saccharin side effects and sucralose side effects, to get a better idea.

Some of the common food additives can cause birth defects in infants, cancers, skin allergies, asthma, high blood cholesterol levels, dysfunction of liver and kidneys, vitamins and mineral deficiencies, high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack. You may refer to the article preservatives in food to avoid. Salt, sugar, curry leaves, vinegar, rosemary extract are included in the list of natural food preservatives. Here is a list of the common food additives to avoid.

List of Food Additives to Avoid

Synthetic Food Colors

Acid brilliant green

Allura red AC

Amaranth

Azorubine

Brilliant black

Brilliant Blue

Brilliant scarlet

Carmines

Chocolate brown HT

Erythrosine

Fast green

Indigo carmine

Kipper brown

Patent blue

Quinoline yellow

Red 2G

Sunset yellow

Tartrazine

Yellow 2G

Synthetic Food Sweeteners

Aspartame

Cyclamate

Cyclamic acid

Potassium acesulphame

Saccharine

Mannitol

Synthetic Food Preservatives

Benzoic acid

Biphenyl

Butylated hydroxy-anisole

Calcium benzoate

Calcium hydrogen sulfite

Calcium sulfite

Calcium propionate

Diphenyl

Ethyl para hydroxybenzonate

Formic acid

Glacial acetic acid

Hexamethylene tetramine

Orthophenyl phenol

Potassium benzoate

Potassium bisulfite

Potassium metabisulphite

Potassium nitrate

Potassium propionate

Potassium sulfite

Propyl p-hydroxybenozoate

Sodium benzoate

Sulfur dioxide

Sodium nitrate

Sodium nitrite

Sodium metabisulfite

Sodium propionate

Synthetic Flavor Enhancers

Disodium guanylate

Disodium inosinate 5

Disodium ribonucleotides 5

Glutamic acid and all glutamates

Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

Synthetic Antioxidants

Butylated hydroxyanisole

Butylated hydroxytoluene

Dodecyl gallate

Octyl gallate

Propyl gallate

Stannous chloride

Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ)

Other Dangerous Food Additives

Acacia gum

Alginic acid

Caffeine

Carrageenan

Chlorine dioxide

Gelatin

Magnesium sulfate

Polysorbate

Polyoxyethylene stearate

Potassium bromate

Potassium ferrocyanide

Quinine

The above common food additives list contains harmful food additives which are used to obtain color, smooth texture, flavor, taste, etc., in various types of commercially manufactured foods. Harmful effects of these food additives are not seen instantly. Excessive consumption or consumption of these food additives over a longer period of time leads to adverse effects on our body. As a consumer, you have to be careful while buying food products as regards to what they contain. Read the labels carefully and check whether the food item contains any of the above harmful chemicals. Do you know that some energy drinks contain far more caffeine than most soft drinks? Breads, jams, ice-creams, fruit juices, beer, wine, cheese, sauces, canned products, soft drinks, breakfast meals, sweets, bakery products, etc., too contain food additives. Always buy organic vegetables and natural food items. Avoiding packaged snacks and meals and preferring home-made food can help you stay away from the bad effects of food additives. For homemade jams, pickles and sauces, you can use turmeric, salt, vinegar, sugar, honey, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and fenugreek powder as preservatives and flavoring agents. Saffron is another great natural coloring and flavoring agent.

Some studies show that tartrazine, quinoline yellow, sunset yellow, azorubine, brilliant scarlet, and allura red, can make children hyperactive. Most of the artificial colors can cause cancer and asthma. More studies are required to prove the harmful effects of all above listed common food additives. Till then, it is only better to stay away from them.