Originally published October 13 2005
Dietitian shares her scoop on food additives
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based dietitian at the Medcan Clinic, reviews the nutrition of good additives and certain health risks associated with food coloring, sulphites and aspartame.
Our reliance on factory-made foods means that natural and synthetic chemical additives have become a significant part of our diet.
It's estimated that food additives comprise about 10 per cent of the food consumed by the average adult.
Because their purpose is to make foods look better, some argue that food dyes are frivolous.
In 1982, the U.S. National Institutes of Health concluded that there was no scientific evidence to support the claim that colour additives caused such behavioural problems.
However, studies did show that for some children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and food allergy, eliminating artificial food dyes led to improvement in behaviour.
The U.S. government requires that all food products containing tartrazine have the colour listed on their labels so sensitive people can avoid it.
Used to maintain colour, prolong shelf life, and prevent the growth of bacteria, sulphites are added to a wide range of products, including beer, wine, baked goods, dried fruits, dried herbs and spices, grapes, lettuce, jams, snack foods and soy products.
Sulphites are among the top nine food allergens because of their potential to cause severe reactions in sensitive people.
Food packages are required to declare a list of ingredients and their components (ingredients of ingredients).
However, if a food includes components that are exempted from labelling, it's possible that sulphites won't be mentioned on label.
If you're sensitive to MSG, scan ingredient lists for monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, yeast and natural flavouring.
Approved for use in 1981, aspartame is used to sweeten more than 5,000 low-calorie foods.
Organic foods are grown and processed without the use of synthetic or artificial chemicals.
But keep in mind that intolerance or sensitivity to an additive does not depend on whether it's natural or artificial.
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