Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve become aware of the more recent commonly used phrases, “If you can’t pronounce [it] on your first try… or your Grandmother hasn’t heard of it, you shouldn’t be consuming it.”
Sounds like a reasonable piece of advice, doesn’t it? While I’ve taken up the challenge to eliminate chemicals or additives I’m unsure about, what exactly are these multi-syllable mouth-jumbles we’re seeing on nutrition labels all around the supermarket?
Women’s Health Magazine recently released a Food Additive Glossary I found extremely user-friendly. Although lengthy, I find this to be a mandatory read to discover some of the scary and somewhat disgusting things we’ve been consuming in everyday ingredients. I've taken the article, broken it down and included what I found to be the most important information.
We should probably avoid:
Acesulfame Potassium (Acesulfame-K): A calorie-free artificial sweetener often used with other artificial sweeteners to mask bitterness. The FDA has approved it for use in most foods, but some health groups claim that the decision was based on flawed tests. Animal studies have linked it to lung and breast tumors.
Alpha-Tocopherol: The form of vitamin E most commonly added to foods and most readily absorbed and stored in the body. An essential nutrient, it helps prevent oxidative damage to the cells and plays a crucial role in skin health and disease prevention. In the amount added to foods, tocopherols pose no apparent health risks, but concentrated supplements might bring on toxicity symptoms such as cramps, weakness, and double vision.
Aspartame: A near-zero-calorie artificial sweetener made by combining two amino acids with methanol; 180 times sweeter than sugar. Over the past 30 years, the FDA has received thousands of consumer complaints due mostly to neurological symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, memory loss, and, in rare cases, epileptic seizures. Many studies have shown aspartame to be completely harmless, while others indicate that the additive might be responsible for a range of cancers.
BHA and BHT (Butylated Hydroxyanisole and Butylated Hydroxytoluene): Petroleum-derived antioxidants used to preserve fats and oils. BHA is considered the more dangerous. Studies have shown it to cause cancer in the forestomachs of rats, mice, and hamsters. The Department of Health and Human Services classifies the preservative as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen."
Blue #1 (Brilliant Blue) and Blue #2 (Indigotine): Synthetic dyes that can be used alone or combined with other dyes to make different colors. Both dyes have been loosely linked to cancers in animal studies, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest recommends that they be avoided.
Red #3 (Erythro-sine) and Red #40 (Allura Red): Food dyes that are cherry red and orange red, respectively. The FDA has proposed a ban on Red #3 in the past, but so far the agency has been unsuccessful in implementing it. After the dye was inextricably linked to thyroid tumors in rat studies, the FDA managed to have the liquid form of the dye removed from external drugs and cosmetics.
Yellow #5 (Tartrazine) and Yellow #6 (Sunset Yellow): The second and third most common food colorings, respectively. Several studies have linked both dyes to learning and concentration disorders in children, and there are piles of animal studies demonstrating potential risks such as kidney and intestinal tumors. One study found that mice fed high doses of sunset yellow had trouble righting themselves in water.
Carrageenan: A thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier extracted from red seaweed. In animal studies, carrageenan has been shown to cause ulcers, colon inflammation, and digestive cancers; a University of Iowa study concluded that even undegraded carrageenan could become degraded in the human digestive system.
Cochineal Extract or Carmine: A pigment extracted from the dried eggs and bodies of the female Dactylopius coccus, a beetle like insect that preys on cactus plants. It is added to food for its dark-crimson color. Cochineal extract is comprised of about 90 percent insect-body fragments!
Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil: A manufactured fat created by forcing hydrogen gas into vegetable fats under extremely high pressure, an unintended effect of which is the creation of trans-fatty acids. Trans fat has been shown to contribute to heart disease more so than saturated fat. While most health organizations recommend keeping trans-fat consumption as low as possible, a loophole in the FDA's labeling requirements allows processors to add as much as 0.49 gram per serving and still claim zero in their nutrition facts.
Interesterified Fat: Developed in response to demand for trans-fat alternatives, this semi soft fat is created by chemically blending fully hydrogenated and nonhydrogenated oils. A study by Malaysian researchers showed a 4-week diet of 12 percent interesterified fats in-creased the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol, not a good thing. This study also showed an increase in blood glucose levels and a decrease in insulin response.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): The salt of the amino acid glutamic acid, used to enhance the savory quality of foods. MSG alone has little flavor, and exactly how it enhances other foods is unknown. Studies have shown that MSG injected into mice causes brain-cell damage, but the FDA believes these results are not typical for humans. The FDA receives dozens of reaction complaints each year for nausea, headaches, chest pains, and weakness.
Olestra: A synthetic fat created by pharmaceutical company Procter & Gamble and sold under the name Olean. It has zero-calorie impact and is not absorbed as it passes through the digestive system. Olestra can cause diarrhea, intestinal cramps, and flatulence. Studies show that it impairs the body's ability to absorb fat-soluble vitamins and vital carotenoids such as beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
Propyl Gallate: An antioxidant used often in conjunction with BHA and BHT to retard the rancidity of fats. Rat studies in the early '80s linked propyl gallate to brain cancer. Although these studies don't provide sound evidence, it is advisable to avoid this chemical when possible.
Sodium Nitrite and Sodium Nitrate: Preservatives used to prevent bacterial growth and maintain the pinkish color of meats and fish. Under certain conditions, sodium nitrite and nitrate react with amino acids to form cancer-causing chemicals called nitrosamines. This reaction can be hindered by the addition of ascorbic acid, erythorbic acid, or alpha-tocopherol.
Sugar Substitutes: Moderate amounts pose no specific threats, but provide no nutritional value other than an expanded waistline.
Acesulfame Potassium (Acesulfame-K) & Aspartame (see above)
Corn Syrup: A liquid sweetener and food thickener made by allowing enzymes to break corn starches into smaller sugars. USDA subsidies to the corn industry make it cheap and abundant.
High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): A corn-derived sweetener representing more than 40 percent of all caloric sweeteners in the supermarket. While research shows that the body metabolizes HFCS no differently than sugar, since 1980, the US obesity rate has risen proportionately to the increase in HFCS, and Americans are now consuming at least 200 calories of the sweetener each day.
Dextrose: A corn-derived caloric sweetener. Contributes to the American habit of more than 200 calories of corn sweeteners per day.
Evaporated Cane Juice: A sweetener derived from sugarcane, the same plant used to make refined table sugar. It's also known as crystallized cane juice, cane juice, or cane sugar. Because it's subject to less processing than table sugar, evaporated cane juice retains slightly more nutrients from the grassy cane sugar.
Maltodextrin: A caloric sweetener and flavor enhancer made from rice, potatoes, or, more commonly, cornstarch. Like other sugars, maltodextrin has the potential to raise blood glucose and insulin levels.
Mannitol: A sugar alcohol that's 70 percent as sweet as sugar. It provides fewer calories and has a less drastic effect on blood sugar. Because sugar alcohols are not fully digested, they can cause intes-tinal discomfort, gas, bloating, flatulence, and diarrhea.
Saccharin: An artificial sweetener 300 to 500 times sweeter than sugar. Discovered in 1879, it's the oldest of the 5 FDA-approved artificial sweeteners. Rat studies in the early '70s showed saccharin to cause bladder cancer, and the FDA, reacting to these studies, enacted a mandatory warning label to be printed on every saccharin-containing product on the market. The mandate was removed after 20 years, but the question over saccharin's safety was never resolved. More recent studies show that rats on saccharin-rich diets gain more weight than those on high-sugar diets.
Sorbitol: A sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in some fruits. It's about 60 percent as sweet as sugar and used to both sweeten and thicken. Sorbitol is digested slower than sugars, which makes it a better choice for diabetics. But like other sugar alcohols, it can cause intestinal discomfort, gas, bloating, flatulence, and diarrhea.
Sucralose: A zero-calorie artificial sweetener made by joining chlorine particles and sugar molecules. It's 600 times sweeter than sugar and largely celebrated as the least damaging of the artificial sweeteners. After reviewing more than 110 human and animal studies, the FDA concluded that use of sucralose does not cause cancer.
Xanthan Gum: An extremely common emulsifier and thickener made from glucose in a reaction requiring a slimy bacteria called Xanthomonas campestris- the same bacterial strain that appears as black rot on cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. Xanthan gum is associated with no adverse effects.
Xylitol: A sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in strawberries, mushrooms, and other fruits and vegetables. It is most commonly extracted from the pulp of the birch tree. Unlike real sugar, sugar alcohols don't encourage cavity-causing bacteria. They do have a laxative effect, though, so heavy ingestion might cause intestinal discomfort or gas.
Questionable:
Artificial Flavoring: Denotes any of hundreds of allowable chemicals such as butyl alcohol and phenylacetaldehyde dimethyl acetal. The FDA has approved every item on the list of allowable chemicals, but because flavorings can hide behind a blanket term, there is no way for consumers to pinpoint the cause of a reaction they might have had.
Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil: Extremely hard, waxlike fat made by forcing as much hydrogen as possible onto the carbon backbone of fat molecules. In theory, fully hydrogenated oils, as opposed to partially hydrogenated oils, should contain zero trans fat. But the process of hydrogenation isn't completely perfect, which means that trans fat will inevitably occur in small amounts.
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP): A flavor enhancer created when heat and chemicals are used to break down vegetables - most often soy - into their component amino acids. One effect of hydrolyzing proteins is the creation of MSG, or mono- sodium glutamate. When MSG in food is the result of hydrolyzed protein, the FDA does not require it to be listed on the packaging.
Lecithin: A naturally occurring emulsifier and antioxidant that retards the rancidity of fats. The two major sources of lecithin as an additive are egg yolks and soybeans. Lecithin is an excellent source of choline and inositol, compounds that help cells and nerves communicate and play a role in breaking down fats and cholesterol. There is some concern, however, that the naturally occurring estrogens in soy lecithin can cause hormonal problems in men who consume excessive amounts of it.
Modified Food Starch: A catch-all term describing starches (derived from corn, wheat, potato, or rice) that are modified to change their response to heat or cold, improve their texture, and create efficient emulsifiers, among other reasons. The starches themselves appear safe, but the nondisclosure of the chemicals used in processing causes some nutritionists to question their effects on health.
Not too bad:
Ascorbic Acid: The chemical name for the water-soluble vitamin C. Although vitamin C is associated with no known risks, it is often added to junk foods to make them appear healthy.
Casein: A milk protein used to thicken and whiten foods and appearing often by the name sodium caseinate; a good source of amino acids. Although casein is a by-product of milk, the FDA allows it and its derivatives (sodium and calcium caseinates) to be used in "nondairy" and "dairy-free" creamers. Most lactose intolerants can handle casein, but those with broader milk allergies might experience reactions.
Mono- and Diglycerides: Fats added to foods to bind liquids with fats. They occur naturally in foods and constitute about 1 percent of normal fats. Aside from being a source of fat, the glycerides themselves pose no serious health threats.
