Scary Food Additives

Good Morning America...
Oh Oh the scary and toxic world of food additives.They live in everyday foods like breads,cereals,lunch meats,cookies and many many more wanna be foods.
Food additives function as emulsifiers, stabilizers and thickeners. They are used to modify taste, texture, color, nutritional value, as well as improve flavor and prevent spoilage.If consumed on a regular basis these ''FRANKEN FOODS'' can cause serious health issues.
There are more than 3,000 substances used as food additives that can either be natural or synthetic.

Additives that you should not consume are

Artificial Sweeteners

Acesulfame potassium is a non-caloric sweetener that is about 200 times sweeter than sugar, so only a little is needed to get a sweet flavor. Tests done in the 1970s indicated that acesulfame potassium may cause tumors.

Artificial Colors

Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 3, and Yellow 6 are all suspected carcinogens. They can be found in a wide range of products to include beverages, baked goods, candy, gelatin, certain cereals and sausage. There is concern that not enough testing has been done on these additives. Use of artificial colorings in beverages indicates that natural ingredients or real fruits are not used.

Preservatives

Sodium nitrite is used to preserve meats and can be found in lunch meats, bacon, hot dogs and canned meats. Sodium nitrites are a concern because when they mix with stomach acids, they are converted to nitrosamines which have carcinogenic properties, or also called cancer causing effects.

Butylated hydroxyanisole, or BHA, is used in many processed foods such as potato chips, chewing gum and certain cereals. This preservative is used to prevent oil from becoming rancid. BHA has been shown to cause cancer and also seems to affect sleep and appetite.

Fat and Fat Substitutes

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is used in many baked goods, margarine, crackers, snack foods, salad dressings, fried foods and microwave popcorn. Trans fat is formed when vegetable oil is converted into a solid by adding hydrogen. The newly created trans fat raises cholesterol levels. Trans fats are also associated with heart disease, breast and colon cancer and atherosclerosis.

Oxidizing Agents

Potasium bromate is an oxidizing agent used in the bread-making process to make the bread stronger and more elastic. Bromate has been shown to cause cancer in animals and has been banned in several countries to include Canada and the European Union. In California a warning label is required when bromated flour is used.

So what is the best way to avoid these harmful chemicals!!Eat whole unprocessed plant foods and if you don't understand what is on the ingredients list and it sounds like you need a degree in chemical science don't buy it.Pretty simple!!

Love and Cookies

Jennifer