Introduction
Since mankind discovered that salt might prevent the meat from deteriorating thousands of years ago, additives have been added to food. Today, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved more than 10,000 additives to preserve, package, or alter foods' flavor, appearance, texture, or nutritional content. However, a growing body of research indicates that certain chemicals used as food additives should be avoided, especially for youngsters.
What Are Food Additives?
Food additives are substances introduced into food to preserve or enhance its freshness, safety, flavor, texture, or appearance. Some food additives, including salt (in meats like bacon or dried fish), sugar (in marmalade), or sulfur dioxide (in wine), have been used for food preservation for hundreds of years. Food manufacturing requires a wide variety of additives since preparing meals on a large scale versus preparing them on a small scale within the home is extremely different. Additives are required to keep processed food safe and in good condition from factories or industrial kitchens, during transit to warehouses and stores, and ultimately to customers.
Food additives can be made synthetically or from plants, animals, minerals, or a combination. They are purposefully introduced to food to carry out specific technical functions that consumers frequently take for granted. There are thousands of food additives in use, each intended to serve a specific purpose in enhancing the safety or appeal of food. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) divide food additives into three major categories based on their purpose.
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Flavoring Substances: Most additives used in food are flavoring agents, which are added to food to increase flavor or scent. Numerous dishes, ranging from cereal, cake, and yogurt to candies, soft drinks, and confections, use a range of flavorings. Nut, fruit, and spice mixes made from vegetables and wine are natural flavoring agents. Some condiments mimic natural flavors.
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Formulated Enzymes: An addition that may or may not wind up in the finished food product is enzyme preparations. Natural proteins called enzymes speed up biological reactions by disassembling bigger molecules into smaller constituent parts. They serve as alternatives to technology based on chemicals and can be obtained via extraction from plants, animals, or microorganisms like bacteria. They are primarily employed in baking (to enhance the dough), fruit juice production (to boost yields), wine and beer production (to enhance fermentation), as well as cheese production (to enhance curd formation).
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Other Ingredients or Additives: Various uses for other food additives include preservation, coloring, and sweetening. Whenever food is made, packed, transported, or stored, it is added and eventually ends as a meal. The deterioration brought on by mold, air, microbes, or yeast can be slowed down by preservers. In addition to preserving the food's quality, preservatives aid in preventing contamination that could result in foodborne illnesses such as potentially fatal botulism. Food is colored to restore colors lost during preparation or improve the food's appearance.
How Can One Determine Which Food Ingredients Are Present?
Directly added ingredients are frequently indicated on ingredient labels and their chemical names. For instance, sodium chloride may be listed for salt, sucrose for sugar, ascorbic acid for vitamin C, and alpha-tocopherol for vitamin E. Blue #2 or Yellow #5 are two examples of artificial colors typically listed by their numbers. On the other hand, there are also unlisted indirect additives that come from packaging or processing ingredients. These may consist of substances derived from plastic, glues, dyes, paper, cardboard, and various coatings.
How to Decrease the Exposure of Food Additives?
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Review the Ingredient Labels: While shopping, compare the products. Comparable products are produced by other manufacturers with fewer food additives. Find the hidden origins of food additives, such as polysorbate 80 in dairy goods or silicon dioxide in spices.
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Reduce Consumption of Processed Foods: Pick fresh produce, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and minimally processed animal products. When possible, cook meals from scratch so that one may choose which items go into their cuisine.
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Buy Frozen or Fresh: When feasible, purchasing and serving fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables is ideal.
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Cut Back on Processed Meats: In particular, during pregnancy, avoid processed meats like hot dogs, gammon, and meats in pre-packaged meals.
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Eat Local Foods: An excellent method to reduce food additives is to buy local canned and bottled goods and fresh fruits and vegetables from farmers' markets or community-supported agriculture (CSA) deliveries.
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Washing Plastic Utensils by Hand: Instead of putting plastic food containers and utensils in the dishwasher, wash them by hand. Plastics can leak phthalates and BPA into food when heated. Avoid microwaving food or beverages in plastic, including infant formula and breastfeeding, if possible.
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Utilize Stainless Steel and Glass: Use alternatives to plastic whenever possible, especially when preparing or serving hot foods, such as glass or stainless steel.
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Learn the Recycling Codes for Plastic: To determine the type of plastic, look at the recycling code on the bottom of the item. Unless plastics are marked as biobased or greenware, which indicates they are derived from maize and do not contain bisphenols, try to stay away from plastics with recycling codes 3 (phthalates), 6 (styrene) and 7 (bisphenols).
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Sanitize the Hands: Be sure to wash hands thoroughly after handling food because toxins from plastics are so prevalent in the items touched throughout the day.
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Use the Imagination When Cooking: Make homemade taco seasoning, dips, and salad dressing. To flavor sparkling water, use citrus or herbs that are fresh. During the holiday season, adorn cookies using natural ingredients. Use wheatgrass juice or matcha powder for green icing and beetroot juice or powder for crimson icing.
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Be Vocal: Join the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other groups in advocating for additional investigation into the safety of food additives and upgrades to the U.S. (United States) regulatory system for food additives and retesting of some already authorized chemicals. A recent analysis of approximately 4,000 food additives revealed that 64 percent of them lacked evidence that they were secure for human consumption. While the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) may be able to amend some aspects of the statute, other changes might necessitate congressional action.
Conclusion
Try eating a whole-food diet that includes as many pesticide-free foods as possible. The majority of additives frequently present in products at the shop can be avoided by avoiding packaged foods, eating nutrient-dense foods, and attempting to obtain the food as naturally as possible. Prefer consuming local foods that are often cultivated in mineral-rich soil, without pesticides or insecticides, and harvested at the peak of ripeness, ensuring they are as nutrient-dense as possible.
