Food Additives: beware!

If food additives are not inherently dangerous when consumed in small doses, in overdose, however, they may cause chronic health problems more or less disturbing.

 

Which are food additives?

Food additives are products added to foods in very small doses.

These products made in most cases of simple molecules used to fill many objectives :
- Emulsifier;
- Dye;
- Conservative;
- Flavor ...

The use and labeling of all food additives are regulated by an EU directive from 1989 (89/107/EEC). This directive makes it clear what a food additive, "any substance not normally consumed as a food in itself and not used as a characteristic ingredient of food, whether or not nutritional value, including the 'deliberate addition to food for a technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, packaging, transport or storage of, or may reasonably expect to be him or one of its derivatives, directly or indirectly a component of that food. "

In the vast majority of cases, food additives are of natural origin .

Specific coding

For more transparency to the consumer, each food additive is classified in one of 23 categories that have the Codex Alimentarius which encodings are common:

- E1xx: coloring;
- E2xx: Conservatives (the vast majority of food additives);
- E3xx: antioxidants;
- E4xx: agents of textures among which are also emulsifiers thickeners (modified starch mainly), gelling agents and stabilizers;
- E5xx and higher: the flavorings, sweeteners and acidifying.

To these conventional additives used to preserve food longer and keep watering more recently added to nutritional additives such as Omega 3.

Authorities checked

Food additives permitted in Europe must include in the list of products of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Prior authorization, each product is tested to better protect the consumer. The scientifically designed assessments to determine the maximum dose below which the additives have no scientifically demonstrable toxic effect.

The maximum dose is also called " NOEL "(DES). It is the basis for calculating the "daily intake" (ADI) of each food additive.

Minimal adverse effects

Theoretically, the daily intake of one or more additives should not be exceeded to avoid health problems.

In practice, even if the dose is exceeded on time one day, in the vast majority of cases it causes no side effects. Just because food additives are mostly of natural origin. They are thus easily assimilated by the body.

In some cases, however, the repetitive nature can be harmful in people with an allergic predisposition important. Gluten or lactose, which are not food additives, are significantly more allergenic than the Conservatives and other flavor!

The systematic addition of salt in the dishes prepared by cons may have repercussions on the health of overweight people especially.

Studies have also recently pointed to the alleged role of sweeteners in overdose cases of hyperactivity in children. The results of these studies are still very controversial in the medical profession.