There are more than 3000 different food additives that are purposefully added to our food supply. Food additives are in almost all packaged foods. Many of the ingredients added to food are harmful. And it's even legal for manufacturers to add cancer-causing additives to the food they produce.
Senomyx is a company that's been around for a few years. It makes genetically engineered flavors for your food. Their ingredients will never be listed on the label because they are used in such small amounts that the FDA allows them to lump them into the categories of artificial or natural flavors.
Even though you may never have heard of them, they sell their flavors to most of the major processed food producers and are making profits in the billions of dollars.
So, if they're used in such small amounts, why should you even be concerned?
Because they are genetically engineered and when you eat GE food, you are a part of a huge experiment that no one know the outcome to. There is enough evidence that eating GE and GMO food is damaging to your health. But the big issue here is that you will never know when you are eating foods with these GE ingredients or any other of the many GE ingredients already in processed food. You are a human guinea pig!
Did you know that McDonald's Chicken McNuggets are less than 50% chicken?
They are 56% corn, from corn starch, partially hydrogenated corn oil, numerous food additives derived from corn and the chicken being fed corn.
But that's not all.
There are other syntheric ingredients derived from petroleum in Chicken McNuggets to keep them fresh ... like sodium aluminum phosphate, mono-calcium phosphate and sodium acid pyrophosphate.
In addition, "there are "anti-foaming agents" like dimethylpolysiloxane, added to the cooking oil to keep the starches from binding to air molecules." This chemical "is a suspected carcinogen and an established mutagen, tumorigen, and reproductive effector; it's also flammable."
"But perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to "help preserve freshness." According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse." Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill."
Now the next time you think about stopping at McDonald's for Chicken McNuggets or any of their other highly processed and preserved chemical concoctions, ask yourself ... "Is this what I really want to feed my kids?"
Just imagine what these chemicals are doing to yours and their health.
They're found in some of the same ingredients like
hydrolyzed wheat protein
stearyldimoniumhydroxypropyl (hydrolyzed wheat protein)
hydroxypropyltrimonium (hydrolyzed wheat protein)
hydrolyzed malt extract
hydrolyzed vegetable protein
maltodextrin (can be from barley)
These ingredients can be found in food as well as cosmetics and personal care products. So they can be enter your body either when you eat food containing these chemicals or when you apply products to your skin that contain them.
You've probably heard that artificial sweeteners will help you lose weight. After all, when you consume diet beverages and foods, you're eating fewer calories, so that must be true, right?
Wrong!
With the glut of diet foods on the market and the volumes being sold, if they worked, you'd expect that the majority of people would be slim and trim.
However, the opposite is true. Nearly 70% of the population is overweight or obese, and the figure is growing every year. The rate of obesity is even increasing with children.
So, now that you know that artificial sweeteners don't help you lose weight, let's look at some of the popular sugar substitutes and see why they're not a healthy choice.
The manufacturers and the FDA say they're safe. But, let's take a look at the facts.
Aspartame, also known as NutraSweet and Equal, can cause a wide variety of symptoms from headaches, difficulty breathing, speech impairment, chest pain, dizziness, memory loss to seizures, blindness and death. These are just a few of the 92 documented reactions to aspartame.
The symptoms caused by aspartame can mimic the symptoms present in various diseases. Therefore, people suffering from aspartame poisoning can be misdiagnosed with a disease, such as Alzheimer's, epilepsy, severe depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's to name just a few.
Acesulfame-K, or acesulfame-potassium, in some studies has caused cancer in lab animals. It has not been fully tested for safety.
Saccharin, in the past, was listed as a carcinogen. However, due to industry pressure, it was delisted and said to be safe. Yet, there are still scientists who consider saccharin to be a carcinogen.
Sucralose or Splenda is chlorinated sugar. Contrary to manufacturer claims, it is partially absorbed by the body, up to 40% according to the Japanese Food Sanitation Council. Splenda has been shown to shrink the thymus gland, enlarge the liver and kidneys, cause miscarriages and diarrhea in animal studies. It contains small amounts of dangerous contaminants, like heavy metals, methanol and arsenic. Splenda has not been adequately studied for safety. No studies have been done on children or pregnant women.
These are the worst of the artificial sweeteners on the market. But that doesn't mean the others are safe.
Your best choices for sweetening your foods and beverages are organic whole cane sugar, organic maple syrup, raw organic tupelo honey and stevia.
Have you ever looked at the ingredients in a packaged food you bought and seen that it contained FD&C colors, like FD&C Red No. 40 or FD&C Yellow No. 5? Did you ever wonder what FD&C means and where the colors come from?
FD&C stands for Food, Drugs & Cosmetics. These colors are approved by the FDA to be used in Food, Drugs & Cosmetics. They are artificial colors. Most are derived from coal tar, a petrochemical which is known to cause cancer.
Now, while the FD&C colors themselves may not be "known" to cause cancer, many are potential carcinogens or may be contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals.
FD&C Colors are certified by the FDA to not contain more than 10 parts per million (ppm) of lead and arsenic, both of which are poisonous to the human body. The FDA does not address any other harmful effects these colors may have on human health.
Sometimes you will just see ingredients like Red 40 or Yellow No. 5. They're still FD&C colors. Any time you see a color with a number on a food package, it's an FD&C color.
These artificial colors can contribute to hyperactivity in children. They may also contribute to learning and visual disorders and nerve damage.
Coal tar is not a food and was never meant to be consumed by humans, and like most food additives, has never been proven safe.
At least for now, the sugar beets used to make refined sugar will not be genetically engineered. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required before the planting of GM sugar beets can be approved. It is estimated that the EIS will be ready in 2012.
Everywhere you turn these days, you read or hear about how antioxidants are supposed to be good for your health. But there's a difference between real food antioxidants and chemical antioxidants.
The chemical antioxidants in processed foods are designed to preserve and give a long shelf life to the chemical concoctions in the package, NOT preserve your health! The antioxidants used to keep packaged foods from spoiling are not the healthy antioxidants you get from eating real whole food.
When you're looking for healthy packaged food products, it makes a difference which label you read. Each package has 3 labels that you can read:
the front of the package
the nutrition facts
the ingredients list
Which of these 3 is the most important?
Manufacturers want you to read the front of the package. That's where they tell you what they want you to believe about the contents of the box, bottle or jar. Processed food manufacturers often lie about the healthfulness of what's in the food packages they produce. This is the last place you should look.
Many organizations that give out healthy eating information say that you should read the nutrition facts. They stress the importance of eating foods low in sodium and saturated fats. But this is not the most important thing for you to know about a packaged food before you decide to buy it.
The first place you should look when you pick up a packaged food is the ingredients list. This is the last place that the manufacturers want you to look. They don't want you to know about the harmful chemicals they put in your food to give it a better taste, texture or a longer shelf life. In many cases, they make it hard for you to even see the ingredients list. The print is so tiny and in a color that blends in with the packaging that it's hard to make it out without a powerful magnifying glass. Get in the habit of carrying one with you when you shop.
Label readers eat healthier according to two new reports in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. And healthy eating helps you to live a healthier life. Click here to read more about these studies.
If you're not knowledgeable about food additives, then reading ingredients lists may be a big challenge. But, don't dismay, there's help available. Get started right now with some Free Food Additives Tips.
Umami, also known as Taste No. 5, is a flavor enhancer. It is free glutamic acid; i.e. hidden MSG. As you may already know, if you've read anything about the adverse effects of MSG, it is a neurotoxin and excititoxin. It excites your brain cells to death.
Something you might not know is that umami is hidden in certain foods. You can guess that it might be in the product if you read the label very carefully. For example, from the Umani website...
Parmesan cheese is one of the most umami rich foods in the world
The condiment Marmite, contains even more umami than Parmesan cheese
Cheddar cheese also contains umami
The ingredients in Kraft Parmesan Cheese are ...
Parmesan Cheese (Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Salt, Less than 2% of Enzymes, Cheese Culture, Cellulose Powder to Prevent Caking, Potassium Sorbate to Protect Flavor)
Unless you know other names of hidden MSG, you might not guess that Parmesan cheese contains MSG at all. The clue here is "enzymes."
According to the Truth in Labeling website, enzymes often contain free glutamic acid, which is a hidden source of MSG. What I find astounding is that parmesan cheese has such astronomical levels of MSG with enzymes being the main indicator of it's presence.
Make sure you check for hidden MSG in everything. AND ... Don't underestimate the amount of MSG potentially in a product by the ingredients list. It can be very deceptive.
Learn more about harmful food additives and get free food additives tips here.
If you eat packaged processed foods, you are most likely eating soy, whether you want to or not. That is, unless you're checking ingredients lists to make sure the packaged products are free of soy.
Why would you want to avoid soy?
Most soy these days is genetically engineered and soy is not health food that food manufacturers want you to believe it is. In fact, soy is listed in the FDA's Poisonous Plant Database.
There are a large number of soy ingredients that are added to your food - soy oil, soy protein, soy lecithin, soy isolates, soy concentrates, hydrolyzed soy protein - to name just a few.
To learn more about the dangers of soy, click here.
To learn about other dangerous chemicals added to your food, click here.
Do you ever wonder what gives artificially flavored foods their orange, grape, cherry or pineapple flavoring?
These flavors may taste somewhat similar to the real thing, but in terms of safety, watch out!
You'll find some of these fake flavors in processed foods like beverages, baked goods, ice cream, candy, gelatin desserts, puddings, ices, chewing gum, icings and even in vitamins.
Most of these artificial flavors have not been adequately tested.
With the little bit that is known about their safety, many are "harmful if swallowed or absorbed through the skin." Some are "toxic if ingested." At least one that I know of "can be fatal if inhaled." It's also toxic when you eat it.
Because manufacturers are not required to disclose the chemicals used in creating their artificial flavors, you don't know which toxic chemicals are in the flavorings in the packaged foods you buy, or how toxic they are.
Make sure there are NO artificial flavors in the foods you buy for yourself or your famly.
Click here to get Free Food Additives Tips and learn more about the safety of the additives in your food.
Splenda is chlorinated sugar. It's an artificial sweetener that can actually be made totally from chemicals, without any sugar.
The manufacturer claims that it is not metabolized by the body. However, according to the FDA it is partially absorbed and metabolized by the body, 11-27%. And according to the Japanese Food Council it is 40% absorbed and metabolized.
It's promoted as a safe sweetener with zero calories. However, there have been no long-term human studies on the safety of Splenda, and no studies on its safety for children and pregnant women.
Animal studies have shown Splenda to cause shrunken thymus gland, enlarged liver and kidneys, miscarriage and diarrhea. Small amounts of dangerous contaminants have been detected, such as heavy metals, methanol, arsenic and more.
Those with chlorine allergies may suffer severe reactions to splenda.
Bottom line, although Splenda is not as harmful as aspartame, it is definitely NOT a safe sweetener.
Learn more about food additives and get FREE Food Additives Tips here.
The industry would like you to think that canola oil is heart healthy and a good oil to use for cooking, baking and salads.
However, canola oil becomes rancid easily. Baked goods made with canola oil become moldy quickly.
Originally canola oil was hybridized rapeseed oil. Now most is genetically engineered (GE). You can't even say that organic canola oil is not GE because of all the cross contamination that occurs with GE crops growing near non-GE crops.
Canola oil is processed at extremely high temperatures - refined, bleached, degummed and deodorized. It may be contaminated with solvents used for extraction.
Much of the canola oil used in processed foods is partially hydrogenated. So it will contain trans fats.
Canola oil has been shown to
deplete the body's stores of vitamin E
cause heart problems
cause abnormal changes in blood platelets
retard growth
shorten the life span of lab animals.
In addition, no long term studies have been done on humans to determine its safety.
Learn more about food additives and how they affect your health.
False and misleading nutrition information is being sold to the unsuspecting public through convincing TV, radio, magazine and newspaper ads and brilliantly designed marketing campaigns.
Chemical concoctions are being advertised as the latest and greatest new "healthy" foods. Synthetic food additives are being promoted as safe and "made from food." Because consumers are becoming more conscious of healthier choices, manufacturers are telling you that these fake foods with their artificial ingredients are good for you.
Stop and think. Don't be fooled. Consider where your health and nutrition information is coming from. When you get your nutrition information from the media, you're getting it from the food industry and companies that stand to benefit from you purchasing their products.
If you believe what you read from food industry ads, especially for processed foods, and from organizations that receive money from the food industry, you may be on your way to cancer, heart disease, diabetes or obesity ... if you're not already there.
Take for instance, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)...
MSG is an excitotoxin. It excites your brain cells to death.
If you react to MSG and know it's an MSG reaction, you already know to be on the lookout for it in the foods you eat. But what you may not know that is there are more than a dozen different names of ingredients that are hiding places for MSG. Many of these ingredients sound perfectly natural and harmless, like broth and natural flavors.
In addition, packages may be labeled No MSG or No MSG Added and still contain MSG because of the different names for MSG. Manufacturers do this on purpose because it makes their empty calorie, nutrient deficient, chemicalized fake foods taste good.
Here are some additional common names that are hiding places for MSG:
* autolyzed yeast * yeast extract * calcium caseinate * gelatin * glutamic acid * anything with "hydrolyzed" in its name * protein extract
There are even more.
MSG is addictive and it makes you want to keep eating. It is a common cause of overeating and obesity. It may also cause headaches, slurred speech, itchiness, nausea, diabetes, and a whole host of other symptoms.
MSG is only one of the many dangerous food additives in the processed foods on the market today. Find out how you can protect yourself from food additive harm, and get free food additive tips too.
Aspartame is one of the most toxic food additives on the market today. It's in over 4000 different products. It can mimic a variety of diseases that you may be taking drugs for when you don't even have the disease, but instead you may have aspartame poisoning.
Find out more about the deadly effects of aspartame here. If you use aspartame, even if you don't have any known adverse effects, you still need to read this.
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Do you check the food packages before you buy to see if the ingredients contain any harmful food additives?
If you've ever looked at an ingredients list, you probably found that there were a lot of words that you didn't recognize. Those are the chemical additives that food manufacturers add to the food they produce to make it look better, give it a better texture and give it a shelf life of a year or more.
Many of these chemicals that manufacturers add to your food are harmful. Some even cause cancer.
Learn more about protecting yourself and your family from harmful chemicals in your food with Free Food Addtives Tips.
Sign up now! You'll be glad you did. Remember, it's free and you'll be doing your health a BIG favor.
Dr. Christine H. Farlow is "The Ingredients Investigator." She is a Doctor of Chiropractic who has helped thousands improve their health through nutrition and the elimination of harmful ingredients from food, cosmetics and personal care products.
She's a veteran at helping people solve their health challenges naturally, without the use of drugs.
The study of nutrition has been a passion for Dr. Farlow since 1975. Before becoming a doctor, people were coming to her unsolicited, asking for nutritional advice. She’s been counseling patients professionally since 1984 and researching ingredients in foods, cosmetics and personal care products since 1991.
Dr. Farlow is the author of three health and nutrition books:
FOOD ADDITIVES: A Shopper's Guide...
HEALTHY EATING: For Extremely Busy People...
DYING TO LOOK GOOD
Her books evolved out of her experience counseling patients back to health and wellness.
