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Food Additives
What is a food additive and why should you be concerned about them? A food additive is anything that is added to a food to change it or preserve it.
Do not confuse food additives with ingredients. Ingredients are what the food is made from, like sugar, flour, butter, salt, chocolate chips, eggs, etc.
A food additive is any substance that is added to the ingredients to improve the food in some way.
Food additives are used for a variety of reasons, including:
- Increase the shelf life
- Preserve the food
- Change the color
- Change or cover a flavor
- Improve the texture or mouth feel
- Increase the sweetness
- There are even additives that trick you into thinking the food is healthy
Types of Additives
There are two types of food additives: direct and indirect.
Indirect additives are chemicals or other additives that become part of the food in trace amounts due to its packaging, storing, or other handling.
Direct additives are used by the manufacturer to change the characteristics of the food. They include nitrates, nitrites, potassium bromate, guar gum and sodium benzoate. The FDA maintains a list of approximately 3,000 direct food additives. These are not always food; many are chemicals. A good way to identify chemical food additives is to look at the ingredient list; any item you cannot pronounce is most likely a food additive.
Good or Bad?
Just like everything else, there are good additives and not so good ones. Read 23 Worst Food Additives in America from Eat This, Not That which discusses some of the dangers of some common food additives:
Some food additives have been linked to causing cancer, heart disease, ADHD in children, and diabetes among other issues. There is even a food additive that is added to another additive that causes a scaly skin rash in sensitive people. The FDA has a list of over 3,000 approved food additives that they consider safe right now.
Read The Truth About 7 Common Food Additives from WebMD to see dangerous additives to look out for.
If you do not want to research and learn about food additives, keep in mind that natural is always better. It may cost more or spoil quicker, but you don’t have to worry about what is in your food!