Dangerous food additives! What are those?

@neh357 (173)
Philippines
May 13, 2010 11:02pm CST
When i am in a grocery store, i always make it a point to read the label specially when i am buying a new product. i am aware that thousands of substances can be added for the purpose of preservation. Food colorings that can make candies pretty have been linked to cancer. and it worries me a lot. Of course, eating largely fresh produce is the best way to stay away from these unsavory additives. But what if you are like me who include processed foods in my diet? What food additives do you make it a point not included in foods that you buy? MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE! or simply msg or vetsin. Sausages, hotdogs, canned tunas, and the best potato chips were rich, SO RICH, in msg. I dont know what additives are dangerous, and are present in my favorite pancit canton and noodles aside from msg. From this moment on, i will remember all the ingredients in all the foods i buy,. Now, how about you? Does it worry you that someday these food additives can cause you cancer? Or other illnesses for that matter?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
14 May 10
I stay away from prepared foods because of all the additives. If there is any additive or ingredient that I'm not familiar with I stay away from it. cancer and other disease seems to be on the rise and in my opinion these additives ingested over a period of time is the cause. I also think many are additive such as sugar. For years the health community has informed us about how bad to salt and fats are for us but have ignored sugar until just recently Food additives to avoid Aluminum salts Artificial colors Artificial flavorings Artificial sweeteners Bisulfate BHA BHT BVO Caffeine Carrageenan EDTA Partially hydrogenated oil (Burger King, some restaurants, frozen food manufacturers and bakeries still use it) Metabisulfite MSG (FDA lets companies use these terms instead of MSG: Audolyzed yeast/casein/caseinate/Broth/ glutamate/hydrolyzed/hydrolyzed protein) Mycoprotein (some people react to it with nausea, vomiting or anaphylactic reactions. Only Quorn meat substitutes uses it) “Natural smoke flavor” Olestra Potassium bromate (causes cancer in animals, watch for it in bakery products) Propylene glycol Propyl gallate Sodium benzoate Sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite Sorbitol Sulfur dioxide Aspartame is a generic name for artificial sweeteners. Symptoms caused by aspartmes are Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
16 May 10
I try to stay away from any food that is already prepared and only need heating up. Also any thing that is not listed as normal food. Thanks for the best Response.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
16 May 10
Since you already have the fruit cocktail I would go ahead and use it this time. Once will not be harmful but the continual use is.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
14 May 10
hi neh357 I just look for the foods I am buying that have the shortest list of things in the package or the can , and if its very long with names of chemicals I dont even know what they are I will not buy that item. most canned things that are safe should just have the veggie or fruit name and maybe salt added and that is all . the shorter the list the better for safe eating. and for me I have to be sure nothing I buy has msg in it or it could literally kill me as I am extremely allergic to this product. I also refuse to buy food with added colors to them. not good for us at all.
@neh357 (173)
• Philippines
14 May 10
Hi Hatley, I guess people are more aware now in reading the labels, Eating fresh produce nowadays costs so much and ready made foods are so common that our health take risks. Another food additives that i notice yesterday is aspartame. I don't know what comprises it but it is found on my diet soda. What is wrong with the food we eat today? I presume you had more fresh produce there in your place, unlike here, we often import some of our veggies and fruits.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
14 May 10
hi thats an urban legand about aspartame as I have used it for years almost all of us diabetics do use it in sugar free desserts, candies and sodas. there is nothing bad at all about aspartame at all this has been proven false.
@neh357 (173)
• Philippines
15 May 10
Hi Hatley, It is good to know that there is someone who can prove that aspartame is safe. there are too many circulating news and studies about this chemical and as for me, contradicting each other. Some say that it the worst of the worst sweeteners and is associated with migraines,seizures and other disorders. And other studies say it is safer than all kinds of sweeteners in the market if it is an urban legend, then that would be a go sign for me to still drink my diet soda. I really love it.
• United States
14 May 10
Oh yes most definitely. I wish I had been more wise when I was younger to really pay attention what went into my body. I watched the movie Food Inc. That really got me stirred up. The things they are doing to our foods. The less than careful processing that goes on. It almost makes you not want to eat anything. But cheese, salsa lol I will have a hard time with those. More seriously. I am not a fan of HFCS. It is only one of many things we consume that is detrimental to our health.HFCS is popular to food manufacturers because of its sweetness, the way it blends with other foods, and helps keep those foods on the shelfs forever. And of course thanks to our government subsidies of corn it is less expensive. Processed foods are consumed in unspeakable amounts and HFCS is right there with them. Fructose consumption contributes to that wonderful intra-abdominal fat. Which in turn puts us at higher health risks such as heart disease and diabetes. I read once that there is around 17 million pounds consumed each year. It has come to a time with big businesses mass marketing our food that we need to go natural. Growing, raising and buying from farmers markets are going to be the only way we can say no to all these harmful chemicals they throw at us. I hope that more and more farmers markets will become available. And that the farmers running them will always be growing their veggies and fruits chemical free and their livestock range feed.One thing I hate is that I like cold cereals and they are filled with it. Also I try to watch out for BHT. I know that it is impossible to cut all the bad stuff all at once so a bit at a time. The more we know the more we can protect ourselves.
@neh357 (173)
• Philippines
14 May 10
I agree with you totally. BHT and BHA 's were commonly used in cereals, chewing gums, vegetable oil ang potato chips, (again?!) Studies of these additives have been found to cause cancer in rats. Some of these food additives I have read were neurotoxic, which means they're capable of altering the normal activity of our nervous system, and worst killing neurons! Some visible symptoms were limb weakness, numbness, loss of memory and intellect, headache ( i am surprised they causes headache,maybe because of some chemicals),, No wonder life spans become shorter.,Farmers our now using fertilizers to have massive produce. In that case, it is best for us to grow these veggies on our backyards.
@airasheila (5454)
• Philippines
14 May 10
Hello my fellow Mylotter, With reference to your query, I am not that worried regarding the food that I take. For me, it seems that all foods has its own additives. Since, it is being kept in the fridge for a certain period that is why it needs to preserve at least for a period of time. What important is, you try to drink a lot of water to wash away the salt and other preservatives that mixed-up in the food.
• Philippines
14 May 10
yeah sometimes i think that eating food that has dangerous additives on it can cause harm to me in the future so i'm always curious about what am i eating.. My mother also cook with less salt on it and she doesn't use MSG cause she know that its bad for our health.. another thing thats also a dangerous food additive is factory manufactured broth.. it has many chemicals on it.. so don't use it that much or you will suffer in the near future..
@neh357 (173)
• Philippines
15 May 10
your mother is on the right track. did you know that when you feed your dog with food rich in MSG it will die? the first generations were luckier than us because the food they eat does not have more chemicals on it. You can ask your mother that it not a common practice to use factory manufactured broth. And those instant foods were not present long time ago,.
@sostrong (62)
• Indonesia
18 Dec 10
MSG is really dangerous if u have a cancer. one of my realtives have cancer, and msg is not really recommended in his food. it said that MSG can make the grow of cancer rapidly
• Beijing, China
14 May 10
Food safety is a global proplemd today.it is difficult to change status quo in short term,i think.what i can do is to eat more fruits and vegetables not been processed.less than compelling, i don't eat those things such as intant noodles.we should responsible for our own bodies,is it right?