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Hello everyone.
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The Effects of Food Additives

Food additives are substances which are added to food for technological purposes. They are not normally consumed as a food in itself. Food additives effect the health of many people, young and old. It also has short and long term effects that people must be aware of. Food additives cause serious harm to the human health and people should ban them everywhere.

What are food additives
Many food additives have been used for centuries. For example, the Egyptians used vegetable food colorings and the Romans used honey to preserve fruit. Also, during the Middle ages, salting food was a common practice.
Food additives are substances which are added to food for more than one reason. And most food additivies are added to colour, sweeten or preserve.
They are any substance which is not normally consumed as a food in itself whether or not it has nutritive value.

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Nowadays, most food additives are only used in limited quantities in certain types of food. If there are no quantitative limits for a food additive, it must be used according to good manufacturing practice, to achieve the desired technological effect.
There are certain authorizations when adding food additives. When adding them, there should be a technological need for its use. Also, consumers should be informed. And, they must not present a health hazard for consumers.
Why people use additives:
Some people prefer to avoid food additives, when possible. If this is your preference, you should read labels carefully and select more foods in the natural foods section of your store.
Additives perform a variety of useful functions in foods that are often taken for granted. Since most people no longer live on farms, additives help keep food wholesome and appealing while en route to markets sometimes thousands of miles away from where it is grown or manufactured.
Additives also improve the nutritional value of certain foods and can make them more appealing by improving their taste, texture, consistency or color.
Food additives are used for a number of different reasons including food preservation, spoilage prevention, flavor enhancement and to improve nutritional value. There are approximately 3,000 food additives that are classified into six major categories. These categories are:
1. Nutritional supplements
This is done to replace nutrients which were lost during food processing. Some of the common fortifications are: vitamin D in milk and vitamin A in margarine.
2. Preservatives
Preservatives protect food and delay spoilage.
3. Flavoring agents
Flavoring agents are the most commonly used additives. For example, monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is used to enhance flavor. They are used when a natural flavoring is unavailable or too expensive to use in a particular commercial product.
4. Coloring agents
Coloring agents are additives which are used strictly to make foods more attractive to the consumer.
5. Emulsifiers, stabilizers, and thickeners
Emulsifiers are used to improve the texture and consistency of foods. They are commonly used to keep ingredients from separating in sauces and sandwich spreads.
6. Acids and alkalis
These additives are used to neutralize the acidity of certain foods.
Natural & Artificial additives
The difference between natural and artificial additives:
Some additives are manufactured from natural sources such as soybeans and corn. Other additives are not found in nature and must be man-made. Artificial additives are more economical than the natural one. It has greater purity and more consistent quality. Both natural and artificial additives have no bearing on thier safety.
Additives in Fruits and Vegetables:
Most fruits and vegetables grow in fields covered in pesticides and herbicides. And the pesticide residues on them are considered to be
safe for human consumption. Yet most vegetables and fruit are given fertilizers and chemical sprays, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides to protect them from pests, fungus and weeds. And many of these chemicals, poisons and dangerous bacteria are still present when people eat these foods.
Several deaths and thousands of poisonings are linked to many packed vegetables like salads and cherry tomatoes. Even after washing, many fruits and vegetables still contain small traces of chemical sprays.
Additives in cattle:
over 36 million cattle is used as beef each year. however, nearly two thirds of those cattle are fattened up with hormones. Some of these hormones are similar to those taken by today’s athletes. Other cattle are given estrogen or progestins that shut down a female’s menstrual cycle.
People use hormones to stimulate the growth in cattle and help them produce more meat and less fat. According to a survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 99% of the nation’s
largest, cattle factories use hormonal implants. And substantial portions of these hormones literally pass through the cattle into their feces and end up in the environment, where it can get into other foods and drinking water.

Health Risks:
Short term effects:
food additives and preservatives can cause immediate allergy reactions to some people. Such as BHA, BHT, MSG, nitrites, sulfites, sodium bisulfite, and sulfur dioxide. And some of these allergies cause a variety of problems. For example, mild skin rashes and gastro-intestinal upset, to life threatening anaphylactic episodes. There are also other uncomfortable reactions such as headaches. The best way to solve these minor problems is to read food labels carefully and choose foods that are additive-free.
Long term effects:
The growth in the use of food additives has increased enormously in the past 30 years, totaling now over 200,000 tones per year. Each person is now consuming an average 8-10 lbs of food additives per year, with some possibly eating considerably more. With the great increase in the use of food additives, there has emerged considerable scientific data linking food additive intolerance with various physical and mental disorders.
Some examples of food additives & their long term effects:
oCurcumin (E100), which is used in flour and margarine. This additive causes severe thyroid damage.
oSunset Yellow (E110), which is used in biscuits, has been found to damage kidneys and adrenals.
oAmaranth (E123), has been found to cause cancer, birth defects, still-births, sterility and early foetal deaths.
oSaccharin, used as sweetening tablets and widely used by the soft drink and sweet food industry, has been shown to produce cancer.
oAspartame, which is also used by
the soft drink and sweet food industry was found to give a great rise in brain tyrosine.

Food additives can cause many illnesses to the human body. For example cancer and birth defects. They have no nutritional value and are only made to help sell food and other products. Many people are effects by food additives, especially children. And In order to improve this health risking situation, all non-essential food additives should be banned, especially foods consumed by infants and children. Also, there should be local educational authorities that give lectures about the importance of good nutrition in both physical and mental health.

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