Nurse's Notes
2002 View
FOOD ADDITIVES—THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE INDIFFERENT
Recently I was asked a question about food additives that prompted
me to think more deeply about this subject. Food additives (not to
be confused with contaminants like E-Coli) sometimes receive bad
press because of isolated incidents such as allergic reactions. We
have all read about or know folks who don’t tolerate MSG. Some
additives, specifically certain dyes, were found to be potentially
cancer-causing, and are no longer allowed in the US. However, many
of our every day foods continue to be “color enhanced” because we
are used to seeing them that way, although this adds nothing to the
nutritive value of the item. A good example is yellow cheddar
cheese. Cheddar is naturally a white cheese, but Americans seem to
like it yellow.
All food additives are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and are primarily used for one of four reasons:
to preserve, to enhance flavor or appearance, to add nutritive
value, or to prevent caking or separation, as in paprika or salad
dressings. In this country the specific names of nearly all
additives, including food colorings, must be listed on the
product—the one exception being artificial flavorings, which are
usually trade secrets but must meet FDA safety standards.
Preservation of food has always been an issue. For thousands of
years food has been salted or stored in brine or alcohol without too
much concern for the nutritive value. Newer additives prolong the
usable life of many common foods, which allows us a variety of
choices no matter the season or where we live. Surprisingly, some of
them may have unexpected beneficial effects. For example, the
introduction of antioxidants as a spoilage retardant, such as
butyrated hydroxy toluene (BHT), is thought to be partially
responsible for the remarkable decline in stomach cancer rates in
the US population.
Modern additive history is interesting. I grew up in the so-called
“goiter belt” of the upper Midwest—an area where there is no natural
iodine in the soil or water, and I remember many older folks with
tumor-like growths under their chins. Researchers also discovered
that severe iodine deficiency resulted in a 10 to 15% reduction in
IQ and an increase in mental retardation.
Consequently, starting in 1924 at Michigan State University, a
concentrated effort was made to introduce iodized salt—the first
modern “food additive”. Many of us feel that “all we really need to
know we learned in kindergarten” and that’s where I learned that,
living in Michigan, we needed to use iodized salt to prevent goiter
and other problems caused by the lack of iodine in our diets. To
this day, even living in California, I use iodized salt.
Another “good” food additive is Vitamin D enriched milk. Vitamin D
is necessary for calcium absorption and incorporating calcium into
the bones and lately there has been increasing recognition that it
is also important in other body systems, such as blood production,
insulin secretion and cancer cell differentiation. Vitamin D
additives would not be needed where the body receives adequate
sunlight (like here in our desert)—but guess what? We tend to avoid
the sun, wearing sunscreen, long sleeves, hats and staying inside,
so. . . the addition of Vitamin D to our milk is not so dumb after
all. Vitamin D has been added to milk since the 1940’s.
The addition of “enrichment” to white flour, which is used for such
things as bread and pastas, is also a universal “good” additive.
Many folks have the idea that there is something magical about the
properties of “whole wheat”—however, if you read the labels on a
sack of whole wheat flour and a sack of enriched white flour (did
you even know there were nutritional labels on flour?), you will
find that enriched white flour actually has more of various
nutrients than whole wheat flour. Enrichment of white flour was
mandated by the government right after WWII.
Some food additives enhance our health, some preserve our food, some
add nothing, and some can be harmful to a small number of people.
Each of us needs to learn to read labels and avoid that which our
body cannot tolerate. However, by and large, additives to foods
produced and processed in the United States are safe for almost
everybody.
Send comments to webmaster George Reeves, email: greeves@stmargarets.org