What You Should Know About Food Additives

[Lifestyle and Dietary]









You have probably heard Michael Pollan’s advice, “Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food”.  This applies just as readily to the ingredients in your food.

If you eat packaged foods, then perhaps you also have a habit of reading the ingredients listed on the packaging and you are aware that this list more closely resembles a chemistry experiment than a recipe.  Individuals that are very dietary conscious due to food sensitivities (e.g., gluten intolerance, peanut or shellfish allergies, and etc.) or general health and lifestyle reasons (e.g., paleo diet, organic, vegan,  and etc.) are typically very disciplined and thoughtful in considering the ingredients found in all of their food.

Food manufacturers are required to list ingredients in descending order by weight (from the most to the least). However, there are over 7,000 food additives and ingredients that are not required to be listed.  This includes such things as:

• Antibiotics and other chemicals in animal feed (only colorings feed to farmed salmon requiring being listed)
• Contaminants from the food production environment and packaging
• Pesticides (some are listed on shipping crates, which are not seen by consumers)
• Many food additives specifically approved by the FDA are only vaguely identified under such generalized names as “artificial flavoring” or “color added”

Let’s cover why these  fairly unrecognizable additives and ingredients are used, and then we can talk about to what degree you might choose to take greater care in avoiding them.  Lastly, we will touch on how it is even possible for all of this to occur under the FDA's oversight.

The following table lists the various most common reasons for these ingredients and additives:

prebiotics gelling agents clouding agents meat tenderizer curing agents whipping agents waxes cholesterol-lowering agents

psychoactive stimulants shortenings antioxidants flour improvers salt substitutes bleach wetting agents yeast food

preservatives emulsifiers thickening agents colorings flavorings flavor enhancers sweeteners foam enhancers acids

alkalis nutrients anti-caking agents propellants leavening agents fat substitutes chelating agents

The above list probably does not clarify for you why these additives are used, other than to state the obvious, which is those reasons do not seem relevant to your grandmother's homemade apple pie recipe. There are literally many 1,000’s of additives, some of which are added directly, and either approved by the FDA, or they go an FDA loophole called GRAS (generally recognized as safe).  Further still, are the 1,000’s more indirect additives and food contact substances.

The Additives

Now let’s talk more specifically about which additives are more commonly regarded as safe, and those that should be considered with greater care.

These additives appear to be safe:

ACETIC ACID ADIPIC ACID ADVANTAME AIR ALGINATE ALPHA TOCOPHEROL (VITAMIN E) AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS AMYLASE ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C) ASCORBYL PALMITATE BETA-CAROTENE CALCIUM PROPIONATE CALCIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE CARBON DIOXIDE (CARBONATED WATER) CARBOXYMETHYL CELLULOSE (CMC, CELLULOSE GUM), SODIUM CARBOXYMETHYL CELLULOSE, CELLULOSE, AND RELATED COMPOUNDS CASTOREUM CITRIC ACID CYSTEINE DATEM DEXTRIN DIACYLGLYCEROL EDTA ERYTHORBIC ACID ERYTHRITOL FERROUS GLUCONATE FOOD-STARCH, MODIFIED

FUMARIC ACID GELATIN GINSENG GLUCONIC ACID, GLUCONO DELTA-LACTONE, MAGNESIUM GLUCONATE, SODIUM GLUCONATE, ZINC GLUCONATE GLYCERIN (GLYCEROL) GUANOSINE MONOPHOSPHATE (GMP, DISODIUM GUANYLATE) HELIUM HIGH-MALTOSE CORN SYRUP INOSINE MONOPHOSPHATE (IMP, DISODIUM INOSINATE) INULIN ISOLATED SOY PROTEIN, TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN LACTIC ACID LECITHIN MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS MALIC ACID MALTODEXTRIN MALTOTAME MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES NATAMYCIN (PIMARCIN) NEOTAME NIACIN (VITAMIN B3) NISIN

NITROUS OXIDE OAT FIBER, WHEAT FIBER OLIGOFRUCTOSE PANTOTHENIC ACID (AND SODIUM PANTOTHENATE) PAPAIN PECTIN (AND SODIUM PECTINATE) PHOSPHORIC ACID PHYTOSTEROLS AND PHYTOSTANOLS POLYGLYCEROL POLYRICINOLEATE (PGPR) POLYSORBATE 60 POTASSIUM CHLORIDE POTASSIUM SORBATE PYRIDOXINE (VITAMIN B6) RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2) SILICON DIOXIDE, SILICA, CALCIUM SILICATE SODIUM CARBOXY-METHYLCELLULOSE (CMC) SODIUM ERYTHORBATE, ERYTHORBIC ACID, SODIUM ISOASCORBATE SODIUM PECTINATE SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE SORBIC ACID SORBITAN

MONOSTEARATE STARCH AND MODIFIED STARCH STEARIC ACID STEVIA LEAF EXTRACT (REBIANA) SUCROSE ACETATE ISOBUTYRATE TARTARIC ACID, POTASSIUM ACID TARTRATE, SODIUM POTASSIUM TARTRATE, SODIUM TARTRATE TAURINE THAUMATIN THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1) TORULA YEAST TRIACETIN (GLYCEROL TRIACETATE) VANILLIN, ETHYL VANILLIN VEGETABLE OIL STEROLS VITAMIN B2 (RIBOFLAVIN) VITAMIN B6 (PYRIDOXINE) VITAMIN D (D3) VITAMIN E (ALPHA TOCOPHEROL) YELLOW PRUSSIATE OF SODA

These additive are better to keep to reduced intake:

CORN SYRUP DEXTROSE (CORN SUGAR, GLUCOSE) FRUCTOSE HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

HYDROGENATATED STARCH HYDROLYSATE (HSH) INVERT SUGAR ISOMALT

LACTITOL MALTITOL MANNITOL POLYDEXTROSE SALATRIM SALT

SORBITOL SUCROSE SUGAR TAGATOSE XYLITOL

These additives may pose a risk but require greater research:

BRAZZEIN BROMINATED VEGETABLE OIL (BVO)

BUTYLATED HYDROXYTOLUENE (BHT) CARRAGEENAN

DIACETYL HEPTYL PARABEN MONATIN MONK FRUIT

EXTRACT SUCRALOSE TRANSGLUTAMINASE

May trigger an acute reaction due to allergies or other intolerance:

ANNATTO BENZOIC ACID CAFFEINE CARMINE/COCHINEAL CASEIN GUARANA

GUMS: ARABIC, FURCELLERAN, GELLAN, GHATTI, GUAR, KARAYA, LOCUST BEAN, TRAGACANTH, XANTHAN

HVP (HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN) LACTOSE MSG (MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE) QUININE

SODIUM BENZOATE SODIUM BISULFITE SODIUM CASEINATE SULFITES SULFUR DIOXIDE

Generally considered unsafe or requiring further testing:

ACESULFAME-POTASSIUM ALOE VERA ARTIFICIAL COLORINGS: BLUE 1, BLUE 2, CARAMEL COLORING, CITRUS RED 2, GREEN 3, ORANGE B, RED 3, RED 40, YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6

ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET) AZODICARBONAMIDE BUTYLATED HYDROXYANISOLE (BHA) CARAMEL COLORING CYCLAMATE

GINKGO BILOBA MYCOPROTEIN/QUORN OLESTRA (OLEAN) PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (TRANS FAT) POTASSIUM BROMATE

PROPYL GALLATE SACCHARIN SODIUM NITRATE SODIUM NITRITE TBHQ (TERT-BUTYLHYDROQUINONE)

Certainly that list is a lot to comprehend and even more challenging to remember.  Getting back to Michael Pollan’s quote, you could approach this challenge another way, by focusing on what goes into your diet rather than what you exclude from it. You can do that by cooking everything from scratch, and then being thoughtful about the ingredients and additives found in the few things you may not find practical to make from scratch, such as a spicy brown mustard.

Another, or additional approach you could consider is to just address the handful of ingredients and additives of greatest concern:

• Salt – while salt certainly enhances the flavor of many foods and is essential in some baking, taking care to reduce salt intake  has many health benefits because excess sodium boosts blood pressure, contributes to kidney disease, heart attacks and strokes.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup – nearly universally used as a sweetener and a crutch for otherwise vacuous foods, this sweetener promotes tooth decay, but more importantly it raises the risk of type 2 diabetes and promotes obesity and many other health issues.
• Partially Hydrogenated Oil – the artificial trans fat in this oil is the single most harmful kind of fat, contributing to heart disease.  Usage of this oil had already been reduced to just 25% of the usage prior to 2005 and the FDA is looking to entirely eliminate its usage altogether over the coming years.
• Food Dyes – these coloring agents continue to be determined harmful with dyes like Red 3 being determined to be carcinogenic in the 80’s along with Yellow 5 and 6 in the 90’s.
• Artificial Sweeteners – sweeteners such as Aspartame and Saccharin has already been shown to cause cancer in animal testing and in some studies humans, but the government has not yet found these studies to be conclusive.

So you may ask, "How do all these chemical ingredients get added to our food and isn’t our government, such as the FDA, looking out for us?" As adults, we have to accept that it is complicated and in this imperfect world, there are many competing factors that influence standards, processes and decisions.  If you have already being doing a fair amount of research into food safety, health and wellness, then you have probably already come across the huge accommodation made for GMOs to come to market with little or no testing (see Substantial Equivalence).

FDA Approval or Not

So here is the process for getting chemical ingredients into our food, but it should be noted that there are two options, of which most companies opt for number 2 (which may seem alarming after you read what it entails):

Option 1

• A Food Additive Petition is submitted to the FDA and is accompanied by scientific evidence showing the ingredient to be safe for use in food.
• The FDA reviews the petition and publish a notice approving or denying ‘additive status’ for the ingredient
• If approved, the company can start using the additive in food under the terms approved by the FDA.
• If denied, the substance is considered illegal and may not be used in foods.

Option 2

• The company makes its own decision that the ingredient is GRAS (generally recognized as safe) for use in food.  The company can notify the FDA, or not and can simply start using the ingredient in food.
• If the company notifies the FDA of their determination that the ingredient is GRAS, the FDA will examine the evidence supporting the claim.
• If the FDA agrees with the evidence submitted, then the outcome is the same as in option 1.
• If the FDA raises questions, the company can simply withdraw its claim that the ingredient is GRAS and start using the ingredient anyway.
• If the FDA rejects the claim that the ingredient is safe, the company can use it in food anyway.

Additionally, many foods are not required to have information on them. They are exempt from food labeling. These include:

• Airline foods
• Bulk food that is not resold
• Food service vendors (such as mall cookie vendors, sidewalk vendors, and vending machines)
• Hospital cafeterias
• Medical foods
• Flavor extracts
• Food colors
• Food produced by small businesses
• Other foods that contain no significant amounts of any nutrients
• Plain coffee and tea
• Ready-to-eat food prepared mostly on the site
• Restaurant foods
• Spices 

The Bottom Line

So the bottom line is that you can not rely on our government (such as the FDA and USDA) to apply effective and consistent standards in a way that you can simply abdicate, and in fact, if you are genuinely concerned about your and your families health and wellness, you are going to have to become more knowledgeable, and then apply that knowledge every time your are considering a food, regardless of the source.

---

Additional Notes or Comments:

By the way, the objective of this article is not meant as a condemnation of the FDA, though perhaps a mild admonishment is implied.  In reality, the FDA knows there is an issue and is working to address it.

The explosion of new food additives coupled with an easing of oversight requirements is allowing manufacturers to avoid the scrutiny of the Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of chemicals streaming into the food supply.

“We aren’t saying we have a public health crisis,” Deputy Commissioner of Foods, Michael Taylor said. “But we do have questions about whether we can do what people expect of us.”

In the five decades since Congress gave the FDA responsibility for ensuring the safety of additives in the food supply, the number has spiked from 800 to more than 9,000, ranging from common substances such as salt to new green-tea extracts. This increase has been driven largely by demand from busy Americans, who get more than half their daily meals from processed foods, according to government and industry records.

Some progress is being made; within the past couple of years:

• Top officials at the FDA and in the food industry have acknowledged that new steps must be taken to better account for the additives proliferating in the food supply. 
• The Center for Food Safety, an advocacy group, has responded more aggressively; it sued the FDA in 2014, saying the agency has abdicated its oversight of the additives approval process. 
• The Grocery Manufacturers Association also provided seed money last year to create a research center at Michigan State University to deal with the rising concerns over additives.