Food additives: Read this before your next food shop

Are you an ostrich?

Do you stick your head in the sand when it comes to reading food labels? If you are nodding, then todays e-alert is for you.

As much as we would like to believe that every item we buy in the supermarket isnt going to do us any real harm, unfortunately sometimes that is far from the truth.

Picture yourself browsing in the aisle of your local supermarket. You pick up a familiar item but before putting it in your trolley you inspect the label. In the list of ingredients you find some things you recognise, then something that looks like a long codeE221, E214, E102, E951, E220.

Now, I dont know about you, but I have been guilty of being an ostrich here. Just sticking my head in the sand and putting the item in my trolley with an ignorance-is-bliss smile on my face.

But what do these E numbers mean? Ive heard that they are bad for you but why and how?

The lowdown on food additives
First lets look at the main types of additives:

Colours and flavours, sweeteners and miscellaneous additives such as flavour enhancers, emulsifiers, anti-caking agents, antioxidants, glazing agents, preservatives, stabilisers...and the list goes on.

All natural or artificial additives must go through safety assessments and comply with EU legislation before they are approved. But who are the experts making these health decisions for us?

These experts approved the use of additives such as tartrazine (E102), a yellow colourant used in fizzy drinks, sweets and sauces even though studies have shown this additive to cause nettle rash (urticaria), dermatitis, asthma.

According to BUPA, preservatives sulphur dioxide (E220), sulphites (E221 to E228), benzoic acid (E210) and benzoates (E211 to E219) may trigger asthma attacks or worsen eczema. These E numbers are found in soft drinks, burgers and sausages.

A recent study in New Zealand found that children who ate at least one burger a week were 75 percent more likely to have asthma and nearly 100 percent more likely to encounter wheezing problems.

Only a few months ago the Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced a recall of products containing the red colour Sudan 1 which was an ingredient in Worcester sauce and used to colour dried chillies. This dye which was also found in some ready meals, sandwiches, restaurant and takeaway meals was shown to cause cancer in laboratory experiments.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is funding a study to investigate the role of food additives and behaviour in children as researchers believe they are contributing to hyperactivity and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. The results of this study are expected in 2007. Can you imagine how much food saturated with E numbers will be consumed between now and then? Its enough to put you off your additive-laden lunch.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a US campaigner for food safety says that many additives should be avoided for health reasons. Those include:

* Caffeine linked to insomnia, birth defects and peptic ulcers
* Monosodium glutamate (MSG) linked to headaches, tightness in chest, burning in forearms and  back of the head
* Nitrite and nitrate can form cancer causing chemicals when heated
* Saccharin linked to cancer in laboratory animals

Is it only a matter of time before more approved food additives will be deemed harmful by future research?

Ready meals convenient but a health risk
So how did food become so processed?

Unfortunately for many of us, time is a commodity that we dont have in abundance. Trying to juggle work and family life means a lot of us have less time to dedicate to cooking and dont even take the time to relax while we eat.

The invention of ready meals, swimming in salt and additives must have seemed like a blessing to many. According to an article in the Observer, Britons are eating more ready meals than ever spending over 900 million on them last year. They save time sure, but they may be costing you in the long run by overloading you with saturated fat, salt and sugar (not to mention E numbers)

I can understand (but doesnt mean I like it) the use of preservatives to make food last longer but surely the use of colour additives could be reduced. I know marketers want their food to look appealing but some kids breakfast cereals look like they could glow in the dark! And if a product has a shelf life of three years, whats that preservative doing to your digestive system?

Instead of adding flavour and colour enhancers to processed food, perhaps manufacturers need to assess the way the food is processed to maintain the natural taste and appearance.

Organic food benefits health
One of the best ways to ensure you get the most nutritious food is to buy organic.

In the e-alert Is organic really better? (13/3/03) I told you about a report featured in an issue of the British Journal of Nutrition. Researchers assessed 35 different brands of vegetable soup, both organic and non-organic and found that on average, the organic brands contained nearly six times as much salicylic acid, a natural anti-inflammatory agent.

The 11 organic brands tested boasted an average of 117 nanograms per gram of salicylic acid, while the 24 non-organic brands only contained an average of 20 ng/g. One soup in particular contained nearly 50 TIMES the concentration of salicylic acid as in the average non-organic soup; the carrot and coriander soup from Scotland's Simply Organic contained 1040 ng/g.

Previous research has shown that salicylic acid can help fight atherosclerosis and certain types of cancer. More and more studies are suggesting that the body's inflammatory response plays a critical role in many types of chronic disease. And earlier work by the same British research team proved that eating salicylic-rich foods translates into higher blood concentrations of the acid, so there is substantial reason to add this new finding to organic produce's list of benefits.

The next time you're given the choice between convenient food loaded with additives, or higher priced organic food thats better for you; dont be an ostrich.

Read the label and make the right choice for your health. Your body will thank you for it.