by Dr. Brett Saks

Created on: May 12, 2008   Last Updated: May 13, 2008

Food additives, used by mankind for centuries, are chemicals applied to foods at home or by the food industry to improve the taste, color, texture, and longevity of food. Salt, sugar, and vinegar were among the first food additives discovered and were used both to enhance taste and to preserve foods. Although salt, smoke, spices, and sugars have been used moderately for millennia, in the past 30 years, with the advent of processed foods, there has been a massive explosion in the chemical adulteration of foods with additives. Food additive technology through research and development has become big business.

Considerable controversy has been associated with the potential threats and possible benefits of food additives. Commercial food additives are regulated in the U.S.A. by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and food additives tend to receive the most detailed scientific attention because of regulatory scrutiny. There are literally thousands of chemical additives used in our food today, and scores of those are considered to be harmful elements. A brief discussion of the more popular additives will serve to illustrate potential health problems, and hopefully will help you begin thinking about avoiding these harmful substances:

Sulfites (Sulphites) are used as bleaching, antioxidant, and preserving additives in food. They've been implicated as allergens due to the fact that a typical sulfite reaction involves flushing, dizziness, shortness of breath or wheezing. Asthmatic attacks can be provoked by sulfites and a few deaths have been attributed to their consumption as well. Unfortunately sulfite sprays have been widely used on fresh produce in stores and restaurants to prevent browning due to air exposure. The huge American favorite, french-fried potatoes, are also treated in this way. As preservatives, sulfites were at one time found in processed food, alcoholic beverages (wines and beer), and drugs. Even aerosols used to treat asthmatics contained sulfites as preservatives in the past! The increased notoriety of sulfites in 1985 led to new regulations limiting their use, and the FDA has banned the use of six sulfite preservatives in fresh fruit and vegetables. However the ban still permits manufacturers of processed foods, dried fruits, wines and beer to use sulfites, although if these manufacturers are prudent on behalf of their customers, they will voluntarily restrain or curtail sulfite use.

Nitrates and Nitrites Several chemicals used as food additives

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