Artificial food additives: Why continue to eat them?

William Atkins
Thursday, 06 December 2007 18:34

Opinion and Analysis

The iTWire article tells of an English study showing that children are more hyper when they drink a purple liquid filled with artificial additives. They are more hyper and they have less the ability to learn due to these artificially produced chemicals. At the early stage of life, the ability to learn is essential to children and it will affect them all the way through adulthood.

Manufactures continues to make such foods and drinks because it’s what they think the consumer wants. It is easier for them to make such foods and drinks because the artificial ingredients allow the foods to remain on the grocery shelves longer, and in your pantry longer, too.

The pretty blues, reds, and yellows of the colorings also make the foods and drinks look more appetizing for consumers. Catsup came out recently in different colors in the United States, other than red. They could have used natural ingredients, but that would cost them more so they probably used cheaper artificial ones instead.

Scientists are still debating the different aspects of artificial food additives. They benefit humans in some ways but can be a safety and health concern to some people in others. Natural food additives include salt, sugar, and vinegar. Some artificial additives diminish the spread of bacteria and fungi. Not all artificial additives are unhealthy or unsafe for human consumption. However, some could be eliminated and replaced with natural ingredients.

A list of common food preservatives appears at: http://www.cylive.com/viewContent.do?id=419&vt=pub.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report on food preservatives in “A Fresh Look at Food Preservatives.”

If consumers refused to eat artificial-laced foods and drinks that do not help our health (or, at least, are more selective about what they buy), then the food manufacturers would begin to turn out more nutritious foods, and foods with more beneficial ingredients.

But, until a wave of consumers refuses to eat and drink such products, we will be bombarded with artificially-green soda pop, artificially-yellow candies, and artificially-blue frostings.

All of those colors can be made with natural ingredients. Yes, it will cost a bit more, but look what will go into your stomach and throughout your body—natural ingredients rather than human-made chemicals.

Next time you go to the market or the grocery store, look on the labels of the foods you are buying. Some products only have a few ingredients and they have names that we all can understand. Other products have about half a million ingredients listed and they are only understandable by chemists. Some of these chemical compounds are good for you, others maybe not so much. It's your decision, though, and most grocery stores have plenty of foods to select from on their shelves.

You do have a choice!