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Can of food with question mark on label

A few years ago, chef and food writer Steven Ettlinger bought his children a package of ice-cream bars. Out of habit, he read the list of ingredients — aloud. While doing so, his little girl interrupted him by asking, “What’s polysorbate 60, Daddy?” Because Ettlinger had no idea, he decided to find out.

During the course of his research, Ettlinger learned that what his daughter was eating — polysorbate 60 — is an emulsifier commonly used in a variety of processed foods, including baked goods and frozen desserts. Greasy and light brown in color, it’s made from a combination of hydrogenated corn syrup from the Midwest, Malaysian palm oil that’s been converted into stearic acid (also an ingredient in shampoos), and ethylene oxide, made from a component of natural gas — a substance used as an explosive during the Vietnam War.

ARTICLE SHORTCUTS

Artificial Sweeteners

1. Acesulfame-K

2. Aspartame

3. Saccharin

Dyes and Colorings

4. Caramel coloring

5. Yellow 5

6. Yellow 6

7. Blue 2

Preservatives and Additives

8. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil

9. BHA

10. Propyl gallate

11. Sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate

Other

12. MSG

13. Mycoprotein

Compelled, Ettlinger went on to discover that there are thousands of colorings, flavorings, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, leavening agents, antioxidants or other food additives in the processed foods we buy. And he wound up writing about a lot of them in a book called Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats.

“We know where the grapes for Bordeaux wine are grown, and I’ve seen countless pictures of winemakers standing in the middle of their fields,” Ettlinger says. “I wondered if you could do the same thing with something like polysorbate 60.”

In his book, Ettlinger focuses on the 39 ingredients found in a package of Twinkies, one of America’s most iconic foods. But his goal, he says, was not to pass judgment on the $23 billion industry that manufactures food additives. It was to feed his own curiosity.

He was fascinated by how these additives are made and what role they play in the manufacturing and marketing of processed foods. Why, he wanted to know, would something as simple as a Twinkie require 39 ingredients? Certainly you could make a Twinkie-like cake at home with just a handful of pantry staples.

Part of the reason for all the additives, he found out, has to do with quantity over quality. “The batter has to stand up to the demands of mass production,” Ettlinger says. “One of the reasons they add cellulose gum to Twinkie batter is to keep the bubbles from being crushed at the bottom of a 4,000 gallon mixing vessel. When you make a cake at home, the little bubbles are under a few inches of batter. When they’re under 4 feet of batter, it’s a problem.”

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Built to Last

For as long as commercial food machinery has been humming, additives have been deemed necessary to keep processed food palatable, attractive and safe from spoilage. An invention born of necessity, they were designed to disguise the multitude of sins that make our modern food industry tick: the long stretch of time between harvest and consumption; the blandness of commodity ingredients; the rigors of harsh, high-volume factory production methods. All these things call for high-tech ingredients and interventions.

In 1911 Crisco was introduced as a low-cost, long-shelf-life alternative to butter and lard. It was the first commercial food containing trans fats. Other factory-made substances soon followed.

In the midcentury, the volume of food additives began escalating dramatically. In the United States, for example, the quantity of food dyes consumed per capita rose from 10 milligrams in 1955 to 60 milligrams in 2009.

It’s not always clear, particularly in the short term, what effect such additives have. The use of some natural additives — including tocopherols (vitamin E) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as antioxidant preservatives, and the spice turmeric as a coloring — is widely considered totally benign.

And for people who stick with fresh, unprocessed food, avoiding the less wholesome class of food additives is fairly easy. Unfortunately, most Americans don’t fall into that category.

One estimate suggests that processed food comprises 75 percent of our national diet and, as a result, the average American eats 8 to 10 pounds of additives each year.

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Consume At Your Own Risk

So who gauges the safety of all these additives? That job falls to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which reviews the research regarding each new chemical before it’s introduced to the marketplace. The trouble is that the FDA is woefully underfunded and understaffed — and some experts believe it is not entirely objective in its evaluations.

That’s a lesson Ruth Winter, MS, learned the hard way. In 1979, after her daughter developed hives and their doctor suggested she might be allergic to the penicillin in commercial milk, Winter began doing a lot of research, which eventually became a book, A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives.

“Who knew there was penicillin in the milk?” Winter asks. “I thought there was an FDA employee looking over everyone’s shoulder, making sure our food is safe. But that’s simply not the case.”

Another problem: Much of the research the FDA reviews comes from the companies that produce the chemicals in question; clearly those companies have a vested interest in designing studies that look favorable. And, historically, there’s been a bit of a revolving door between the executive suites of big food and chemical companies and the FDA’s leadership circle.

For these reasons and more, critics say, the FDA is reluctant to challenge these companies, especially when newer independent research raises questions about substances the agency gave the all-clear on long ago.

“It seems to me that the FDA bends over backwards not to find problems with food additives,” says Michael Jacobson, PhD, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). “Once they approve a chemical, then they have a bureaucratic investment in defending its safety and their previous decision. In some cases, they even prevent other government agencies from conducting research.”

Jacobson claims, for example, that the National Toxicology Program — which does lab tests for government agencies — was considering testing one or more questionable artificial sweeteners for toxicity, but the FDA discouraged them from proceeding.

CSPI routinely petitions the FDA about food additives, especially when new independent research comes to the fore. Earlier this year, for example, an FDA panel responded to CSPI’s petition regarding artificial colorings, which two large studies funded by the British government showed to cause or exacerbate hyperactivity in children. CSPI wanted a ban on the colorings, or at least a warning label.

Some scientists had earlier agreed that children with already-existing ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) may have worsening symptoms from the colorings. While a hotly divided FDA panel ultimately declined to change anything, CSPI’s action made millions of people think about the colors in their children’s breakfast cereals and fruit snacks.

“These foods are unhealthy for so many reasons,” says David Schab, MD, MPH, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. Schab testified before the FDA panel on food colorings, since he had conducted a meta-analysis of all the literature on these additives and found a significant increase in hyperactivity for children with ADHD. “We’re in the middle of this huge obesity epidemic that threatens both our health and the economy. It would be great if government agencies did something to make unhealthy foods less appealing,” he says.

“Of all the additives, artificial sweeteners are my top concern,” says David Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center and editor-in-chief of Childhood Obesity. “There is one harm that clearly is supported by science: They propagate a sweet tooth. They are intensely sweet, and the literature shows that they stimulate the same reward center as sugar. I think that tends to result in a preference for ever-sweeter foods, with attendant harms to health and weight.”

What’s the best way to avoid harmful food additives? Abstain from processed food completely. “If it’s not something the body evolved to eat, I err on the side of caution,” says functional nutritionist Julie Starkel, MS, MBA, RD.

For when you are in a pinch, though, and not sure of an ingredient, we have compiled the following list of the most critical additives to avoid, based on warnings from the CSPI and other experts.

Some have raised red flags during testing. Others have not been tested well enough to prove safety — especially given today’s more sensitive and precise methods of testing.

“People used to consider a substance safe if it didn’t kill a lab animal,” says nutritional biochemist Jeffrey Bland, PhD. “Now, we find that certain substances that used to be considered safe have an impact on cellular or metabolic function. Most of today’s food additives haven’t been adequately defined as safe, given these new methods.”

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Artificial Sweeteners

Acesulfame-K: Used in candies, baked goods, chewing gum, dry beverage mixes, canned fruit, gelatin desserts, diet soda, and as a tabletop sweetener under the brand names Sunette and Sweet One. About 200 times sweeter than sugar, acesulfame-K was tested for safety in the 1970s. The tests were not conducted with gold-standard protocols; however, two rat studies suggested that the chemical could cause cancer. In addition, large doses of a breakdown product from this chemical affected the thyroid in test animals.

Aspartame: Used in breakfast cereals, soft drinks, drink mixes, gelatin desserts, frozen desserts, yogurt, chewing gum, diet foods, and as a tabletop sweetener under the brand names Equal and NutraSweet. Used in more than 6,000 products worldwide, aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Studies have suggested that it might cause cancer — especially with lifelong consumption — or neurological problems. Aspartame also lowers the acidity of urine and may make the urinary tract more susceptible to infection.

Saccharin: Used in many diet products as well as a tabletop sweetener under the brand name Sweet’N Low. About 350 times sweeter than sugar, saccharin has been shown in animal studies to cause bladder cancer; rodent studies indicate that saccharin can cause cancer of the uterus, ovaries, skin, blood vessels and more. A major study conducted by the National Cancer Institute found that the artificial sweeteners saccharin and cyclamate are associated with higher incidence of bladder cancer. In 1977 the FDA wanted to ban saccharin; however, industry pressure has kept it in circulation.

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Dyes and Colorings

Caramel coloring: Found in colas, baked goods, precooked meats, gravy mix, soy and Worcestershire sauces, chocolate-flavored products, liquors, syrups, wine, and beer. The most widely used (by weight) dye, caramel coloring is often made by heating sugars with ammonium compounds, acids or alkalis, and it contains contaminants that have been shown by the U.S. National Toxicology Program to cause cancer in male and female mice. In 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization, concluded that caramel coloring, when produced with ammonia, contains contaminants that are “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” Avoid beverages with caramel coloring, since the amounts consumed in one drink are so large.

Yellow 5: Used in gelatin desserts, candy, pet food and baked goods. This is the second most widely used coloring. It causes allergy-like hypersensitivity reactions, primarily in aspirin-sensitive persons, and triggers hyperactivity in some children. It may also be contaminated with cancer-causing substances.

Yellow 6: Used in beverages, candy and baked goods. This is the third most widely used dye. Industry-sponsored animal tests indicated that this dye causes tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney. Like Yellow 5, it may also be contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals. Yellow 6 may also cause sometimes-severe hypersensitivity reactions.

Blue 2: Found in pet food, beverages and candy. Some animal studies found evidence that Blue 2 causes brain cancer in male rats. Blue 2 and other artificial colorings are made from petroleum, much of it refined near China’s Yellow River Delta, one of the world’s most toxic polluted areas.

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Preservatives and Additives

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and hydrogenated vegetable oil (commonly called trans fats): Used to make packaged foods more appealing and last longer. Trans fats — created by converting liquid oils to solids by adding hydrogen — are found in crackers, baked goods, fried restaurant foods, stick margarine, icing and microwave popcorn. Trans fats can raise blood cholesterol to dangerous levels; Harvard School of Public Health researchers estimate that trans fat has caused about 50,000 premature heart-attack deaths annually, making partially hydrogenated oil one of the most harmful ingredients in the food supply. When the public heard about the danger and the FDA required that trans fats be listed on labels beginning in 2006, consumption dropped and many food manufacturers have moved to safer ingredients. Still, read labels carefully, since even small amounts of trans fats are harmful.

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA): A synthetic antioxidant found in butter, cereals, baked goods, sweets, beer, vegetable oils, potato chips, snack foods, nuts and nut products, glazed fruits, chewing gum, animal feeds, and sausage, poultry and meat products. BHA slows the deterioration of flavors and odors in foods — especially in those containing vegetable and animal fat — and increases shelf life. In studies, three different species of lab animals developed cancer from exposure to BHA, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services considers BHA “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”

Propyl gallate: A preservative used in vegetable oil, mayonnaise, meat products, chicken soup base and chewing gum. Propyl gallate slows the spoilage of fats and oils but can cause stomach or skin problems for asthmatics and aspirin-sensitive people. Studies on rats and mice suggest that this preservative might cause cancer.

Sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate: Preservatives, colorings and flavorings used in bacon, ham, hot dogs, cold cuts, smoked fish and corned beef. These chemicals give certain foods their characteristic flavor and color; they also prevent botulism, although critics argue that safer ingredients do the same thing. Several studies have linked consumption of cured meat and nitrite by children, pregnant women and adults with various types of cancer.

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Other

Monosodium glutamate (MSG): A flavor enhancer used in meats, condiments, soups and baked goods. Tests in the 1960s showed that MSG caused brain damage in lab animals; after that, baby-food manufacturers removed it from their products. Perhaps the biggest danger MSG poses
is to people with asthma, who may suffer a temporary increase in symptoms after consumption. MSG is what’s called a “free glutamate” — one of the amino acids. There are other forms of free glutamates present as additives in processed food, including hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, soy extracts, protein isolates and “natural flavorings.”

Mycoprotein: A synthetic meat marketed under the brand name Quorn, it can be purchased in the form of sausages, burgers and other meat-like products, or folded into vegan and vegetarian meals, such as casseroles and curries. Fabricated from fungus grown in vats and then dried and woven into “meat,” mycoprotein, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, can provoke allergic reactions as powerful as those caused by more common food allergens such as peanuts, soy and dairy. To date, the CSPI has received 1,500 adverse-reaction reports to mycoprotein, including accounts of severe vomiting.

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This article originally appeared as “Secret Ingredients” in the November 2011 issue of Experience Life.

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