All food (include chemicals) but processors add a vast range of extra chemicals, so-called additives, to food (and these additives have become a gigatic business). On average, people in developed world consume 6-7kg of chemical additives every year.
Food processors sometimes defend the use of additives by saying that they used to make food last longer and kill bacteria. In fact, barely 1% of additives are preservatives or antioxidants designed to prevent food going rancid. Around 90% are flavourings added to make the food more enticing, ro more commonly, to make up natural flavour lost during the manufacturing process. Other chemicals are added to help the food survice processing, such as emulsifiers to ensure that oil and water stay mixed, and anti-caking agents to prevent powders sticking. Although some additives have familiar name like sugar and salt, many more are known by complex chemical name, such as butylated hyroxyanisol.
Lebel show only the 500 or so additives that have be approved for use. They don't show any additives that habe not been approved for use. Flavouring (in other word, 90% of food additives) don't need approval, and so they aren't listed.
manfactire argue that there are too many flavourings (over 4,500) to list, that they are used only in minute quantities, and that commercial secrecy is vital. In fact, the use of flavouring in food is legally controlled only if one is proved to be hamful and so banned.
The business of food additivies is incredibly complex, but as a general rules, it's probably worth avoiding sodium nitrite, sccharin, caffeine, Olestra (a synthetic calorie-free subtitute for fat), ace-sulfame K (a low-calorie artificial sweetener) and any artficial colouring. And of course, excess sugar and salt are the ebst avoided too.
From :
101 Facts You Should Know About Food
by John Farndon
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