Food Additives

Food additives are very common in today’s society. They can be found in a wide variety of foods, and sometimes they can be very harmful to our bodies. But what exactly is a food additive? According to Dictionary.com, an additive is: “something that is added, as one substance to another, to alter or improve the general quality or to counteract undesirable properties.” The definition food additive is: “a substance added directly to food during processing, as for preservation, coloring, or stabilization.”

So, from these two definitions and from basic extrapolation, it is easy to understand that a food additive is something added to food to make it “better”. Better, could mean having a longer shelf life, having a pleasing colour, or just tasting sweeter. However, even though they make our food taste good, sometimes they can have negative impacts on our health.

One such additive is Monosodium glutamate also known as MSG. It is non-essential amino acid, which means it can be created by our bodies. MSG It is used as a flavour enhancer, and it can cause negative side affects after ingested, even though our bodies produce it. It doesn't affect all people, but for the people that it does affect, the symptoms can be serious.  

Some of these symptoms can be:

• Burning sensation in the back of forearms/neck/chest
• Numbness in the back of the neck
• Tingling, warmth, and weakness in the: face, temples, upper-back, neck, and arms
• Chest pains
• Nausea
• Rapid heart beat

The thing about MSG though, it’s very commonly used in restaurants and fast food establishments. It is also can be found in lots of other processed foods like: canned soups, flavoured chips, bottled salad dressing, some cheeses, and many other things.

Food additives can also have other side effects. Some of which are seen particularly in children; a common symptom is hyperactivity. Many foods now days have refined or replacement sugars such as aspartame, other foods have dyes and preservatives. One type of food dye that is thought to cause hyperactivity is Allura Red AC, also known as Red 40.  Red 40 can be found in candy and fruit drinks.

Food additives are hard to avoid completely because they are so common. All processed and most canned foods have additives.  Additives, can also be found in store baked goods, and breads. The idea of additives is scary; it is not realistic to completely eradicate additives out of your diet, unless you are willing to go raw.  So, I think the smartest option to limit the intake of processed foods. If you cook most of your own food, you know what goes into it. You can flavour you foods naturally, as opposed to using MSG.  To be perfect honest, I think homemade food is better anyways.