{"id":2156,"date":"2017-08-07T00:22:17","date_gmt":"2017-08-06T14:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wholekids.com.au\/what-are-food-additives\/"},"modified":"2021-10-20T15:54:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T05:54:46","slug":"what-are-food-additives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wholekids.com.au\/what-are-food-additives\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Food Additives?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Food additives can be one of the trickiest parts on a food label and they can often leave parents confused. We don\u2019t blame you. There are so many different food additives and they are often listed as chemicals or numbers, which may seem wholly undecipherable. In fact, they have a wide range of functions including: improving the flavour or appearance of a food, keeping the quality or stability of a food \u2013 for example, by maintaining moisture levels and softness in fruit \u2013 or preserving a food to extend its shelf life.<\/p>\n

The use of these different food additives is regulated in Australia by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). A safety assessment is carried out on each food additives before it can be used to check whether the food additive is safe (at the use levels being proposed). In addition, there must also be a good technological reason for using the additive, such as preventing food poisoning [1]. Yet there are still health concerns around the use of some additives in foods, particularly for children, and in some instances, quite rightly so. It should be said, however, that regulatory bodies have also shown many additives to be safe for consumption.<\/p>\n

What are the reasons for this concern?<\/h3>\n

Firstly, additives and processed food go together. The more highly processed foods you eat, the more additives you’ll eat too. As for the health concerns, there is a debate over the use of some food preservatives such as sodium nitrite (250) and sodium nitrate (251), the combination of sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate (212) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C, both naturally occurring and the additive 300) in soft drinks, which can result in the formation of benzene and the use of artificial colours as well as many others.<\/p>\n

In terms of artificial colours, a UK government-funded study concluded that a mixture of colourings and the preservative sodium benzoate (211) could be linked to increased hyperactivity in some children. The colours don\u2019t have a functional purpose and so are unnecessary to foods. The colours are often only used for marketing purposes. Within the EU, foods containing these colours are now labelled with a mandatory warning: “May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children” [3]. However, at present FSANZ say dietary exposure to added colours in food and beverages doesn’t pose a public health and safety concern for children in Australia [2]. Given the UK\u2019s position to push for industry action to remove the colours altogether and the action the EU has taken to inform consumers, there is good reason for FSANZ to review its position.<\/p>\n

Not all additives are unnatural<\/h3>\n

Some reassurance over the use of additives is that there are a number which occur naturally such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C), vitamin E and lecithin which is present in egg yolks, soy beans, peanuts and maize. In addition, we, as humans, are not able to distinguish between a chemical naturally present in a food and the same chemical present as an additive [3].<\/p>\n

But the easiest way to avoid ingestion of additives is to cook from scratch and eat homemade, or lightly processed, food, and of course, look for additive-free products.<\/p>\n

Useful resources<\/h3>\n

Choice provides a handy guide to additives and their respective numbers found on ingredient labels, a brief overview if below. More information can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n