FOOD ADDITIVES

GAYATHRI G SNATURAL SCIENCE

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Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling with vinegar, salting as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as with wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the twentieth century, many more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin.

INTRODUCTION

Whether you like fast food or not, you cannot ignore the inviting fatty and salty aroma that flows through the air as you drive by a fast food restaurant.

Something is triggered in your brain that makes you crave foods that contain salt, sugar, and fats, but don’t fall victim to these foods and their addictive ingredients!

Fast food items are cheap and mass

produced, so they are pumped full of flavor enhancers and colorings to make this cheap food appealing and edible to consumers. Below is a brief guide to understand what these addictive ingredients are and the effects they have on your body.

Categories Food additives can be divided into several

groups, although there is some overlap between them.

Acids Acidity regulators Emulsifiers Flavors Flavor enhancers Flour treatment agents Glazing agentsHumectants Tracer gasAnticaking agents Antifoaming agents Antioxidants Bulking agents Food coloring Color retention agents Preservatives Stabilizers Sweeteners Thickeners

Sugar, Fat, and Salt These ingredients often come highly processed in

fast food in the form of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Both high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils contribute to weight gain and leads to increased bad cholesterol.

Major Addictives

Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is a

flavoring agent. It is a form of concentrated salt added to foods to enhance the flavor that is present in a variety of fast food and convenience food items.

As MSG in fast food is highly processed, there has been numerous reports of skin rashes, itching, hives, vomiting, asthma, heart irregularities, depression, seizures, headache, migraines, chest pain, nausea, and weakness

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), ajinomoto

Due to the fact that MSG is super cheap, the food industry can use low quality foods and add MSG as a flavor enhancer to mask the cheapness. This flavoring agent may also interfere with appetite suppression and cause you to feel hungry even after you’ve eaten a large amount of food.

Casein is often referred to as the “nicotine of fast food.” Although this protein compound naturally occurs in milk (80% of the proteins in cow milk), in fast food it is transformed to a refined and concentrated form created by adding calcium hydrogen phosphate to concentrated milk solids.

Common fast food items that contain casein are cheese, french fries that contain milk-derived ingredients, buns, milk shakes, drive-thru-window baked goods, other types of desserts, creamy salad dressings, whipped toppings, sausages, and more.

CASEIN

The problem with addictive foods like

cheese is that they are acidic, and acidic foods tend to be fatty and sugary. These two food characteristics, fatty and sugary, when consumed in excess can have negative effects on you health by promoting problems such as weight gain.

Caffeine is one reason people get

hooked on soft drinks. Constant exposure to caffeine makes your brain compensate by decreasing the number of receptors for its own "stimulant," norepinephrine, which makes you seek the stimulation from an outside source.

CAFFEINE

To be sure you are not ingesting any addictives, make your own meals at home and only add your favorite natural spices like fresh or dried herbs and spices, sea salt, garlic, and ginger.

 

CONCLUSION