Examples of Food Additives that Add Life to Food and Shorten “Life” : Why Additives in Food Are Harmful to Health

Have you wonder about what makes food lasts in cans, provide nice colors, thickens and what make it more appealing and you want to eat them right away? That is food additives in the making. How about garlic, vinegar, herbals and salt -- they are food additives and seasonings as well. Some food additives are already here for many centuries and our ancestors are using them like salts, vinegar and herbals. I use seasoning and food additives and they add life to food, yes, but I always use it in moderation. No way eating a food without a taste except for its natural taste which sometimes sucks (pardon my word) isn’t it? Yes food additives make food lasts, tastes yummier and makes food lasts in cans forever (check with expiration). I will tell you at the onset that food additives are good in moderation, if not then we can never live anymore because almost all the foods in the supermarket anywhere are bombarded with preservatives, coloring, enhancers, emulsifiers etc. We will be obliged to live in a mountain if we don’t eat anything of it. In terms of food additives, I say that moderation is the best. Now let me cook my favorite stir fry with little salt, little monosodium glutamate ((MSG), yes, you read it right) and little soy sauce which makes it more yummier.

The purpose of life is the "search" for an easy and tastier -- colorful "life".  Food additives add "life" and make life easier -- because you just pour it and at an instant your food will be yummier, no natural juicing of natural food etc.

For many of you who are following me, you know that I love research, I like to read about anything and look at findings in every facet of life, sports (I love sports -- football, basketball, Olympic plu winter sports, dancing (it is sports for me -- well figure skating), health, foods and nutrition, family and relationship, anything of value, well of course all topics, poetry, science and all are of values specially topics which are related to life’s improvement.

To add to what I have stated above, I would like to day that the overall aim of life is -- living a life which is easy, healthy and meaningful in order to achieve full life expectancy or living life to the maximum. Others like me, find comfort in searching for lifes meaning in spiritual terms and some find comfort in the more scientific ways. That is why inventions, discovery and technology seems to sprout everyday in search for what makes life easier. Basically that is the purpose of science, religions and all field of endeavor -- the goal of all research is centered on humanities search for “how to make life easier and understanding what is happening around humans. The search for truth and making life comfortable is the search for knowledge.

Wow, that’s an introduction for a topic about food additives and what’s food additive got to do with it, you may want to ask. And so what is this got to do with my topic today which is food additives? It is some and everything indeed. It is because food additives are part of the food we eat, part of it when they packaged, store and make food. It also adds “taste” to food. It appeals to our gustatory nerves in short.

Food additives are here because we want to satisfy our basic need - food nourishment. It is part of our human life to partake food and we want the food we eat to satisfy us, our basic satisfaction. That’s why we even add food additives to make it palatable and to look appealing. That’s why is restaurants, the manner in which food is presented with spices, colorings and different add ons like herbs etc. herbs are best add ons by the way for food to make it more enticing.

1. Some food additives are useful in moderation like salt - sodium chloride which should be taken in moderation always. I use salt in meat products and poultry and when I cook some vegetables, stir fry vegetables.
2. I also use vinegar in marinating meat products and for vegetables.
3. Wheat flours -- I use this for baking and yes I cheat I use only half the amount recommended in the cookbook.
4. I use herbals like oregano, onion sprouts, garlic for seasoning as well, but always in moderation
5. I use soy sauce for pork, poultry and vegetables, half the amount recommended.
6. I use natural juice, buy oranges and fruits, juice them and then put little sugar on it instead of colas and sodas
7. I minimize chips and other fun foods, but I treat myself once in a week.

Let me tell you at the onset that according to researches by many scientific agencies food additives are safe if it is taken in moderate amount, make sense to me because what if you are from New York and you can't grow your own food, of course if you buy natural foods from farmers market or supermarket, they are still preserved in some form so that it will last. The World Health Organizations, Cancer Society of America and Food Drugs Administration and the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food. Regulations in European Union, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives which are working together to test the safety of many food additives they recommend what they call Acceptable Daily Intakes of food additives.

What are food additives?

• In general food additives are the things you add to a food to make it more tastier, smells good, make it more appetizing by the color and to preserve it more when you put them in the can. Preservatives are included as food additives. Additives and preservatives are utilized to maintaining= foods quality-consistency-maintains its nutritional values, provide it to thicken and maintain tastiness. Food additives are classified as:

1. Direct additives: those that we intend to add
2. Indirect additives : Those that are added when you packaged foods, store or when they are processed.

1. Additives for killing microbes -- Vinegar and salts are form of food additives which is used for preservatives and to prevent microbes from spoiling it.
2. Color additives -- artificial colors so that the food may look tasty and for food appeals
3. Antioxidants -- example of this is citrus fruits, Vitamin A fruits and vegetable to fight free radicals which destroys human cell. The advantage of antioxidants against prevention and cure of cancer is debatable. Antioxidants like herbals are goods and those that we can get form natural foods is best
4. Artificial Additives for flavoring purposes-- these additives are used so that the food becomes tastier like monosodium glutamate, vanilla, sugar plus salt.
5. Food additives that add to nutrients -- examples are foods which are canned and you can see that in the label, like all kinds of Vitamins which are added during enrichment and fortification.
6. Food additives which are used for discoloration and to avoid for food to become rancid and some examples of this are acidic foods like tartaric, citric etc.
7. Food additives for thickening -- these are added for food to thicken like emulsifier, in nice cream and jellies.
8. Food additives which acts as bleaching agents --: examples of these are wheat flour and cheese for whitening foods

I use some of these food additives but with moderation, but for the last five items try to avoid it!

1. Herbal food additives -- I use herbal like rosemary for food to smell good as well as oregano, garlic and other seasoning as well. It is safer and I don't use those in pack, the fresher one is preferred.
2. White sugar -- Some foods -- fruits and carrots contain sugar, but watch out for foods with added sugars, such as baked goods, cereals, crackers, even sauces other processed foods.
3. Sodium chloride --A dash of sodium chloride, more commonly known as salt, can certainly bring flavor to your meal. But salt is another hidden food additive that can lead to health issues.Sodium nitrite which are found in chips etc.
4. Vinegar -- I use this for marinating pork and poultry but with moderation
5. BHA and BHT-- Butyrate hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) are additional additives to red flag.
6. Propyl gallate-- Propyl gallate is another preservative to avoid. It's used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling and is often used in conjunction with BHA and BHT.
7. Monosodium glutamate --- is an amino acid used as a flavor enhancer in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen entrees, and restaurant food.
8. Aspartame -- also known by the brand names Nutrasweet and Equal, is an additive found in so-called diet foods such as low-calorie desserts, gelatins, drink mixes and soft drinks.
9. Acesulfame-K -- This is a relatively new artificial sweetener, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1998 for use in soft drinks.
10. Food colorings --like blue red, green plus yellow -- You may think that all dangerous artificial food colorings were banned by the FDA long ago, but there are five still on the market that are linked with cancer in animal testing.
11. Olestra -- a synthetic fat known as the brand name Olean and found in some brands of potato chips, prevents fat from getting absorbed in your digestive system. These are found in Chips, Ruffles, Lays, Doritos.
12. Potassium bromate -- is rare, but still legal in the U.S., and used as an additive to increase volume in white flour, breads, and rolls.

1. Now to the question "Do Food Additives add “life” to Food and Shorten “life”; is this true?", well all things that are not natural are to some extent bad, but we cant live without these things in life, they are everywhere and unless we live in a mountain of some sort of isolation and plant our own foods we are still faced with foods that are available in the market. That being said, we should always partake food additives and foods which are rich in it with moderation.
2. Can they make our life shorter, well, in the past 100 years, life expectancy is increasing, we are dying at later ages, but then quality of life is one thing, and of course lifestyle is a reason for the top causes of death -- high blood, cancer and heart problems. Research can't actually pinpoint exactly up to what percent does bad eating habits or choices can affect life expectancy -- but almost a blind person can see that it does affect your overall health in general. There is nothing wrong in having a healthy food choices and natural is always best like you can use herbal plants for food enhancements.