Ingredients Worth Avoiding

Food additives are in almost all packaged goods. These practically unavoidable substances have become pervasive in our diets, one of long lists of ingredients we can neither define nor pronounce. Food additives are chemical compounds that are used to enhance flavor and/or preserve color, texture and shelf life of food. Many food additives are safe in small quantities according to the FDA, but others are questionable.

For those who like to now exactly what they're putting into their mouths as well as those of their loved ones, reading and understanding food additives is becoming more important than ever - even when shopping at the health food store.

MSG

MSG is a food additive originally found mostly in Chinese food, but its use has spread to many snack foods, soup stocks - one of the reasons recipes on this site call for "natural soup", meaning canned soup or broth that has only natural ingredients and no preservatives. MSG is in almost all canned soups. Monosodium glutamate or MSG is an excitotoxin. This chemical excites the taste buds on your tongue, thereby enhancing the flavor of the food. But it is also known to cause nerve damage by overexciting your nerves.

An unknown percentage of the population reacts badly to MSG with symptoms that can include numbness or burning on the back of the neck, back and arms, tingling sensations on the face, neck and back, headache, nausea, rapid heart bear and weakness.

While MSG is sometimes listed as such on an ingredients list, manufacturers also sometimes hide it in other ingredients such as yeast extract, autolyzed vegetable protein or hydrolyzed vegetable protein - all three of which contain MSG.

Sodium Nitrite

Added to most packaged and deli counter meat products, this additive is supposed to add red color to meats to make them look fresher and more appetizing. Because it starts with the word sodium, many people think it is a form of salt, but in fact, it is a carcinogen that has been linked to causing brain tumors, leukemia and cancers of the digestive tract. Unsurprisingly, this ingredient carries no warning on food labels.

BHA and BHT

Both of these food additives are used as preservatives to prevent oils or fats from going rancid. They also slow down the autoxidation rate of ingredients in a product that can cause changes in taste or color. Despite Department of Health and Human Services findings that BHA is considered to be "a reasonably anticipated human carcinogen", the FDA continues to allow this additive to be used.

And here's an ingredient that while not dangerous to our health, is misleading to consumers.

Carmine

Carmine is a red coloring found in many food products to turn them an attractive rosy pink. Strawberry yogurt, pink grapefruit juice and countless other products include this ingredient. Carmine is actually a paste made from the dead husks of female red beetles from the Canary Islands. Listed as carmine, instead of ground up red beetles, this additive is an example of how manufacturers are not exactly honest in their labeling. This would be a problem for vegetarian and vegans!