"FOOD ADDITIVES” (to french
)
O.V.E.R.D.O.S.E
organics is not a way of eating, organics is obvious
(the guarantees of organic farming)FR, the way it’s used FR) (traceability)
)
| PRESERVATIVES | ANTIOXIDANTS |
|
COLOURS | SWEETENERS |
|
PRESERVATIVES>>>>>>>>>MDA?(Dose Journalière (in)Admissible)>>>>comments
| ADDITIVE | FUNCTION | USED IN | MDA | POTENTIAL DANGERS |
| Potassium nitrite (E249), sodium(E250), sodium nitrate (E251), potassium nitrate (E252) | All preservatives inhibit yeasts, moulds and bacteria | Cooked meats, salt meats, tinned
meat, foie gras.
Cooked meats, salt meats, tinned meats, hard and semi-hard cheeses, cheese substitutes, herrings in vinegar. |
0.1
5 |
- Chemically
very reactive: they can make carcinogenic nitrosamines with amino-acids.
- Oxidises the iron in the blood. The resulting methaemoglobin can no longer fix oxygen, causing cyanoses, cephalagia. - Increases hypertension. - Provokes allergies: migraines, urticaria... |
| Sulphites (E221 to E228), sulphur dioxide or SO2 (E220) | Are also antioxidants | Wine, beer, dried fruits, dried potato, sausages, snacks, pectin, gelatine. In total dozens of foods and drinks where the level of SO2 is up to the 2 g per kg in raisins, figs and dried apricots. | 0.7 | - Provokes
allergies, especially among asthmatics; destroys vitamin B1.
- One or two glasses of white wine or 30 g of dried apricots is enough to give the Maximum Daily Amount (MDA) for an adult of 60 kg. 10% of the population consume more than the MDA. |
| Sorbic acid (E200) potassium sorbate (E202), calcium sorbate (E203) | Flavoured drinks, stuffing for ravioli, prepared fruit and vegetables, prepared chips, olives, melted cheese, pre-packed bread, emulsified sauces, syrups etc. | 25 | - Sorbic acid can react with nitrites and produce mutagenic products. Sodium sorbate (E201), has been banned, its major product of transformation was mutagenic. | |
| Sodium Benzoate (E211) | Sodas, light jams, cooked prawns, chewing gum, paté etc. | 5 | - Is implicated in cases of allergy: erythemia, itches, uriticare, migraines. |
| ADDITIVE | FUNCTION | USED IN | MDA | POTENTIAL DANGERS |
| Sucro-glycerides
(E474) |
Emulsifiers, stabilisers | Cakes, biscuits, ice creams, confectionery, desserts, sauces, soups, drinks. | 10 | - Very widespread. We already consume half of the MDA. |
| Carrageenan (E407)
Gums (E412 to E418) |
Stabilisers, thickeners,
gelling agents |
All processed foods except a few,
such as honey, butter, non-emulsified oils and fats, natural yoghurt, coffee,
tea, sugar etc.
Their use increases in meat products, especially poultry, meat substitutes (mixed meat-vegetable burgers), sausages, patés. The product is made less dry, easier to cut. |
75
(carrageenan) Not specified, except for Karaya 12.5 |
- Causes ulceration
of the digestive tract in guinea pigs. Above all, not digestible.
A degradation, then partial absorption is always possible, especially in
children. At high levels, degraded carrageenan encourages the development
of colon cancer in rats and is an immuno-suppressor......
- Cases of allergies develop, notable among food workers. Little information on the natural gums extracted from plants such as Karaya Gum, which comes from Streculia urens and Cochlospermum. |
| ADDITIVE | FUNCTION | USED IN | MDA | POTENTIAL DANGERS |
| Erythrosine (E127) | Red | Exclusively in cherries and cocktail cherries, glacé cherries, cherries in syrup, at a level of 0.015% to 0.02%. | 0.1 | - Mutagenic. At high doses it causes, in rats, thyroid tumours, hormonal changes, neurophysiological troubles....... |
| Cantaxanthin
(E161g) |
Orange | Exclusively in Strasbourg sausages at a level of 0.0015%. | 0.05 | - Very soluble in fat, it can be fixed in cellular membranes, notably the in the retina. Was authorised before 30 June 1996 in numerous cooked meats. |
| Amaranth
(E123) |
Azoic(2)
red |
Exclusively in fish eggs and aperitifs, at a level of 0.003%. | 0.8 | - Mutagenic effect in vitrio. |
| Tartrazine
(E102) |
Azoic yellow | Flavoured soft drinks, ice creams, desserts, bakery products, confectionery, crystallised and tinned fruit, melted cheeses, sauces, seasonings, mustards, fish and substitutes, surimi, snacks, spirits, tinned mushrooms and garden peas, etc. | 7.5 | - Causes allergic reactions, notably among people already allergic to aspirin. |
| Cochineal red
(E124) |
Azoic red | As for E102, but with a lower limit in soft drinks, ice creams, bakery products, confectionery. Specific, with E120, for chorizo sausage. | 4 | - Is also called Ponceau 4R. It has nothing to do with the natural red acid E120 which comes from the insect. Maximum dosage used is severely limited. |
| Annato
2,6% bixine (E160b) |
yellow orange | Margarines and other fats, bakery products, processed cheese, melted cheeses, breakfast cereals, alcoholic drinks, smoked fish, desserts, snacks.... | 2.5 | - Like the carotenes (E160a to E160f), Annato is responsible for allergies and attacks vitamin A. It can provoke a latent sensitivity. |
| ADDITIVE | FUNCTION | USED IN | MDA | POTENTIAL DANGERS |
| Saccharin (E954) | Tastes 400 times sweeter than sugar | Soft drinks, “new age” drinks (mixtures of beer, cider, perry, spirits or wine with soft drinks), desserts, confectionery, beers, ice creams, spreadable patés, snacks, soups, low calorie jams, breakfast cereals, prepared salads (except E952), etc. | 2.5 | - Phenomena of photosensitisation, possibility of increased reactions with sulphamides... |
| Aspartame (E951) | 200 times sweeter than sugar | 40 | - It must not be consumed by people suffering from phenylcetronia. | |
| Cyclamic Acid (E952) | From 25 to 30 times sweetere | 11 | - Suspect because of one of its metabolites, cyclohexylamine. Its MDA is already exceeded in Great Britain. |
| ADDITIVE | FUNCTION | USED IN | MDA | POTENTIAL DANGERS |
| Monosodium
Glutamate (E621) see article Glutamate |
Up to 1% of the food. “Quantum satis” (3) in condiments and seasoning. | Not
specified (3) |
- Neurotoxic for sensitive individuals: it causes migraines, loss of sensitivity on the face, dryness of the mouth..... |
[...but this list is not exhaustive of the processes in which each type
is used to keep a little taste while gaining on cost, health is of secondary
importance while it is only a long term question........
(refining of sugar, frothed milk, artificial flavours, additives in
cocktail sausages, irradiation of apples, grated cheese without cheese,
chocolates with glycerine, lip stick with cattle blood...etc., etc......)
Enjoy your Meal (N.D.L.R.)
return summary
(1) The MDA or maximum daily amount, gives the level of consumption without danger. It is expressed in milligrams of additive per kilo of the consumer.
The maximum daily amount without danger is thus less for children than for adults.
voir editorganic2 : quarters for all ; see article What's organics (Pr Labouze)
but has anyone carried out studies on the combination and cumulative effects of these diverse foods, the basis of every meal? (N.D.L.R.)(2) Chemical family characterised by one (or more) double liaisons between two nitrogen atoms in the molecule.Famille chimique caractérisée par une (ou plusieurs) double liaison entre deux atomes d'azote dans la molécule.
(3) A large number of additives do not have a specific MDA, they can be used “quantum satis”, that is to say the quantity necessary to obtain the desired effect. In the case of Ascorbic Acid E300 (vitamin C) or Citric Acid E330 which was wrongly denounced as dangerous in an anonymous list which circulated in 1976 under the - abusive - name of the tract of Villejuif.
extract from Science&Vie n°953 february 1997 p122-123 by Marie-Laure Moinet
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Translation by Steve Huddy - steve@shuddy.fsnet.co.uk
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