The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Food Additives

April 10, 2009 - 6:51pm
Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

Food Additives

In another thread potassium bromate was mentioned as an additive found in some flours and most definitely bad for the human body.  The fact that much of the world has banned potassium bromate is a good clue as to its inherent qualities. 

This brings me to the subject of this post;  and that is the number of additives in American food that are simply bad for your health.  I think a short discussion on the subject and mention of some of those food poisons could benefit everyone here.  What follows is a very partial list of those harmful substances in our food supply that come to mind right now.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) which is now hidden in processed foods under seemingly countless names including but limited to:

# Potassium Glutamate
# Hydrolyzed protein
# Hydrolyzed Vegetable protein (HVP)
# Hydrolyzed plant protein
# Hydrolyzed oat flour
# Textured Protein
# Yeast Extract
# Autolyzed Yeast
# Plant protein extract
# Sodium caseinate
# Calcium caseinate.

This is a very abbreviated list against all of the food additives containing free glutamic acid which is the neurotoxin present in MSG.

Then there are the artificial sweeteners like aspartame which has been linked to countless diseases.  High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is another very unhealthy unhealthy additive.  Basically any processed food today contains a myriad of harmful chemicals and additives.  There are many more but this is what I can think of at the moment.

I hope this topic helps someone to avoid these poisons,

Jeff

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suave's picture
suave
Apr 10 2009 - 10:32pm

Glutamic acid is not so much a neurotoxin as an aminoacid crucial to human metabolism as well one of the fundamental building blocks of pretty much all living things.  As far as calcium caseinate is concerned it is a milk protein, calcium being the part that is good for the bones, or so the say on TV.  I know that some of these things have a bad reputation, among the "health community" in particular, but no one has really been able to produce a convincing proof that they actually cause bodily harm unless consumed in excessive amounts. 

But have you heard that eating a lot of bread doubles the risk of renal cancer?

LindyD's picture
LindyD
Apr 11 2009 - 6:55am

I found reference to the 2006 study at Medical News Today.  Quoting:

They [the researchers] found that those who consumed the most bread had a 94% higher risk of developing kidney cancer compared to those who consumed the least bread. Bread consumption ranged from 9 to 28 portions each week.

What exactly does 28 portions of bread mean?
A portion is about one to one-and-a-half slices of bread (50gms or 1.7 ounces). So, 28 portions means between 14 to 20 sandwiches a week, depending on how thick the slices are.

The researchers also found:
-- High intake of pasta and rice raises kidney cancer risk 27%
-- High intake of milk and/or yoghurt raises kidney cancer risk by 29%
-- High intake of poultry lowers risk by 26%
-- High intake of processed meat lowers risk by 36%
-- High intake of vegetables lowers risk by 35%
-- The high intake of the following foods made no difference to risk: coffee, tea, soups, red meat, eggs, cheese, fish, pulses, potatoes, desserts, sugars and fruits.

Hmmm.  Eat less bread and more processed meats?  I think I'll continue to follow my dad's philosophy of moderation in all things.

clazar123's picture
clazar123
Apr 11 2009 - 10:05am

I understand everyone's concern about chemicals and food additives. I'm not a fan of things like that myself but I refuse to look at the whole world like it is one big vat of poison. If you live in fear, you fear to live.

So I live in moderation and don't let other people manipulate me by making me fearful. I am pretty sick of that marketing ploy, whether it is used to get me to buy something, influence how I should make parenting decisions, what foods I should or shouldn't eat,religious beliefs I should or shouldn't have,etc,etc. A very overused strategy.

I try to live in happiness.

I see by your other posts that you are a very helpful person to others on this site.After checking that out, I editted this response. This post was seemingly out of character for you compared to the others. The intent may have been to help but it really was factually inaccurate and fear-mongering in nature.I liked your other posts better.