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How harmful or helpful are additives?

This photograph shows typical additives in a microwave meal. The yellow, red, and orange colourings are quite noticable.

Additives have been around for a long time, starting with the very basic salting and smoking fish and meat.

Pickling with vinegar is another example. As tinned produce became fashionable vitamins ‘C’ ascorbic acid was used to help prevent tinned fruit and fruit juice from turning brown. However in the last 50 years more and more additives have been put into food until now there are over 3000 different substances which can be added. Quite worrying really, because nearly all these substances only need to be described in general terms by the manufacturers who use them.

Some of these additives simply enhance the colour of food to make it more appealing, but even some of these colourings can cause reactions yellow tartrazine being one. Now I don’t know about you, but I find the whole situation quite worrying.

It surely can’t be coincidental that over the last 50 years more and more people are beginning to suffer from food allergies, or when during the same period more and more additives are being put into food. If you look at the basic preservatives and antioxidants, there doesn’t seem a great problem there, but as you move into the colourings and the flavour enhancers, you start to see information which states some of these colourings may cause allergic reactions such as wheeziness or hyperactivity. Currently the opinion would appear to be that food additives are safe and numerous additives have been approved for use within the European Union.

However there do seem to be the exceptions. E102 the additive yellow tartrazine in particular it is linked to adverse reactions in people who are aspirin intolerant or asthmatic. Intolerant individuals may have itching, hives, running noses, or even asthma as a reaction. Is it any wonder that farm shops and fresh natural produce sales are becoming popular as people seek to limit the amount of additives in their food.

This free application contains list of food additives by e-number or by name telling you which to avoid. Also additives that children, asthmatics, vegetarians and people with health problems should avoid. Scroll to the bottom of the page after clicking on the following link.

FinitySoft’s Food Additives 1.0

The apricots are a good snack food because they are quite tasty, are easy to digest, highly nutritious and almost fat-free. Apricots are good sources of beta carotene, potassium, vitamin C, and fibre.

Generally dried apricots will more nutritious than the fresh fruit because there is less water in them.

However some dried apricots contain sulphate preservatives which can lead to an allergic reaction or even an asthma attack in people who are intolerant of sulphides. The sulphides which can cause an asthma attack are not present in the fresh fruit, so if you suffer from asthma, stay away from dried apricots. Additionally dried they can be sticky, which leaves a residue on teeth making them more susceptible to cavities.

Beta carotene is an antioxidant which can help prevent cancers, and believe it or not when an apricot is cooked the anti-oxidant is more readily absorbed.

A low-calorie food containing approximately 70 cal for an average sized apple. An Apple also provides about 10 mg of vitamin C, and contains bioflavonoids which are helpful in treating asthma and other lung diseases.

Apples are also a good source of soluble fibre which helps reduce cholesterol. So the old saying of an apple a day keeps the doctor away is not far from the truth.

The healthy way to eat an apple is to wash it first as its waxy coating may have trapped pesticide residue used to protect it during growth. Some studies of people who have eaten five or more Apples a day would tend to suggest an improvement to the functioning of their lungs.

It is believed that the same effect can be achieved drinking at least 1 1/2 glasses of apple juice per day. I should imagine this would have to be a good quality of apple juice and not overly diluted, though it would seem less processed and cloudy gives best results.