Do We Really Know What We Are Eating Anymore?
"I saw these last night and
thought you would get a kick out of it. How disgusting! If there
are 49 chemicals in Strawberry flavoring… I can only imagine how many are in
this “Chicken and Waffle” flavored bag of chips!"
Well, here's the answer. Ingredients in Lays Chicken &
Waffles:
POTATOES, VEGETABLE OIL (SUNFLOWER,
CORN, AND/OR CANOLA OIL), CHICKEN & WAFFLES SEASONING (BROWN SUGAR, SUGAR,
SALT, MALTODEXTRIN (MADE FROM CORN), SOYBEAN OIL, YEAST EXTRACT, NATURAL
FLAVOR (INCLUDING CHICKEN FLAVOR), GUM ACACIA, ONION POWDER, SKIM MILK, SPICES,
CARAMEL COLOR, MIXED TRIGLYCERIDES, GARLIC POWDER, AND PAPRIKA). CONTAINS
STATEMENT: MILK INGREDIENTS.
Most likely chicken flavor is from a
chemical called methyl furanthiol, which is a food additive from
yeast. Not the worst ingredients I've ever seen, but still I wouldn't eat this
stuff!
What is interesting to me is that I couldn't find any human safety
studies in PubMed on the food flavor, methyl furanthiol. Not one. There
was one study showing that it is secreted in breast milk. I did find one
in vitro study showing that there is some weak mutagenic potential
(depletes glutathione, an important antioxidant) of this ingredient.
This study does mention another food additive not in this product, that
has much greater cytotoxicity and mutagenicity (strongly depletes
glutathione) at much lower doses. That food additive is (E)-2-hexenal (HEX- this has a fruity flavor
and is added to frozen dairy, baked goods, non-alcoholic beverages, gelatin
puddings, candy, jellies, frozen vegetables, soups, reconstituted vegetables and is added also to
perfumes...scary!)
Additionally, there were several studies in
food science journals on the ways to make methyl furanthiol flavor more
appealing to the human palate. It is interesting to me that conventional
medicine and research often gets very uptight about the safety of herbal
medicines that have been used for thousands of years when we have no idea about
the effects of these chemicals that are being consumed by some on a daily
basis...
I am not anti-science by any means - I think research is important, and
it can be useful to expand traditional knowledge with modern methods.
However, I also think that there should be more research dollars and emphasis placed on
substances that are being consumed by the majority of the population and that
we have very little understanding of as it relates to the effects on human health.
Food chemistry and
science is a rapidly expanding field and it is absolutely fascinating, I learned a lot by
exploring the links listed below. Our food is changing faster than we realize and
we don't really know if these changes are safe.
One thing is for sure:
that flavors and aromas are very tantalizing to humans, we may
not realize it, but we like them and the demand for them is increasing. A
"natural flavor" company had to ramp up its production of
"natural chicken flavor" in 2010 to keep up with demand. The
memories for food is very much near to our pleasure centers
in our brain. Certain foods can lead to secretion of pleasure hormones
more so than other foods. Interestingly, in some people, this can occur even
more so for foods that they are allergic or sensitive to (i.e.
gluten). We can become addicted to food and I do wonder if food
additives are playing a role in this. Is processed food becoming the new nicotine?
Do you ever feel like you just
need more fast food fries, like you just really need to have them!? MSG is a
perfect example of an artificial flavor that was rampant in processed
food, but eventually led to labeling laws because of its deleterious
effects on human health.
One of my teachers, Steven Sandberg Lewis, commonly says: “You are what you eat, digest, metabolize, eliminate, think and feel.”
Do we really know what we are eating anymore?
One of my teachers, Steven Sandberg Lewis, commonly says: “You are what you eat, digest, metabolize, eliminate, think and feel.”
Do we really know what we are eating anymore?
-Posted by Sarah Giardenelli, ND, MSOM, LAc.
"Food for Thought" - Interesting Articles to Reference:
- http://nyti.ms/WKegOV
- http://bit.ly/Wgn8dT
- http://bit.ly/152aLBw
- http://1.usa.gov/152aVJj
- http://1.usa.gov/Zr8PB4
- http://bit.ly/Yuq3ev
- http://bit.ly/16v5q9A
- http://bit.ly/12TA11k
- http://bit.ly/YdOzBo
- http://bit.ly/WKe95T
- http://bit.ly/YdOFJf
- http://bit.ly/10Mw1uy
- http://1.usa.gov/Z79AQA
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