Food additives are the easiest way to make a product more appetizing, enhance its taste and aroma, and extend its shelf life. On the labels, these ingredients are indicated by a numerical code with the letter E. Food additives are harmful to health and useful.
What are nutritional supplements?
There are far more harmful food additives than useful ones. All nutritional supplements are grouped according to the principle of action, and the group can be determined by the first digit of the code. Dyes begin at “1”, giving a tempting look to food products, at “2” – preservatives that extend the shelf life of the product, at “3” – anti-oxidants that prevent spoilage, at “4” – stabilizers that allow to preserve the consistency, at “5” – structure-supporting emulsifiers, “6” – aroma and taste enhancers of the product, “7” and “8” numbers are reserved by manufacturers, “9” start defoamers (antiflamings), sweeteners and other substances.
Curcumin (E100), succinic acid (E363), magnesium carbonate (E504), thaumatin (E957) are considered harmless food additives.
The most unhealthy food additives
The most harmful food additives in foods are antioxidants and preservatives. Their action is similar to antibacterial, i.e. they disrupt biochemical reactions and destroy bacteria. But if a lot of these harmful food additives enter the human body, they can disrupt the functioning of many organs and systems. Especially harmful is the preservative E240 – formaldehyde, which can cause cancer.
Synthetic dyes are also very harmful. E121 and E123 are banned from use as very dangerous, but they are sometimes found in lemonade and ice cream. Among the stabilizers there are substances of natural origin, for example, agar-agar (E406). However, most of these additives still have a chemical origin. Among the emulsifiers, most of all are mineral substances, for example, soda (E500), sulfuric acid (E513), hydrochloric acid (E507), many of which are very toxic.