Chemical Cuisine - food additives

Nutrition Action Healthletter, March, 1999

[A] Polysorbate 60. Emulsifier. (Baked goods, frozen desserts, imitation dairy products.)

Polysorbate 60 and its close relatives, polysorbate 65 and 80, work the same way as mono- and diglycerides, but not as much are needed. They keep baked goods from going stale, keep dill oil dissolved in bottled dill pickles, help coffee creamers dissolve, and prevent oil from separating in artificial whipped cream.

[E] Potassium Bromate. Flour improver. (White flour.)

It has long been used to increase the volume of bread and to produce bread with a fine crumb structure. Most bromate rapidly breaks down to form innocuous bromides. However, bromate itself causes cancer in animals, and the tiny amounts that may remain in bread pose a small risk. Bromate was banned in the United Kingdom in 1989, and it is little used in California (because products sold there that contain it might have to carry a cancer warning).

[C] Propyl Gallate. Antioxidant, preservative. (Chewing gum, chicken soup base, meat products, potato sticks, vegetable oil.)

It helps prevent fats and oils from spoiling and is often used with BHA and BHT. The best long-term animal study hinted that it might cause cancer.

[C] Quinine. Flavoring. (Bitter lemon, quinine water tonic water.)

As a drug, it can cure malaria. It's also used as a bitter flavoring in tonic and a few other soft drinks. There is a slight chance that quinine--which has been relatively poorly tested as a food additive--causes birth defects, so, just to be on the safe side, pregnant women should avoid it.

[E] Saccharin. Artificial sweetener. (No-sugar-added foods, tabletop sweetener [Sweet'N Low].)

Saccharin is 350 times sweeter than sugar and is used in no-sugar-added foods or as a tabletop sugar substitute. Animal studies have shown that it can cause cancer of the bladder, uterus, ovaries, skin, blood vessels, and other organs. It also appears to increase the potency of other cancer-causing chemicals. In the best human study (done by the National Cancer Institute), people who reported using artificial sweeteners (saccharin and cyclamate) had higher rates of bladder cancer than people who said they didn't use artificial sweeteners.

[B] Salatrim. Modified fat. (Baked goods, candy.)

It has the physical properties of regular fat, but the company that developed it claims that it provides only about half the calories. Eating small amounts of salatrim is probably safe, but large amounts greatly increase the risk of side effects like stomach cramps and nausea.

[B] Salt (Sodium Chloride). Flavoring, preservative. (Most processed foods.)

A diet high in sodium increases the risk or severity of high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

[A] Sodium Benzoate. Preservative. (Carbonated drinks, fruit juice, pickles, preserves.)

Manufacturers have used it for a century to prevent the growth of microorganisms in acidic foods.

[A] Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). Thickening and stabilizing agent. (Beer, candy, diet food, ice cream, icing, pie filling.)