Chemical cuisine: a guide to food additives

Nutrition Action Healthletter, May, 2008

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Is calcium stearoyl lactylate safe? Which food coloring is made from the bodies of dried, pulverized insects? Is aspartame the safest artificial sweetener? Or is it sucralose?

Food additives thicken our salad dressings, prevent our sliced ham from turning gray, make our microwave popcorn smack of butter, and sweeten our diet sodas. They also make dried apple bits taste like peaches and sugar water look like fruit juice.

While most food additives are safe, some haven't been adequately tested. And a few could be dangerous.

Our Chemical Cuisine guide tells you which are which.

This alphabetical listing of the most common food additives includes what they're used for, some of the foods in which they're found, and our assessment of their safety. (A more detailed list is online at www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm.)

KEY

Next to each additive is one or more symbols. Here's what they mean.

(A) SAFE.

(B) CUT BACK. Not toxic, but large amounts may be unsafe or unhealthy.

(C) CAUTION, May pose a risk and needs to be better tested.

(D) CERTAIN PEOPLE SHOULD AVOID,

(E) EVERYONE SHOULD AVOID. Unsafe or very poorly tested and not worth any risk.

(E) Acesulfame Potassium.

Artificial sweetener: Chewing gum, diet soda, no-sugar-added baked goods and desserts, tabletop sweetener (Sunett).

Poorly done safety tests in the 1970s suggested that acesulfame potassium may cause cancer. The Food and Drug Administration has refused to require better studies. Acesulfame potassium is often used together with sucralose.

(A) Alginate, Propylene Glycol Alginate.

Foam stabilizers, thickening agents: Beer, candy, cheese, ice cream, yogurt.

They're made from seaweed (kelp).

(A) Alpha Tocopherol (Vitamin E).

Antioxidant, nutrient: Oils.

Small amounts are added to oils to keep them from going rancid and to other foods to pump up the vitamin E.

(D) Artificial and Natural Flavoring.

Breakfast cereal, candy, soda, many other foods.

Most of the hundreds of chemicals used to mimic natural flavors also occur in nature and are probably safe. But flavorings are often used in junk foods to mask the absence of natural ingredients (fruit, for example). Flavorings may include additives like MSG or HVP, to which some people are sensitive.

(A) Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Erythorbic Acid.

Antioxidant, color stabilizer, nutrient: Cereal, cured meat, fruit drinks.

It helps maintain the red color of ham, bacon, and other cured foods and it inhibits the formation of cancer-promoting nitrosamines (see Sodium Nitrite). Vitamin C is also used to pump up the vitamin content of foods like "fruit" drinks. Sodium ascotbate is a form of ascorbic acid that dissolves easily. Erythorbic acid is chemically similar to ascorbic acid, but it isn't a vitamin.

(E) Aspartame (NutraSweet).

Artificial sweetener: Frozen desserts, diet soda, tabletop sweetener (Equal).

Disturbing new Italian research in animals indicates that long-term consumption may increase the risk of leukemia, lymphoma, and breast cancer. Although some people report dizziness, hallucinations, or headaches after drinking diet soda, only one of the controlled studies that looked for a link found one (to headaches). People with the rare disease PKU (phenylketonuria) need to avoid aspartame.

(A) Beta-Carotene.

Coloring, nutrient: Coffee creamer, margarine, butter, candy.

It's an orange pigment that the body converts to vitamin A.

(C) Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO).

Clouding agent, emulsifier: Soft drinks.

It's occasionally used to keep flavor oils in suspension and give a cloudy appearance to citrus-flavored soft drinks. Small residues of BVO remain in body fat, but it's unclear whether they pose any risk.

(E) Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA).

Antioxidant: Cereal packages, chewing gum, oil, potato chips.

It retards rancidity in fats, oils, and foods that contain oil. According to the federal government's National Toxicology Program, it is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen," based on animal studies.

(C) Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT).

Antioxidant: Cereal, chewing gum, oil, potato chips.

It keeps oils from going rancid. In some animal studies it increased the risk of cancer; in others it decreased the risk.

(D) Caffeine.

Flavoring, stimulant: Added to soft drinks and water. Occurs naturally in coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate.

It improves alertness and endurance, especially for the sleepdeprived, but can also interfere with sound sleep and make you jittery. If you have those symptoms, consider cutting back. Caffeine is mildly addictive; it causes headaches, irritability, or sleepiness when you go too long without it. High doses (more than 200 mg a day) may increase the risk of miscarriage or rare birth defects. Avoid caffeine if you are pregnant or are trying to become pregnant.

(A) Calcium Propionate, Sodium Propionate.

Preservative: Bread, cake, pie, rolls.

Calcium propionate prevents the growth of mold on bread and rolls. The calcium is a nutrient and the propionate is safe. Since calcium interferes with leavening agents, sodium propionate, which is also safe, is used in pies and cakes.