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Food Preservatives: Health concerns

Preservatives Methods

There are many food preservatives that have been tested and proved to have some risk on human health. Food preservatives are used in various forms to prevent food from spoiling. Some of these involve the packaging of the food and the transportation of the food. The most important controls to preserve food are temperature. Most produce is transported in cooling trucks to get the food to last longer. Plastic is often a common use in packaging and transporting food. Plastic is most commonly used because it is not biodegradable so their is minimal risk for food contamination. Various chemicals are also added to the packaging materials to shield the food with a protective atmosphere to extend shelf life to ensure the long shelf life of the products.

Types of Preservatives

The three most common food preservatives are sulfur dioxide (sulfites), sorbic acid and its salts (sorbates), and benzoic acid and its salts (benzoate). In 2008 producers in New Zealand were found to be using the maximum permitted levels of sulfite, sorbates, and benzoate in their products. Sulfite is added to wine to preserve color and inhibit microbial growth and often cause severe asthmatic symptoms to people who may be sulfite sensitive. Sorbates are added to dried meats, cheeses, apple cider, and often substituted for yeast in baking products. Sorbates can cause intense allergic reactions. Benzoate when consumed can kill healthy cells by depriving mitochondria cells of oxygen.

Food additives

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a salt that is added to food to enhance flavor have been shown to put humans at risk for obesity if consumed. It is mostly found in processed foods. Thirty healthy Chinese people were tested at random for MSG and most people had 330 milligrams of MSG in their body. Animal testing has also shown an increase in weight after being tested with MSG. MSG contains an excitotoxin, a nerve damaging process in which brain cells can be destroyed through excessive stimulation through the release of dopamine. MSG makes the food highly addicting and can cause overeating. MSG can cause an extreme inflammation of the liver as shown in lab mice that were tested with MSG. Inflammation of the liver can cause liver cancer. Artificial sweeteners and the chemicals that make up artificial sweeteners are feared to bear carcinogenic risk. Artificial sweeteners are used in a variety of processed foods, drinks, drugs, and hygienic products. Saccharin is one artificial sweetener that has induced bladder cancer in rats, when fed in high doses. However, rodents react to most sodium salts, such as sodium ascorbate, with urothel proliferation and neoplasia of the bladder. Heavy artificial sweetener use (>1680 mg per day) leads to an increased relative risk of 1.3 for bladder cancer in humans. A more precise determination of the exact agents is not possible, because many artificial sweeteners are combined in current food products.

BHA

Food companies have been using artificial and natural preservatives for years in order to properly ensure that the food that we eat is healthy and has a longer shelf life, however these additives can lead to health problems. One of these preservatives that is leading to health concerns is Butylated Hydroxyanisole, better known as BHA. BHA has recently been found to be a reasonable human carcinogen based on research done on animals and can lead to different types of cancer, including stomach and liver cancer in animals. However there has been no direct research showing that it can cause cancer in humans. Food companies use BHA as a preservative in the form of an antioxidant, because unlike other food preservatives it stays active after being fried or baked. BHA can be found in potato chips, butter, lard, baked goods, meat and other snack foods including nuts and crackers. However most of the BHA that you find in food is considered safe by the FDA when it makes up less than .02% of an items total fat or oil content. As long as the BHA levels make up less than .02% of an item the FDA deems it is safe to consume in small amounts. However if someone were to have a diet consisting of many foods containing BHA than it could lead to some long term health issues.