There seems to be a rising amount of coverage on this issue lately. A friend of mine offered a book for me have a look at, that I eventually bought. There are many guides to understanding what food additives to avoid and general understand the topic of what the food
industry places into our food. What made it more a personal experience is that with the "Food Additive" guide, I also was given a little wallet pocket guide of a small list of food numbers to avoid, when looking on the ingredients list.
I was amazed to find out what I assumed was healthy and additive free, was actually not.
Once more, I also watched a show here in Australia on the food additive now being used as a flavor enhancer that is stronger than MSG. What's worse it reported, what that because of the unpopularity of MSG, this new 635 flavor enhancer was many times stronger, was now the choice flavour enhancer. It was also mainly a concern for children and went on to show case studies of children and adults get allergic reactions to foods containing 635.
As well as this, I came across a report in my local newspaper discussing a report by scientists in Liverpool, UK., stating that "
Food Additives, may be harmful, says researchers."
Copying of the article below, I felt it more appropriate to display the entire article.
New research on common food additives, including the controversial sweetener aspartame and food colourings, suggests they may interact to interfere with the development of the nervous system.
"Researchers at the University of Liverpool examined the toxic effects on nerve cells in the laboratory of using a combination of four common food additives - aspartame, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and the artificial colourings brilliant blue and quinoline yellow. The findings of their two-year study were published last week in the journal Toxicological Sciences.
The Liverpool team reported that when mouse nerve cells were exposed to MSG and brilliant blue or aspartame and quinoline yellow in laboratory conditions, combined in concentrations that theoretically reflect the compound that enters the bloodstream after a typical children's snack and drink, the additives stopped the nerve cells growing and interfered with proper signalling systems.The mixtures of the additives had a much more potent effect on nerve cells than each additive on its own.
The study reported that the effect on cells could be up to four times greater when brilliant blue and MSG were combined, and up to seven times greater when quinoline yellow and aspartame were combined, than when the additives were applied on their own. "The results indicate that both combinations are potentially more toxic than might be predicted from the sum of their individual compounds," the researchers concluded.
The tests used are the same as those applied when testing combinations of pesticides for toxicity. "They are recognised as predictive of developmental outcomes in humans," said Vyvyan Howard, a toxicopathologist and expert in foetal development who led the study.Exposure to food additives during a child's development has been associated with behavioural problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Additives are licensed for use one at a time, but the study's authors believe that examining their effect in combinations gives a more accurate picture of how they are consumed in the modern diet."Although the use of single food additives is believed to be relatively safe in terms of development of the nervous system, their combined effects are unclear," Professor Howard said. "We think there are signs that when you mix additives, the effect might be worse."
The colours used in the research are synthetic dyes certified as safe food additives in the EU. However, brilliant blue (E133) has been banned in several European countries in the past. Quinoline yellow (E104) is banned in foods in Australia, Norway and the US. Previous research has shown that MSG (E621) and aspartic acid, one of the breakdown compounds in aspartame (E951), are neurotoxins, according to the authors of the study.
Brilliant blue is found in sweets, some processed peas, some soft drinks and some confectionery, desserts and ices. Quinoline yellow is found in some smoked haddock, some confectionery and some pickles. MSG, which is banned in foods for young children, is found in some pasta with sauce products, a large number of crisps, processed cheese, and prepared meals. Aspartame is found in diet drinks, some sweets, desserts and medicines.
Speaking for manufacturers, the Food and Drink Federation said the additives in the study had all been approved as safe by the EU's expert scientific committee.
The Aspartame Information Service, which represents the sweetener industry, dismissed the research, saying that it "did not provide any meaningful information" because it exposed mouse cells in the laboratory to undigested aspartame. "When we consume aspartame it is broken down in the digestive system to common dietary components. Aspartame has been in safe use for 25 years and has been reviewed and approved by more than 130 countries," it said."
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For me I found it useful to edcuate and find out about what my son was ingesting. I especially did not like thinking I was providing the right foods for my child and yet I was blindly not. As a parent, for me, this is a false feeling of choice and control. It was great and also overwhelming to read the food additive book, however, really assured when I carried the little wallet insert guide for me to check the ingredients whilst I was acutally at the shop and to find so much of what I was buying containing these additives to avoid was amazing and of course I was woken up and sold on being aware.
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Quoted source;
"
Food Additives, may be harmful, says researchers."
· Aspartame and artificial colourings investigated
· Mice nerve cells stopped growing in experiments
Felicity Lawrence, consumer affairs correspondent
Wednesday December 21, 2005
The Guardian 
(July 2006) (
I agree that some food additivies are dangerous. I watched a documentary on genetic enginneering of foods. A scientist was doing studies on mice and found all the mice died after feeding them GM food. The company gave him the sack and said his experimental methods were wrong. The scientist said he was carrying out good scientific methods. Sounds to me like you give us the correct results so we can sell our product, no matter what the truth is. I have a 20-month-old son who may or may not have Autism Spectrum Disorder. I am getting his hearing tested and checking out to see if he needs a change in diet. He has a rash on his body, maybe he is allergic to something in his food. Yesterday he was sitting in a ride on car rolled his eyes and flopped to the side, so I am asking the doctor about epilepsy. Some people think that Autism Spectrum Disorder is caused by mercury posioning, which has been used and still is being used as a preservative in some vaccines. It is not only food additives that can be dangerous, but we are being given dangerous chemicals via other methods, many we don't know about.
My eldest son has food allergys so we need to be very carefull about what to feed him and I think it has made us all more healthier. And mode awere of ther dangers it can cause. It makes shopping twice as long reading the lables to see what is in the food. Colours and presevatives are a thing of the past in our house. but if there is some thing hidden in a food that sends him off there is an antidote to calm him down in our house it is niknames "The yukky drink" a spoon ful of bi carb soda in water and drink.
