First of all, I advise you to train yourself to read the ingredients of the food products that are at home. Perhaps you will even find dyes in cosmetics or additives in medicines. Even children who already know how to read will be able to participate in this game using a magnifying glass to become “little detectives of the ingredient lists”. How to read labels: additives
You should know that on the packaging you will find very rarely the percentage of the additive used in the product in question as it is a “strictly confidential” secret and especially for consumers. In general, the ingredients are classified in descending order, starting from the one used in greater quantities. poi
For example, if we take the ingredients list of a new type of chewing gum and see that the list starts with 7 sweeteners including aspartame, you can deduce that these gums all in all contain quite dangerous sweeteners. It’s up to you to judge whether you really need to chew on these kinds of products. And that is often printed in small print and with a discreet color, which is almost confused with the color of the package. poi
Another example
On the packaging of certain candies, which would like to “sweeten theyoung and old”, the ingredients are printed in tiny and white characters on a transparent background. But since children LOVE these products you don’t pay attention and parents give in to make their little angels happy. History does not say whether in the hours following the ingestion of those famous candies with tempting colors (but sometimes carcinogenic) those same “little angels” turned into real miniature devils! But who has ever spoken of a reaction to food additives’? In France practically no one. This must be a taboo subject. poi
Today there are more and more of the fed-ups made by health specialists that we denounce the toxicity of a large number of food additives which, as long as they are authorized, are often dangerous to our health, generally poorly controlled and very useful to the agri-food industry. poi
Most additives are chemical and are voluntarily added by the food industry. Our body, and even less that of children, is not made to take such important quantities. In order to measure the toxicity of additives, studies are generally carried out on laboratory guinea pigs (which do not have the same reactions as humans) and to which only one additive is administered at a time. poi
BUT THE ONLY SPECIES THAT HAS NEVER UNDERGONE LABORATORY TESTS IS PRECISELY THE ONE THAT CONSUMES A MYRIAD OF ADDITIVES (up to 7 kilos/ per year for a single individual): THE HUMAN SPECIES!
So for every ingredient that starts with an E and is close to an e, type it in and know it: it is your right to KNOW what you eat and preserve your health! poi
How to read labels: additives poi
Dr. Luisa Gragnoli
Food Technologist
