- How to know if food is contaminated
- Chemical additives are more dangerous to health
- How to identify food additives
- How to avoid additives
Excessive consumption of chemical additives can be bad for your health and cause headache, inflammation in the intestine and in the long run, even cancer. On the other hand, in the case of food with bacteria and insects, if it undergoes cooking at high temperatures, the danger is reduced or eliminated, as heat destroys these substances.
However, if the contamination or use of adulterated products such as cardboard, skin and animal carcasses is made in processed products such as sausage, ham or bologna, the problem becomes more difficult due to the high use of substances to mask the flavor., the smell and consistency of this type of food.
Providing food contaminated with microorganisms harmful to health, hair, insects and rat hair, for example, is already prohibited and heavily monitored, but it is also important to be concerned with the chemicals that the industry uses to improve taste, color, the consistency and smell of products such as meats, sausages, hams, bologna, jellies and frozen frozen food.
How to know if food is contaminated
To identify whether the food is contaminated, the main signs are a strong, generally sour or rancid smell, and altered color and consistency. In meat, for example, the color tends to be dark red, dull and with the hardest consistency, while fish have a sulfur smell, soft consistency, loss of scales and whitish eyes.
There have been cases where a frozen bolognese lasagna was actually made with chicken or horse meat, rather than beef to produce the product's ground beef. It is also common for sausages and nuggets to be made with chicken skin, liver, kidneys, fat and bones, in addition to corn and soybeans to increase the product's profitability.
Chemical additives are more dangerous to health
Although eating fat, skin, bones and animal hair is not healthy, frequent consumption of chemical additives can have even worse health consequences, such as intestinal inflammation, headache, dizziness, vomiting, allergies and fat in the liver.
The amount and type of additive must be made according to the law, which releases or prohibits substances and limits their quantities in food. However, the main problem is that the consumption of various processed foods daily causes the population to be crossing the safe limit for health.
How to identify food additives
All additives used to make processed foods must be on the ingredient list on the product label. In general, they present themselves with strange and difficult names, such as emulsifiers, stabilizers, thickeners, anti-binding agents, monosodium glutamate, ascorbic acid, BHT, BHA and sodium nitrite, for example.
See the table below for examples of food additives and in which foods they are most used:
| Additive | Foods | Harm |
| Sodium nitrite and nitrate | Cured, cooked meats, cheeses and processed meats such as bacon, ham, sausage | colon cancer, rectum and reduced blood oxygen |
| Phosphoric acid | Soft drinks, frozen dairy products, candies and bakery products | Kidney stones, reduced calcium and bone weakness |
| BHA and BHT | Margarine, cakes, toast, pies and breads | Toxic action on the liver and cancer |
| Monosodium glutamate | Diced seasoning, sauces, powdered soups, instant noodles, fast food, frozen ready food | headache, tingling, migraine, nausea, diarrhea, tingling |
| Propyl Gallate | Margarines, vegetable fats, vegetable oils | stomach irritation |
| Sulphites | frozen potatoes, cookies, pie dough, lemon juice in bottles and dehydrated fruits | reduced vitamin B1 and headaches |
| Gums | Ice cream, soups, sweets, jellies | reduces the absorption of vitamins |
In addition, the industry can also put only the acronyms of these products, which are always started with the letters INS and followed by a number, then names like INS 123, INS 249 and INS 321, for example, appear.
How to avoid additives
To avoid overuse of food additives, one should always prefer to consume foods in their natural form, such as grains, fruits, vegetables, meat and eggs. In addition, it is important to choose organic foods, as they are produced without pesticides and without artificial chemicals, helping to maintain health.
Another important tip is to always read the food label and prefer those with few ingredients, avoiding those with strange names or numbers, as they are usually food additives.
See other 5 Products with Harmful Chemical Substances.
