Try to remember the last time that you ate a vegetable in its natural form, without anything on it to enhance its flavor. What you may be tasting are food additives.

In early times, foods were preserved by ice or by keeping them in cold places.  With the discovery of salt and sugar, these condiments were added to meats to cure them so that they would last longer, and thus were some of the first food additives, but these food additives were natural.

As science has progressed, food additives that are created in a laboratory are being used in foods for a number of purposes. First, food additives give color. People are more likely to eat foods that are bright and colorful, especially chips, cakes, cookies and so on.

Food additives give flavor. For frozen foods, flavoring is added so that these meals are pleasant to the palate when they come out of the microwave or the oven.

Additives are added for shelf life. Cakes can look great and so can canned and bagged foods when additives keep them fresh in their wrappings for weeks and even months.

The Truth about Food Additives

You will see food additives listed on ingredient lists, mostly as initials. They are not spelled out so that you don’t find out what they are, but we will list them below so you know what you are eating. Many of these food additives are created with the help of chemicals that you would want to keep away from your family:

* BHA – This is butylated hydroxyanisole. Using it helps foods to stay fresh and keeps fats from molding. Look for it on the labels of chips and other fatty foods.

* MSG – We have been hearing about monosodium glutamate for years. It is a seasoning that preserves food, but it also raises blood pressure and can cause seizures, headaches and strokes. It has been removed from many sauces and seasonings, but can still be purchased by itself as MSG.

* Aspartame – You may know it as the sugar substitute NutraSweet. It can be found in diet drinks and foods that say they are sugar-free or low in sugar. You won’t see the actual name spelled out, but will see a label that says “sweetened with NutraSweet.” However, this food additive has caused tumors in laboratory animals.

* Trans fats –They also known as partially hydrogenated oils. Chemically it is how liquid oils can stay solid at room temperature. These fats have been used to fry fast foods, and are also added to processed sweets for longer shelf life.

* Olestra – This is a fat substitute in chips and other snack foods. Eating too much can lead to cramps and oily stools.

These are just a few of the more dangerous food additives to look for the next time you go to the store. If you can’t read the ingredients on the label, do not buy it.