Additives in Australian Foods

8/3/2019 Additives in Australian Foods

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There are over 300 additives approved for use in Australian food, today. The majority of these are necessary

preservatives and natural additives, like salt and spices. However, at least40 of them are artificial and havebecome the topic of debate.

The dyes used to make hair colour and commercial paints, known as Coal Tar Dyes, are also being used in

our foods as Artificial Colours. Artificial preservatives are being added more and more as the demand for

quick food production rises. There has been much concern voiced over the effect these additives are having

on behaviour and health. Today Ill be narrowing this seminar down to just 3 additive groups: Colours,

Preservatives and MSG.

Colours are rarely necessary in our foods. They are often used to, quite simply, disguise or enhance the

look of a food which would otherwise look unappealing, or substandard. Australia has one of the highest

concentrations of foods containing artificial colours. In 2009 Australia had 1154 products with one or more

artificial colours, in comparison Austria had 119, Sweden had just 34. (Dengate S. 2009)

Products that simply DO NOT NEED artificial colours are having them added so that manufacturers can

use low grade ingredients. The most prime example of this is Vanilla Ice Cream. Annatto 106b is the only

naturally occurring colour that has the same behavioural impact as the artificial ones. It is difficult to buy

vanilla ice cream that does NOT have this colour added. Why? Because society has led us to believe that ice

cream is pure white. Original ice cream was rarely this colour, more of a muted pale yellow. Manufacturers

are choosing to add this colour for no other reason than to make their ice cream look unnaturally white.

Most of us have probably heard at one stage a Mother joking about hyperactive behaviour and Red Cordial.

In a way, they were actually dead on. Red Cordial, and many other processed foods in our supermarkets are


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absolutely laden with colours and preservatives. Not only that, yellow colouring is often added to the batter

used in take away shops

.

There has been a large amount of anecdotal evidence to suggest that these additives have a negative impact

on peoples behaviour, particularly children. You only have to look at a group of children after a birthday

party to see this in action. There have also been several academic studies conducted, starting as far back as

1979, that have actually proven additives have a direct impact on the behaviour of children in the general

community. More recently, in 2007, a study conducted by the University of Southamptom, discovered that

children had a significantly adverse reaction to six specific colours that are common in our foods.

These colours are commonly referred to as The Southampton Six; they are the ones the University of


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Southampton identified as being detrimental to children. As a result of this study, the UK has completely

phased out these colours from their manufactured food products and subsequently banned them from use.

My son who is 7 and my Daughter who is almost 4, are highly sensitive to artificial colours. My son has a

high functioning form of Autism referred to as Aspergers Syndrome which effects his social interaction.

When he is additive free he is pretty much just like any other 7 year old. When he eats something that

contains colours his behaviour reverts back to quite typically autistic behaviour. He will roll his head

around, avoid eye contact, make keening noises, and communicate in baby talk. My daughter will have

violent outbursts, with high pitched screaming. Shes tiny, but when shes in the throes of a full scale

meltdown shes actually quite frightening. Consequently all food that comes into our house is scrutinised to

death because we simply dont want to risk the aftermath of accidental additive consumption.

The Better Health website is an initiative of the Victorian Government. It states If new scientific

information becomes available suggesting that a food additive is no longer safe, the approval to use the food

additive would be withdrawn. In spite of the evidence available, however, the Food Standards Agency of

Australia has concluded a ban of these colours is unnecessary because Australian children consume the

colours at lower levels than those used for testing in the University study. However, as we have already

learned, Australia has one of the highest concentration of foods containing artificial colours in the world.

According to Food Additive activists there are two major concerns regarding the testing and approval of

these additives. The first is that they are NOT tested for neuro-psychological effects, like ADHD, and


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behaviour disorders. They are only tested for physical reactions like hives and headaches. The second issue;

and this is possibly the more serious aspect is that are tested in isolation. The problem with this testing is

that additives are not consumed in isolation they are consumed in combination with OTHER additives.

Unfortunately, for people who are extremely sensitive, and there are loads of people who dont even realise

they ARE sensitive, even trace amounts are enough to cause a reaction. Children are major consumers of

the products most often containing these additives so it is critical that parents be made aware of the fact

that many leading brands, even healthy foods, contain food additives that have been linked to increases in

hyperactive behaviour in children.

Along with the Southampton Six, colours 123, 142, 143, 151, and 155 are banned in several countries

because of their suspected links to Cancer. These colours are still used in Australian Manufacturing, andwithout the need for warning labels on the packaging.

ALDI International was the first supermarket chain to act upon the findings of the Southampton study. They

have removed all Six colours from their specifically manufactured foods. In addition they also removed the

other eight artificial colours that are approved for use in Australia.


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The food products themselves didnt change, nor did they remove anything from their lines. They just

sourced out natural alternatives, or simply left the products as they were without the need for additional

colours. Recently ALDI announced that they will be negotiating with their Branded Food Suppliers (thats

companies like Kraft or Nestle) to encourage them to follow suit and remove artificial colours from their

products. In a news article released last week, it was revealed that Woolworths have also removed artificial

colours from its Home Brand food products and Coles will be phasing them out of their Coles-branded foods

as well. Woolworths and Coles, however, will not be putting pressure on the manufacturers of their Branded

Foods to remove the colours. A Woolworths spokesperson has said that it was not their responsibility to be

making these decisions. Coles agrees saying that its inappropriate to ask others to make the change while

approval for these colours still stands.

The Additive Alert Kids First Campaign has been urging Food Standards to revoke approval for these

colours since about 2007. This would force manufacturers to use natural alternative, or simply remove

colours all together. The campaign is currently backed by over 100 professionals including Doctors,

nutritionists, psychologists, parenting specialists, teachers, and community health educators who all

recognise the impact additives are having on children.

There are 3 main preservative groups in our foods that are an issue for intolerant people. Sulphates,

Propionates, and Benzoates. Preservatives are a necessary addition to our foods to prevent bacterial growth

and spoilage. These are especially needed now in the age of bulk manufacturing and season round products,

however their numbers are increasing and are now being added to foods which previously didnt require


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them at all including Bread, Juice, and even more alarming fresh meat and fish.

In Australia, meat is not allowed to contain ANY sulphites, due to it being a known asthma trigger, yet a

NSW food authority survey in 2003 found 56% of mince samples contained illegal sulphites. The only way

to be sure your fresh meat doesnt contain this preservative is to really get to know your butcher, and ask

him.

Probably one of the best known preservatives in our society is Calcium Propionate 282, also known as

The Bread Preservative. This preservative has been linked to behavioural issues in children, which is why

you will see specific 282 Free branding on some bread products. The only reason manufacturers use this

preservative is as a time saving process. Instead of regularly cleaning down their equipment, slicers and

bench tops with vinegar they opt to spray a chemical fog over their equipment and add this preservativeto their bread mix to act as a mould inhibitor. This chemical fog is being sprayed over equipment that is

processing the bread youre eating. Placing hot bread directly into plastic bags instead of letting it cool

only exacerbates the issue. This preservative is almost always in crumpets, breakfast muffins, Lebanese

bread, pizza bases, flat breads, focaccias, and chicken stuffing. Cultured Wheat Flour has been processed

in such a way, it becomes a major source of 282. If you read Cultured Wheat Flour on an ingredients list,

even without 282 being actually listed on the panel, this product contains it. The only way to be sure youre

not getting a 282 product is to read the label! Manufacturers will continue to use additives like this while

the public continue to blindly and quietly consume them. Even for those who dont eat a lot of bread, many

people dont make the connection that every time you eat a food that contains commercial breadcrumbs you


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are consuming this preservative.

After about 4 weeks of being additive free I bought a Supermarket roasted chicken for a lazy nights dinner.

That night I experienced really awful feelings of rage. I am not an angry person by nature, Im pretty laid

back generally, but that night I felt horribly out of control. I learned later on that not only did the chicken

stuffing contain preservative 282 but there were Flavour Enhancers in the seasoning used to baste the

chicken.

If you ever look at an ingredients list and see Flavour Enhancer it is a Glutamate. Virtually all foods

contain some level of naturally occurring Glutamates. When they are added to foods, its to make bland or

subtle foods taste amazing.

Which leads me to ask you how many of you know what MSG is? How many of you associate MSG

with Chinese Restaurant Syndrome? Chinese Restaurant Syndrome was coined back in the 1960s from

a letter written to the New England Journal of Medicine listing a string of symptoms that would occur after

eating Chinese food. It was linked to MSG which started a huge back lash against the addition of it in foods.

This led to the requirement of it being declared on packaging.

If you saw Flavour Enhancer 621 listed on a packet, would you recognise that was MSG? You will now.

In Australia MSG is added to a food, it must appear in the ingredients list as MSG or as flavour enhancer

621. Unfortunately the majority of consumers have absolutely no idea that 621 is actually MSG.

There is also bit of a loophole regarding MSG and its addition to our foods. According to Food Standards: A


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number of other ingredients typically added to savoury foods may also be significant sources of MSG. These

are listed as 'autolysed yeast extract', 'hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP)', 'sodium caseinate' or 'natural

flavourings'. These additives are added to foods for the same purpose to enhance flavour and can induce

the same reactions in people as MSG.

MSG has very long list of noted reactions. Everyone will react to MSG if the dose is high enough, but not

everyone is aware they are even eating it and cant monitor their intake. Almost everything in a powdered

form contains flavour enhancers.


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Note the inclusion of the diet soup packets in this slide? One of the flavours of these soups has THREE

separate forms of Flavour Enhancer in the one soup. In 2008 the University of North Carolinas School of

Public Health conducted a study on MSG and found that people who consumed MSG were more likely to be

overweight than those who dont use it even with identical physical activity levels and calorie intake.

Regardless of where you stand in the fight on Additives, the impact of the excess chemicals being used in

our foods needs to be brought to public attention so that we at least have the CHOICE of whether or not to

consume it.

We have become a generation of un-informed guinea pigs for Australian Manufacturers.

No one has asked me if I was okay with that.

Cutting additives out of your diet is hard, I wont lie to you. Additives are EVERYWHERE, even in the

places you dont think to look. However, it has made an amazing difference to the life of my children and

even to myself. I could never go back to eating the way we did before. Many people dont understand why

we eat the way we do, and thats okay. I challenge you to go additive free for 2 weeks and see how you feel.


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Additives in Australian Foods

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