Spectator N0 2651 By Fieldfare
Crosswords3 mins ago
aspartame, e-numbers, fluoride, pesticides
etc...
are we being slowley poisned by the food industry?
WHY do we have to be subjugated to these (and other) chemicals on our food and drink?
are we being slowley poisned by the food industry?
WHY do we have to be subjugated to these (and other) chemicals on our food and drink?
Answers
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it appears that aspartame is:
either cheaper than sugar,
or
the government has told drink manufacturers that they want a skinny poulation
or
it is a preservative and saving producers even more money.
I can taste it immediately in any drink, and if you look at the cans of pepsi, cocoa cola etc, they all seem to have it, only the cheaper brands have sugar and, read it for yourself, almost no additives, whereas the big brands are bang full of chemicals. look at morrisons own brand cola, about 4 ingredients. look at coke etc, a list as long as your arm. have a look at ASDA cheap cola, 6 pack for £1.50. called " RC cola" 4 natural ingredients and tastes wonderful.
Percy.
either cheaper than sugar,
or
the government has told drink manufacturers that they want a skinny poulation
or
it is a preservative and saving producers even more money.
I can taste it immediately in any drink, and if you look at the cans of pepsi, cocoa cola etc, they all seem to have it, only the cheaper brands have sugar and, read it for yourself, almost no additives, whereas the big brands are bang full of chemicals. look at morrisons own brand cola, about 4 ingredients. look at coke etc, a list as long as your arm. have a look at ASDA cheap cola, 6 pack for £1.50. called " RC cola" 4 natural ingredients and tastes wonderful.
Percy.
This has often been on my mind too, nailit. But then, generally our young people are physically maturing earlier like they did many thousands of years ago, they are also taller and healthier. Some killer diseases are now hopefully dormant and Medicines is now more advanced. We can now expect to easily live to 80.
Are we blaming the food industry for now recognised ailments such as coeliac disease and the many food allergies that used to help people to an early grave?
Are we blaming the food industry for now recognised ailments such as coeliac disease and the many food allergies that used to help people to an early grave?
What utter nonsense! Regular Coca-Cola has no artificial sweeteners and about the same ingredients as any other regular cola. You only get artificial sweeteners in 'diet' versions of the drinks. Aspartame is not a preservative - it's just not - it's a sweetener. The word 'artificial' was dropped from food labelling requirements years ago, but 'sweeteners' are really just that - artificial. Artificial sweeteners do not rot teeth. It is the acid in almost all soft drinks that rots teeth - citric acid in lemonade, orangeade, etc; phosphoric acid in all colas. The sugar in non-diet drinks also helps the rot. Who says "food is not meant to be preserved"? We've been doing it for thousands of years - by drying, smoking and curing. We wouldn't have half the food we eat if it was not for preservatives - in one form or another.
Oh dear Bert, I'm afraid you're very much mistaken in much that you've said. Artificial sweeteners are not confined to "diet" versions of carbonated drinks - they are routinely included nowadays in both diet and non-diet versions of the product.
I have in front of me right now a 2L PET bottle of Schweppes Lemonade which contains both aspartame and sodium saccharin, both of which are artificial sweeteners, as well as sugar. I pay a premium for this product because I detest the taste of the majority of artificial sweeteners and it's the nicest tasting lemonade I can find. The diet version of the same product is truly disgusting.
The "straight" versions of both Fanta and Lilt also contain artificial sweeteners as well as countless other popular non-diet carbonated beverages.
Turning to the issue of "sweeteners" they are not necessarily artificial. Truvia is becoming increasingly popular worldwide as it is a natural product from the stevia leaf. In no sense is it "artificial". I can also think of at least a couple of dozen similar less commercially successful sweeteners sourced from plants that cannot be termed artificial.
When you consume food and drink that is high in carbohydrates, the bacteria in plaque turn the carbohydrates into the energy they require, producing acid at the same time. Carbohydrates are not just sugars. They include starch containing products such as white bread and crisps, both of which are relatively low in sugar.
Citric acid is an extremely weak acid and causes little damage to tooth enamel and cannot be described as a cause of rotting teeth. Ask your dentist. Phosphoric acid on the other hand has a vicious effect on tooth enamel even at relatively low concentrations.
I have in front of me right now a 2L PET bottle of Schweppes Lemonade which contains both aspartame and sodium saccharin, both of which are artificial sweeteners, as well as sugar. I pay a premium for this product because I detest the taste of the majority of artificial sweeteners and it's the nicest tasting lemonade I can find. The diet version of the same product is truly disgusting.
The "straight" versions of both Fanta and Lilt also contain artificial sweeteners as well as countless other popular non-diet carbonated beverages.
Turning to the issue of "sweeteners" they are not necessarily artificial. Truvia is becoming increasingly popular worldwide as it is a natural product from the stevia leaf. In no sense is it "artificial". I can also think of at least a couple of dozen similar less commercially successful sweeteners sourced from plants that cannot be termed artificial.
When you consume food and drink that is high in carbohydrates, the bacteria in plaque turn the carbohydrates into the energy they require, producing acid at the same time. Carbohydrates are not just sugars. They include starch containing products such as white bread and crisps, both of which are relatively low in sugar.
Citric acid is an extremely weak acid and causes little damage to tooth enamel and cannot be described as a cause of rotting teeth. Ask your dentist. Phosphoric acid on the other hand has a vicious effect on tooth enamel even at relatively low concentrations.
Returning to the original question, the food industry is doing nothing other than catering to the demands of us, the consumers. It is the consumers wish to consume flavoursome products that will last sufficient time in our homes according to our wishes. The food industry simply has the tools to enable our wishes to be fulfilled.
Stand up those who desire a loaf of bread to begin to go mouldy within a couple of days of purchase. Who amongst you would be prepared to pay an extortionate price for a bottle of supermarket orangeade that was flavoured with nothing other than pure orange juice - legally "orangeade" does not have to contain orange juice. Tinned meat such as corned beef and Spam would begin to rot within a week or so if sodium nitrite was not included as a preservative.
Count yourselves lucky. In the UK, most bread products contain vinegar as an anti-mould growth agent, or "preservative" as it may be called. The alternative is propionic acid, which is an ingredient in many "long-life" bread products. Propionic acid has numerous effects on health. However, in some countries, bread has "ethanoic acid" listed as an in ingredient, which is just another name for acetic acid, which in turn is the chemical name for vinegar. Don't be put off too much by these complex chemical names as they are often not all they seem.
Stand up those who desire a loaf of bread to begin to go mouldy within a couple of days of purchase. Who amongst you would be prepared to pay an extortionate price for a bottle of supermarket orangeade that was flavoured with nothing other than pure orange juice - legally "orangeade" does not have to contain orange juice. Tinned meat such as corned beef and Spam would begin to rot within a week or so if sodium nitrite was not included as a preservative.
Count yourselves lucky. In the UK, most bread products contain vinegar as an anti-mould growth agent, or "preservative" as it may be called. The alternative is propionic acid, which is an ingredient in many "long-life" bread products. Propionic acid has numerous effects on health. However, in some countries, bread has "ethanoic acid" listed as an in ingredient, which is just another name for acetic acid, which in turn is the chemical name for vinegar. Don't be put off too much by these complex chemical names as they are often not all they seem.
I dont know about rotting teeth but aspartame is a suspected carcinogen. It breaks down into methanol which is then converted to formaldehyde in the liver where it does damage (at least in rats)...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9714421
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9714421
Oh, how neurotic some of you are!
No pesticide that is harmful to humans gets anywhere near your diet. If you disagree, tell me how many times a month you see news reports of people suffering from pesticide 'poisoning'.
E-numbers are a method of telling you precisely what is in a product and many represent ingredients that respectable cooks have been using for millennia. But you didn't know it before E numbers.
Fluoride is not poisonous in the concentrations used in our water supplies. If it were, then there would be much sickness in those parts of the country where it occurs naturally in the water in much higher concentrations. In our water it protects childrens teeth from decay just as its fellow halogen, chlorine, protects us from typhus and cholera.
No, I have no connection with the food industry. It's just that prefer to look at the facts rather than wringing my hands in paranoia.
No pesticide that is harmful to humans gets anywhere near your diet. If you disagree, tell me how many times a month you see news reports of people suffering from pesticide 'poisoning'.
E-numbers are a method of telling you precisely what is in a product and many represent ingredients that respectable cooks have been using for millennia. But you didn't know it before E numbers.
Fluoride is not poisonous in the concentrations used in our water supplies. If it were, then there would be much sickness in those parts of the country where it occurs naturally in the water in much higher concentrations. In our water it protects childrens teeth from decay just as its fellow halogen, chlorine, protects us from typhus and cholera.
No, I have no connection with the food industry. It's just that prefer to look at the facts rather than wringing my hands in paranoia.
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