24/01/12: These Preservatives Are Trying To Kill You

Even if you know next to nothing about eating healthy, you probably know one thing for sure: that preservatives and additives found in many packaged and pre-made foods are bad for you. But even though I know a few things about what constitutes a healthy diet, if I’m being honest with myself, when I’m staring down the barrel of a loaded food label, I’m not always sure what even is a preservative. With so much coded language (and so many gross additives), it’s hard to tell what’s harmless–and what’s carcinogenic.

Rarely does the label on the back of your potential purchase say, out-right, that is contains dangerous, under-studied, over-subsidized fillers and additives. Instead, amid the normal-looking ingredients, there lurk food dyes, plasticizers, stabilizers, and emulsifiers, which keep food, shipped from thousands of miles away, looking and tasting as if it was just bottled or boxed. And while a lot of these ingredients have technically been deemed “safe” by the FDA (though not, it turns out, by the food safety commissions of other nations, like Australia and England) the fact is that when it comes to GMOS, artificial sweeteners, and the aforementioned preservatives, we’re currently part of what’s basically the largest food safety study of all time. Many of these ingredients were only introduced in the last 30-50 years, and haven’t had quite enough time to prove their danger.

So which preservatives have been found to cause cancer? Digestive issues? Hormonal imbalances? And what products tend to contain them? Then, it’s up to you to decide for yourself if it’s something you really need.

BHA and BHT - When you purchase cereal, gum, potato chips, and other stable-seeming foods, the last thing you want is for them to spoil prematurely. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) help with that. They've also been found to cause cancer in rats, and probably humans, too.

Sodium benzoate - Soda is already kind of gross, but moldy soda would be worse, right? That's why cola companies (as well as those who make "diet" drinks, fruit juice and salad dressing) add sodium benzoate, which slows the growth of fungus. Another thing it does? Damage genes and cause cell malfunction. Even Coca Cola has pledged to phase it out.

Potassium bromate - Added to make rolls and breads more stable and also more fluffy and light, potassium bromate is only a concern if you live in the U.S. Because, you know, it's been banned everywhere else, because it's a known carcinogen, and has been for decades. It's also found in a lot of packaged snack foods, so approach your office's vending machines with caution.

Sodium nitrate/nitrite - Sodium nitrite or nitrate is used to flavor, preserve, and keep cured meats on the shelves longer. And while lunch meat itself is suspect (who knows what goes in it?), meats cured with one of these ingredients are worse. Because--yup, you guessed it--they cause cancer.

Propyl gallate Slide - Often found coupled with BHA and BHT, propyl gallate isn't the most popular of preservatives--because, like potassium bromate, foods which contain it can't be sold in other countries. Used to keep fats from going bad, it's usually found in snack foods, chicken soup base, some vegetable oils, microwaved popcorns, and other foods with unstable fats...and has been found to act as a skin irritant, as well as potentially harmful to estrogen levels in the body.