Quick, what comes to your mind when you think of recipe ingredients?  Maybe garlic, brown sugar, whole-grain flour or… dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate– say what!?  Most people wouldn’t include that last one, but if you were part of the big food industry you might! 

Did you know that the FDA has approved over 3,000 chemicals to be used as food additives (check out Earth Fare’s Boot List for the one’s we have banned from the foods we sell)? 

But what exactly is a food additive? 

Food Additive – Noun – a substance added to food in order to preserve flavor or improve taste and appearance. 

Well that doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

In the past, we only used all natural ingredients like salt and sugar to preserve and better the taste of our foods – seems intuitive, right? 

But starting in the mid-20^th century with the advent of processed foods and industrialized farming, chemicals replaced the natural preservatives.  Why did this happen?  It is related to economics - supply and demand.  Artificial additives, preservatives and chemicals save money because they extend shelf life – meaning that food can travel thousands of miles and stay “fresh” for years and years and years and years…. 

The down side to adding chemicals to food? 

Some of these chemicals could be really bad for your health…For instance, the dyes added to give foods a certain color are often toxic and contain carcinogens. Monosodium Glutamate, otherwise known as MSG (a common flavor enhancer) could have major side effects including headaches, chest tightness and a burning feeling in certain sections of the body.

So, what can you do to avoid these added chemicals and preservatives?  Start by checking out Earth Fare’s banned ingredient list - this list will help you sift through what’s okay and what’s potentially harmful to your health.  Then start reading ingredient labels…educate yourself, know what’s in the foods you are eating.  Challenge yourself to seek out healthy alternatives to age-old favorites like Twinkies, Diet Soda, Doritos and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese to name just a few….

A spoonful of sugar is better than a mouthful of chemicals!

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Step 1:Cleaning Out Your Kids! (as seen on Good Morning America)
• 6 Dangerous Food Additives
• hunting for additives