Media scares you. Every day, newspapers and magazines tell us that our food is bad, chemically treated and unfit to eat.
As mothers, we have the responsibility to provide healthy and nutritious food to our families. Reading through the overload of information is many times confusing and sometimes horrifying.
The recent Maggie Nestle controversy created discussions and debates. The food we eat comes laden with chemical pesticides and fertilizers. And above all, we get processed artificial and chemically treated stuff. It’s ironical to observe that detergents have the goodness of lemon, and toothpastes contain clove oil while drinks have of synthetic colour and flvour.
Where are we heading?
Becoming aware of food facts and changing eating habits is the first step towards conscious living.
How to Read Food labels?
Here is a list of words that you should check before buying food products.
Natural
Natural can mean lots of different things. When a food product derived from a plant or an animal, it can be called natural. However, that means something like processed corn snack with naturally-derived flavour, and high-fructose corn syrup could be considered natural.
Organic
Any food grown, harvested, and shipped with zero artificial chemicals, fertilizers, or pesticides is called organic.
Refined Grains
Modified grains stripped of their fibre iron and B vitamins to increase their shelf life are termed as refined.Foods made from white flour like bread, regular pasta, cakes, biscuits, cookies, breakfast cereals and snack food are products of refined grains. These foods can lead to weight gain diabetes and hypertension.
Antioxidant and Preservatives
Synthetic antioxidants BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole) and BHT( Butylated Hydroxy toluene) are used in cereals potato chips chewing gum, vegetable oil, preserved meat, baked goods and dessert mixes to keep them from going rancid.
These chemicals negatively impact sleep and appetite, have been associated with liver and kidney damage, hair loss and are carcinogenic.
Sodium Nitrate and Sodium Nitrite
These are the most dangerous additives. Used as colorants and as preservatives, they enhance shelf -life of the packaged and cured meats. Nitrates are also used to stabilize the colour of the product.
High levels of nitrites can lead to nitrite poisoning and can cause serious cardiovascular problems. Mixed with stomach acids, they form nitrosamines, which are associated with brain, oral, esophageal, stomach and bladder cancer. Other side-effects like dizziness, headaches, nausea and vomiting may be experienced.
Precautions- Look for meats that are additive free.
Artificial colours and Flavours
Found in junk foods as cookies, chips and other fried packaged food and are extremely harmful. Check for brilliant blue, indigotine, tartrazine, and sunset yellow
These can cause behavioural problems allergic reactions, hyper activity disorders and are carcinogenic.
Emulsifier
This is a binding agent commonly found in ice-creams bread biscuits and mayonnaise. Consumption in large quantities can induce inflammation of the intestines.
Monosodium Glutamate MSG, Glutamate acid, Glutamate, Calcium Glutamate
A chemical compound used to enhance flavour and is most commonly found in Chinese foods, potato chips frozen foods and salty flavoured snacks.
Consumption in large quantities may cause headaches, numbness chest pain lead to alleviated blood pressure.
Aspartame
This is an artificial sweetener mostly added to snacks, sweets, desserts, and diet foods. Long-term high consumption is observed to cause headaches, blindness and seizures.
Benzoic Acid
This is a preservative added to foods like, cereals, meat products, low sugar products and drinks. It can deplete glycine levels and affect digestive enzymes.
Sulphur -Dioxide
This is used in dried fruits and vegetables, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages as a preservative and an antioxidant. It may cause low blood pressure, bronchial problems, and flushing/tingling sensations.
puneet says
very good articles on your website
nupurt says
Many thanks Puneet, happy to see you here.
Fabida Abdulla says
Very important post. I find that many labels are misleading. A biscuit brand which says ‘Oat biscuits’ on the packet has just 2% oats – the rest is plain wheat flour! Once you start reading labels, you’ll stop buying a lot of this stuff!
nupurt says
Many thanks Fabida for your kind words. Yes, food labels are misleading. We have to read in between the lines too. And as you mention food labels are misleading.
Alana says
Nice post. Your post covered food labels, so I would like to add the reading of labels should extend to vitamins, toothpaste, and, basically, anything you put in your mouth or swallow. Your readers might be shocked to see all the vitamins with artificial color or toothpaste with artificial sweetener added.
nupurt says
Thanks Alana for your comment. Yes you are right we need to read labels for vitamins and toothpaste it crucial for our health. May be I can write a blog on this topic.
Amrita says
It’s very important to know how to read a food label.I always check out nutritional information, manufacturing and expiry dates too!
nupurt says
Thanks Amrita for your comment. Yes, we need to check the food labels in detail