We believe that most food additives are unhealthy, unsafe and mask a lack of true nutritional value in today’s processed foods. We also believe that additives may cause innumerable adverse reactions, including hyperactivity in children, allergies, asthma, obesity, migraines and disease. Some additives are even carcinogenic or toxic. Unfortunately, we’ve found that on occasion additive manufacturers and the government agencies that regulate them dismiss the detrimental health effects of additives, stating that they would need to be consumed in very high quantities to cause allergic reactions or serious illness.
Numerous research studies have been conducted on individual additives and their negative health affects. However, we are not aware of any studies that have been conducted to understand the detrimental affects of the combination and interaction of all of the multiple additives that our society consumes – aka a ‘chemical stew.’ Our philosophy is that individual additives are bad, and that additives in aggregate are even worse…being more harmful than is commonly viewed. In children, these stews may cause behavior disorders (ADD, ADHD) as well as a myriad of health and learning problems. In children and adults, additive stews are likely to have an adverse affect on moods and behavior, the central nervous system, the digestive system, sleep, memory, speech, airways and more.
Knowing this, we believe that everyone should purchase, prepare and eat their food with care and consciousness – considering the source of their food, the ingredients in their food and, in the end, the taste of their food.
As a society, our palettes have been conditioned to prefer the taste of additive-laced foods. Therefore, a bit of retraining the taste buds is called for…so that we may once again savor the pure, unadulterated flavors found only in pure, wholesome foods.
Ultimately, our goal is to change the way that people eat – selecting wholesome, nutritious foods over highly processed foods that are loaded with additives and lack authentic flavor. We are truly passionate about this and encourage people to share our passion and celebrate the joy of great tasting food.
Food additives are hardly new: they have been with us for thousands of years, probably starting with the discovery that salted meat lasted longer. They are not likely to go away, since Americans depend on an ever-wider variety of processed convenience foods that require additives. Food additives are further entrenched by an entire industry of food additive manufacturers, lobbyists and governmental agencies that have been built around them. Some of these substances purportedly offer health benefits, but most additives are used solely to make foods more attractive, more shelf stable, and palatable to consumers.
In the past 50 years, food additives have been extensively studied by additive manufacturers, universities and independent research organizations. Food additives regulation has been done primarily by the FDA. In that time, there have been several pivotal regulations enacted and studies conducted regarding food additives.
– 1958 & 1960 – Legislation in 1958 and 1960 required manufacturers to prove the safety of any new additive; before that, the burden was on the government to prove the health danger of a substance. We strongly believe the testing of new additives by the additive manufacturers to be self-serving. We would wholeheartedly endorse the use of an independent, third-party research organization with no stake in this industry or its regulation.
The 1960 Color Additives Amendment brought all colors, natural and synthetic, under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Color additives may not be used to deceive consumers or to conceal blemishes or inferiorities in food products. Colors used in foods, drugs, and cosmetics must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.
The Food Additives Amendment and the Color Additives Amendments include the Delaney Clause – the most restrictive provision of the 1958 law, which prohibits the approval of an additive “if it is found to induce cancer when ingested by” people or animals, or “if it is found, after tests which are appropriate for the evaluation of the safety of food additives, to induce cancer in” people or animals. Any substance found to cause cancer is regulated under the general safety provisions of these laws, as well as by the Delaney Clause.
Food manufacturers argue against this rule on the grounds that in some cases the cancer risk is minuscule, or that may risk is outweighed by the benefits the additive may provide – as with nitrites and saccharin, weak carcinogens that are still on the market.
– 1973 – Benjamin Feingold M.D. presented extensive research to the American Medical Association linking food additives to learning and behavior disorders. His extensive research was based on over 1,200 cases and included over 3,000 different food additives. His pioneering work has been ridiculed and studies done to disprove his statements. However, in spite of these “negative Feingold studies” about 50% of those who have tried the Feingold diet (even subjects in published studies that went against Feingold’s Hypothesis) had significant decreases in symptoms of hyperactivity.
Interestingly, “negative study” researchers focused on only 10 food dyes versus the 3,000 food additives that Feingold had considered. In spite of several studies attempting to disprove Feingold’s “Food Additives Cause Hyperactivity” hypothesis, it became evident that food additives DO play a major role in the hyperactivity of children.
– 1990 – The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) was enacted.This law requires that all packaged foods bear nutrition labeling and all health claims for foods are consistent with terms defined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
– 1996 – The Food Quality Protection Act establishes a health-based safety standard for pesticide residues in food. It also incorporates specific recommendations put forth in the 1993 National Academy of Sciences Report, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, which recognizes the special sensitivity and exposure of children to pesticides and requires an explicit determination that pesticide tolerances are safe for children.
The “Right to Know” provision mandates that information provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding pesticides and foods be made available at point-of-purchase.
Food additives are chemicals, both natural and artificial, which are added to foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals and other products. They generally fall into four categories – preservatives, flavor and texture enhancers, coloring agents and nutritional supplements.
FLAVOR ENHANCERS
COLORING AGENTS
PRESERVATIVES
AN EXCEPTION FOR NOW: WINE
While we are opposed to added sulfites found in wine, it is very hard to avoid them. Virtually all wines – even the organic ones – contain some level of sulfites, which are naturally produced by yeast during the fermentation process. Despite this, we seek out and evaluate new wines, to which no sulfites have been added as a pesticide or preservative.
NATURAL PRODUCTS
ORGANICALLY GROWN
WHOLE FOODS
ORGANIZATIONS & WEBSITES – FEDERAL AGENCIES
ORGANIZATIONS & WEBSITES – CONSUMER
ORGANIZATIONS & WEBSITES – MEDICAL
BOOKS