"There are at least four food additives in a fresh apple"

The author of this commentary some time ago asked the question of the “health” and “naturalness” of nutrition, which was produced by the modern food industry, and, therefore, with the mandatory use of food additives. And he turned directly to the expert in this area, the head of the laboratory of food chemistry of the Research Institute of Nutrition of the RAMS Vladimir Bessonov.

Then I remember one quote. “If we consider a natural, fresh apple from the point of view of food additives, then I can say that it includes additives E296, E330, E440, E141 and several other ones” [1] . To where then did the myth about “food additives come from - is it all chemistry, and it is certainly harmful”?

To begin with, we will determine that half of this myth is the purest truth. The field of food additives applies neither astronomy, nor philology, nor to archeology, namely chemistry. True, most of them are obtained from natural raw materials - not because it is more useful (or substances synthesized in the laboratories are more dangerous), but because it is cheaper. But with the second part of the statement - everything is not so simple.

It all started in 1976, when a document entitled Villejuif Leafet, i.e. "Wiljuyth List." Allegedly compiled at the Wiljuif Paris Medical Institute, he shared all the food additives in terms of their danger, and the substances prohibited in Europe called the permitted and proven - life -threatening. For example, E330, citric acid, was declared unconditional carcinogens (and, accordingly, those who ate apples and drank tea with lemon should die from various forms of cancer). And that's it, Gene escaped from the bottle. Of course, with the “high -quality” media, the employees of the indicated institution were already useless to make excuses and report that they did not conduct such research and did not make up any lists. The panic of 10 years was provided.

Meanwhile, it is worth remembering a few simple things.

1. Without food additives, modern food industry is simply impossible. Loss of products during storage will be monstrous, as well as their cost.
2. The use of all permitted food additives is reviewed regularly, when a minimum hint of harm to health appears, the addition is removed from the turnover.
3. There are two principles for using the additive: if you can not use it, it is not used. The amount of additive used should be the minimum possible to achieve the desired effect.

And if there are questions - contact the FDA website (an American body that monitors food turnover and drugs). In its severity, this is a kind of KGB among foods and pharmacists.

Alexey Paevsky

1. Www.takzdorovo.ru/pitanie/glavnoe/bezopasny-li-pishhevye-dobavki-s-kodom-e