Six chemicals we consume in our food and drink that should be banned
Last week BuzzFeed named eight food additives that should be banned in the US. Here are six equally deadly ones they missed
A clump of salt crystals in a man's hand
This common food additive combines an explosive metal with a chemical warfare agent used in the trenches of the first world war. Photograph: Getty
Mark Lorch
Fri 28 Jun ‘13 17.37 BST First published on Fri 28 Jun ‘13 17.37 BST
Last week BuzzFeed published a list of eight foods that folks in the USA are eating but are banned in other parts of the world. The chemical community turned its venom on BuzzFeed. But I think BuzzFeed did a pretty good job of bringing the debate on chemicals in food to the fore. Don't believe the defence of food additives coming from the likes of Derek Lowe. After all he's part of the mainstream chemical conspiracy so he would defend chemicals wouldn't he?
Before you go breathing a sigh of relief and gloating that those of us outside the US don't get these chemicals in our foods, best think again. You may well live in enlightened areas of the world, with governments that keep you safe from such poisons, but BuzzFeed only scratched the surface. There are plenty of foodstuffs in your larder that are just as bad.
Here's my list of foods, drinks and other kitchen terrors that BuzzFeed might just as easily have mentioned.
E290
E numbers are bad, we all know that. And E290 is no exception. It sneaks its way into fizzy drinks, bread and even your homemade cakes. But this chemical is probably the worst of the lot, because if we don't stop producing it then we are heading for global disaster. The scientific literature is quite clear on the subject, there are over a million peer-reviewed papers that describe the harmful effect it is having on our environment. And they put this stuff in our kids' lemonade!
8-methyl-N-vannillyl-6-nonenamide
With a name like 8-methyl-N-vannillyl-6-nonenamide it's bound to be a baddie. If you want more evidence of its unpleasantness then you may like to know that it is used by the police to control rioters. But that doesn't stop it turning up in our nation's favourite meals. In fact you have almost certainly suffered the consequence of an overzealous chef adding a bit too much of this stuff to your Saturday night post-pub curry or kebab. Do excessive sweating, burning sensations and indigestion sound familiar? Well that's good old 8-methyl-N-vannillyl-6-nonenamide for you. Would you believe they even put it in chocolate?
Denatured protein
You might not know this but Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's and CJD (the human version of mad cow disease) are all caused by proteins that have misfolded. Basically perfectly normal proteins get shape-shifted into evil versions of themselves that then cause dreadful diseases. And guess what, when you fry your egg you cause the proteins in the white to misfold. I'll leave you to draw the obvious conclusion.
Last week BuzzFeed named eight food additives that should be banned in the US. Here are six equally deadly ones they missed
A clump of salt crystals in a man's hand
This common food additive combines an explosive metal with a chemical warfare agent used in the trenches of the first world war. Photograph: Getty
Mark Lorch
Fri 28 Jun ‘13 17.37 BST First published on Fri 28 Jun ‘13 17.37 BST
Last week BuzzFeed published a list of eight foods that folks in the USA are eating but are banned in other parts of the world. The chemical community turned its venom on BuzzFeed. But I think BuzzFeed did a pretty good job of bringing the debate on chemicals in food to the fore. Don't believe the defence of food additives coming from the likes of Derek Lowe. After all he's part of the mainstream chemical conspiracy so he would defend chemicals wouldn't he?
Before you go breathing a sigh of relief and gloating that those of us outside the US don't get these chemicals in our foods, best think again. You may well live in enlightened areas of the world, with governments that keep you safe from such poisons, but BuzzFeed only scratched the surface. There are plenty of foodstuffs in your larder that are just as bad.
Here's my list of foods, drinks and other kitchen terrors that BuzzFeed might just as easily have mentioned.
E290
E numbers are bad, we all know that. And E290 is no exception. It sneaks its way into fizzy drinks, bread and even your homemade cakes. But this chemical is probably the worst of the lot, because if we don't stop producing it then we are heading for global disaster. The scientific literature is quite clear on the subject, there are over a million peer-reviewed papers that describe the harmful effect it is having on our environment. And they put this stuff in our kids' lemonade!
8-methyl-N-vannillyl-6-nonenamide
With a name like 8-methyl-N-vannillyl-6-nonenamide it's bound to be a baddie. If you want more evidence of its unpleasantness then you may like to know that it is used by the police to control rioters. But that doesn't stop it turning up in our nation's favourite meals. In fact you have almost certainly suffered the consequence of an overzealous chef adding a bit too much of this stuff to your Saturday night post-pub curry or kebab. Do excessive sweating, burning sensations and indigestion sound familiar? Well that's good old 8-methyl-N-vannillyl-6-nonenamide for you. Would you believe they even put it in chocolate?
Denatured protein
You might not know this but Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's and CJD (the human version of mad cow disease) are all caused by proteins that have misfolded. Basically perfectly normal proteins get shape-shifted into evil versions of themselves that then cause dreadful diseases. And guess what, when you fry your egg you cause the proteins in the white to misfold. I'll leave you to draw the obvious conclusion.
