food additives | Health Topics | NutritionFacts.org

Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Linda

Harmless or Healthy Food Additives

A small number of food additives have been found to be harmless or even healthy. Those in the “harmless” category include MSG, citric acid, and stevia (in limited amounts). Of all added sweeteners, only date sugar and molasses are considered to be health-promoting. Black pepper and gum arabic appear to offer health benefits.

Harmful Food Additives

Many food additives may be harmful to human health such as nitrate, a carcinogenic substance found abundantly in hot dogs and cured meats. Another dangerous additive is phosphate, found mostly in chicken meat. Other harmful additives include the preservatives sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, sulfites, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, arsenic compounds, and coumarin (which has been banned). Diacetyl, an artificial flavoring for popcorn, and most types of artificial coloring (found in farmed fish as well) have been linked to disease risk. Red dye number 3 has been associated with ADHD symptoms in children, cancer, and liver and thyroid diseases. Aluminum, found in many cheeses, the “fortifying” nutrient folic acid, and flavor additives salt, corn syrup, and NutraSweet also introduce health risks.

Some additives have themselves been found to be contaminated with mercury. The meat industry is currently considering additives to try to make meat safer.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

Food Additives

41 videos

All Videos for Food Additives

Is it Safe to Eat Raw Mushrooms?

Is It Safe to Eat Raw Mushrooms?

Microwaving is probably the most efficient way to reduce agaritine levels in fresh mushrooms.

Are Emulsifiers Like Carboxymethylcellulose and Polysorbate 80 Safe?

Are Emulsifiers Like Carboxymethylcellulose and Polysorbate 80 Safe?

Emulsifiers are the most widely used food additive. What are they doing to our gut microbiome?

Are Fortified Kids’ Breakfast Cereals Healthy or Just Candy?

Are Fortified Kids’ Breakfast Cereals Healthy or Just Candy?

The industry’s response to the charge that breakfast cereals are too sugary.

Dangers of Dietary Supplement Deregulation

Dangers of Dietary Supplement Deregulation

The majority of dietary supplement facilities tested were found noncompliant with good manufacturing practices guidelines.

Does Aspartame Cause Cancer?

Does Aspartame Cause Cancer?

How should we parse the conflicting human data on intake of aspartame (Nutrasweet) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, leukemia, and pancreatic cancer?

Zeranol Use in Meat and Breast Cancer

Zeranol Use in Meat and Breast Cancer

Anabolic growth-promoting drugs in meat production are by far the most potent hormones found in the food supply.

Which Has More Caramel Coloring Carcinogens: Coke or Pepsi?

Which Has More Caramel Coloring Carcinogens: Coke or Pepsi?

How many cola cancer cases are estimated to be caused by Coke and Pepsi in New York versus California, where a carcinogen labeling law (Prop 65) exists?

Effect of Sucralose (Splenda) on the Microbiome

Effect of Sucralose (Splenda) on the Microbiome

What effect do artificial sweeteners such as sucralose (Splenda), saccharin (Sweet & Low), aspartame (Nutrasweet), and acesulfame K (Sweet One) have on our gut bacteria?

Bowel Wars: Hydrogen Sulfide vs. Butyrate

Bowel Wars: Hydrogen Sulfide vs. Butyrate

Sulfur dioxide preservatives in dried fruit, sulfites in wine, and the putrefaction of undigested animal protein in the colon can release hydrogen sulfide, the rotten egg gas associated with inflammatory bowel disease.

Aspartame and the Brain

Aspartame and the Brain

The reason artificially sweetened beverages have been associated with depression may be because of psychological disturbances recently tied to aspartame (“Equal” or “NutraSweet”).

Protecting Teeth From Hibiscus Tea

Protecting Teeth from Hibiscus Tea

How can we protect our tooth enamel from the erosive natural acids found in sour foods and beverages?

How Many Cancers Have Been Caused by Arsenic-Laced Chicken?

How Many Cancers Have Been Caused by Arsenic-Laced Chicken?

Arsenic-containing drugs intentionally added to poultry feed to reduce the parasite burden and pinken the meat are apparently converted by cooking into carcinogenic inorganic arsenic compounds.

Phytates for Rehabilitating Cancer Cells

Phytates for Rehabilitating Cancer Cells

Unlike most other anticancer agents, the phytates naturally found in whole plant foods may trigger cancer cell differentiation, causing them to revert back to behaving more like normal cells.

Seeing Red No. 3: Coloring to Dye For

Seeing Red No. 3: Coloring to Dye For

The artificial food coloring Red No. 3 has yet to be banned—despite its purported role in causing thousands of cases of thyroid cancer.

Is Caramel Color Carcinogenic?

Is Caramel Color Carcinogenic?

Concern that one of the most commonly-consumed food colorings may cause cancer has led to changes in soft drink formulation in California.

How to Avoid Phosphate Additives

How to Avoid Phosphate Additives

The vast majority of chicken and poultry products are injected with phosphorus preservatives, which are often not listed in the ingredients. Reducing one’s intake of meat, junk food, fast food, and processed cheese may help lower intake until labeling is mandated.

Phosphate Additives in Chicken

Phosphate Additives in Chicken

The phosphorus preservatives injected into poultry may not just be an arterial toxin. They also appear to dramatically increase the growth of food poisoning Campylobacter bacteria.

Phosphate Additives in Meat Purge and Cola

Phosphate Additives in Meat Purge and Cola

The consumption of phosphorus preservatives in junk food, and injected into meat, may damage blood vessels, accelerate the aging process, and contribute to osteoporosis.

drops of red food dye splashing onto a surface

Artificial Food Colors and ADHD

In response to definitive evidence showing artificial colors may increase inattentiveness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity among young children, a call has been made by consumer groups to ban food dyes.

Butter-Flavored Microwave Popcorn or Breathing

The artificial butter flavoring diacetyl has been linked not only to deaths of workers handling the chemical, but also to serious lung disease in consumers of microwave popcorn.

carton of soy milk

Is Carrageenan Safe?

Carrageenan is a food additive used as a thickener and fat substitute in a variety of dairy and nondairy products. Concerns about potential intestinal tract damage are placed in the context of dietary consequences.

Titanium Dioxide & Inflammatory Bowel Disease

People eating conventional diets may ingest a trillion microparticles of the food-whitening additive, titanium dioxide, every day. What implication might this have for inflammation in the gut?

meteors in space

Miocene Meteorites and Uric Acid

Human beings lost the ability to detoxify uric acid millions of years ago. What implications does this have for our health today?

Aspartame-Induced Fibromyalgia

Case reports of fibromyalgia chronic pain sufferers cured, by removing the artificial sweetener aspartame (Nutrasweet®) from their diets.

Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Death in America is largely a foodborne illness. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse many of the top 15 killers in the United States.

Maggot Meat Spray

Given their inherent resistance to food-poisoning bacteria, maggots can be used to create an antibacterial food additive to increase the safety of the meat supply.

Viral Meat Spray

Bacteria-eating viruses (bacteriophages) have been approved as meat additives to reduce the risk of Listeria and Campylobacter found in processed meat and poultry products, but there’s a concern they could spread toxin genes between bacteria.

Preventing COPD with Diet

Preventing COPD with Diet

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is now the third leading cause of death. The good news is that. in addition to smoking cessation, there are dietary interventions that can help prevent COPD.

The Safer Cinnamon

The Safer Cinnamon

There are four common types of cinnamon: Vietnamese, Chinese (cassia), Indonesian, and Ceylon (true) cinnamon. Which is safest in terms of the level of coumarin, which may damage the liver at toxic doses?

small amount of meat in a science lab

Meat Additives to Diminish Toxicity

How meat scientists justify their promotion of foods associated with cancer risk.

Vitamin C-Enriched Bacon

Vitamin C-Enriched Bacon

The addition of vitamin C to processed (cured) meats such as bacon may actually make them more carcinogenic.

assorted cold cuts

Prevention Is Better Than Cured Meat

The levels of nitrosamines—considered the most carcinogenic agents in cigarette smoke—were recently measured in an array of processed meats including chicken, turkey, and pork.

spinach plants in a garden

Are Nitrates Pollutants or Nutrients?

Phytonutrients, such as vitamin C, prevent the formation of nitrosamines from nitrites—which explains why adding nitrite preservatives to processed meat can be harmful, but adding more vegetables, with their nitrite-forming nitrates, to our diet can be helpful.

Bacon and Botulism

Bacon & Botulism

The nitrite preservatives in processed meats such as bologna, bacon, ham, and hot dogs form carcinogenic nitrosamines, but also reduce the growth of botulism bacteria—forcing regulators to strike a balance between consumers risking cancer, or a deadly form of food poisoning.

When Nitrates Go Bad

When Nitrites Go Bad

Nitrites in processed meat form nitrosamines, a class of potent carcinogens found in cigarette smoke, which may explain why hot dog consumption has been associated with the two leading pediatric cancers, brain tumors and childhood leukemia.

Is bacon good or is spinach bad?

Is Bacon Good or Is Spinach Bad?

If the nitrates in vegetables such as greens are health-promoting because they can be turned into nitrites, and then nitric oxide, inside our bodies, what about the nitrites added to cured meats—such as bacon, ham, and hot dogs?

Is Potassium Sorbate Bad for You?

Is Potassium Sorbate Bad for You?

Is the preservative used to prevent mold growth in foods such as cheese, yogurt, wine, dried meat, pickles, apple cider, and many herbal dietary supplements harmful for humans?

Is Sodium Benzoate Harmful?

Is Sodium Benzoate Harmful?

When combined with ascorbic acid in soda, sodium benzoate can form the potent carcinogen benzene.

Are Artifical Colors Harmful

Are Artificial Colors Harmful?

The potential health effects of colorings such as cochineal, a food dye derived from crushed insects.

Are Artificial Colors Bad for You?

Are Artificial Colors Bad for You?

The effects of artificial colors on impulsivity, inattentiveness, and hyperactivity among young children.

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