8 Chemicals You Had No Idea Were Lurking In Your Favorite Foods

How does that saying go? Everything in moderation, including food additives?

November 21, 2014 Jessica Dollin

Nitrates and Nitrites in Cured Meats

Nitrates and nitrites are both used as curing agents, their high salt content absorbing moisture from meat, helping to preserve it. They are also occur naturally in vegetables such as spinach, radishes, broccoli, and leeks. But in processed foods, chemical nitrites, and sometimes nitrates, are added to cured meats such as bacon and salami, preventing pathogens like Clostridium botunlinum from forming in meat, which causes botulism. Nitrates are also used in fertilizer and rodent killers because large enough amounts are used to make them toxic. Trace amounts in food are not known to cause health issues, but some suspect that the chemical could be linked to cancer and diabetes.

(Photo: Oxana Denezhkina/Getty Images)

Propylparaben in Tortillas

Propylparaben is used in deodorant, and in foods it acts as a preservative—adding it to baked goods such as tortillas ensures freshness, but it can have some adverse effects. Wheat tortillas are traditionally made with flour, baking powder, salt, shortening, and water, but food corporations have modified that recipe for mass production. Propylparaben is considered GRAS, but studies show that it sometimes reduces sperm count and testosterone levels. The additive is also bad news for women, as it has been shown to increase the growth of breast cancer cells and affect fertility.

(Photo: Flickr)

Butylated Hydroxyanisole in Beef Jerky

BHA, a food stabilizer and preservative, is a carcinogen. The endocrine system and organs experience problems when exposed to high levels of BHA, but the additive is in everything from potato chips to beef jerky to rubber. Is it any coincidence certain foods containing BHA have the consistency of rubber? Maybe not—after all, BHA is one of the main ingredients in rubber.

(Photo: Flickr)

Tartrazine (Yellow No. 5) in Candy

Food coloring is one of the most common ingredients in processed food, and tartrazine, also known as yellow No. 5, is used especially frequently. The dye gives items such as candy corn and banana Laffy Taffy their vibrant color. Coal tar is not yellow, but it does contain tartrazine. The additive can cause allergies such as asthma and hives. During the digestive process, the chemical reacts with acid in the gastrointestinal system and turns into amine sulfanilic acid, which can cause cancer. However, the National Institutes of Health found that more studies would need to be conducted to determine in which doses it is unsafe.

(Photo: Flickr)

Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) in Cereal

The FDA recognizes BHT, a preservative found in convenience foods such as cereal, as generally safe. BHA and BHT are often used together, which is why then are both found on this list. They can also both cause cancer. BHT affects the thyroid, and some scientists are concerned it might also impact the endocrine system and development in children—especially motor skills. BHT is used as a preservative in food, but it’s also found in jet fuel and embalming fluids.

(Photo: Flickr)

Propyl Gallate in Chicken Soup

Applying lard to your body in lieu of sunscreen won’t prevent a burn. However, they do both contain propyl gallate. The food thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier is classified as GRAS, but studies on the additive are out of date, according to a 2014 opinion survey by the European Food Safety Authority.

(Photo: Flickr)

Diacetyl in Buttered Popcorn

Diacetyl is a natural byproduct of fermentation, the very compound that gives some Chardonnay its butter taste. But the chemically derived variety used in manufactured food such as microwavable popcorn raises some health concerns. The U.S. Department of Labor issued a Hazard Communication Warning for workers who come in contact with the additive on a regular basis. Respiratory illnesses such as wheezing and shortness of breath can result from exposure to diacetyl. Anyone who works at a movie-theater concession stand might benefit from staying away from the stuff.

(Photo: Flickr)

Aluminum in Cheese

Aluminum is a naturally occurring element in food, but excessive exposure to stabilizers such as aluminum phosphate and sodium aluminum sulfate can cause neurological problems. Pregnant women are advised not to eat food with aluminum additives because it is harmful to babies in the womb; scientists suspect that in some cases Alzheimer’s and blood diseases could be caused by excessive exposure to aluminum. Cooking with aluminum pots and pans is fine, but experts say it’s best to replace them with anodized aluminum cookware once they’re worn down because of the protective coating.

(Photo: Flickr)

8 Chemicals You Had No Idea Were Lurking In Your Favorite Foods — Brilliant Project Combines Brain Scans and Photoshop to See If Beauty Standards Rule Us

Digitally altered advertisements and fashion spreads give us cues about what we should want to look like according to today’s standards of beauty. But left to our own devices, does the average person want to change his or her features to fit such a narrow definition of attractiveness?

With his latest project, “Original Ideal,” photographer Scott Chasserot decided to find out. He took photographs of people and tweaked them with Photoshop, making as many as 50 modifications of each image. To tell which altered version the subjects preferred, Chasserot hooked them up to Emotiv EEG brain scanners. By measuring brainwaves, Chasserot was able to determine which Photoshopped image each subject responded to most positively. Click through to see the original photographs and the ideal selves that the subjects preferred, and to learn more about Chasserot’s methodology.

As anyone who practices yoga and eats Subway sandwiches knows, sometimes food can contain the same ingredient as something that, well, is not food. Last year the sandwich chain removed from its bread the chemical azodicarbonamide, which is also found in yoga mats.

It’s uncertain if azodicarbonamide presents a risk at the levels it was used in the dough, however, and that science is similarly unclear for many food additives. Scientists are still figuring out at what doses commonly used chemicals are truly safe—and when and how they might cause harm.

The Food and Drug Administration classifies all of the following ingredients as Generally Recognized as Safe or GRAS—meaning the additives are subject to review but it’s OK to consume them in small amounts as long as qualified experts say so. The problem is, those experts often have a conflict of interest and are on the payroll of the food companies seeking approval for their additives.

The Environmental Working Group recently came out with a list of chemicals lurking in food, and it’s worth noting that some of those additives, like azodicarbonamide, are used in completely inedible products—such as sunscreen and coal tar.

Enter Photo Gallery

Nitrates and Nitrites in Cured Meats

Propylparaben in Tortillas

Butylated Hydroxyanisole in Beef Jerky

Tartrazine (Yellow No. 5) in Candy

Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) in Cereal

Propyl Gallate in Chicken Soup

Diacetyl in Buttered Popcorn

Aluminum in Cheese

Brilliant Project Combines Brain Scans and Photoshop to See If Beauty Standards Rule Us