Superfoods in BIO quality – why we should avoid chemicals

Chemicals in food

Food safety check personnel and food and drug control authorities consider a number of chemicals to be safe. They can improve certain product features, but they also have their downside. There are permitted values and set standards, but when you think about it, these chemicals are already found almost everywhere, and we are accepting them in larger quantities than we would probably admit.

Designation of additives and their meaning

Each manufacturer is obliged to visibly mark all added additives directly on the product packaging. They usually indicate them with a capital letter E and a three-digit number. This labeling assigns the additive to a specific group.

• E 100 to E 199 – food colors
• E 200 to E 299 – preservatives
• E 300 to E 321 – antioxidants
• E 322 to E 495 – emulsifiers and stabilizers
• E 500 to E 619 – acids and bases
• E 620 to E 637 – flavour enhancers
• E 900 to E 925 – artificial sweeteners, polishing agents, …

Some of these substances are harmless, but they can start to oxidize if stored or treated improperly. Other substances can damage health or cause allergic reactions. And we are not talking about those that are also referred to as carcinogenic.

At BoraTree, we therefore try to avoid all additives and use only the pure power of natural products in BIO quality.

The other side of chemical additives

You can find a complete list of emulsifiers, for example, on the ferpotravina.cz website. But let’s look directly at some of the commonly used additives, their meaning and especially the negatives they bring with them.

Food colors

Take tartrazine as an example of a food colouring. It is a light orange powder that is used to colour food. It is talked about in connection with the induction of allergic reactions and is also associated with the formation of acne. You can usually find it in food, such as bakery products, chewing gum, ice cream or juices.

For example, this study points to the adverse effect of tartrazine with another dye, red carmazine, on biochemical markers in several vital organs. In the liver and kidneys, the negatives of these dyes have been shown not only at their higher doses, but even at low doses.

Preservatives

Among the preservatives we can mention butylhydroxyanisole (BHA) and propyl gallate (PG). BHA is often used in conjunction with propyl gallate to protect against oxidation and to extend the shelf life of foods, especially cereals, chewing gum or potato chips.

BHA may support the effect of some carcinogens, but its ability to scavenge free radicals is also mentioned. For example, in rats and hamsters, it causes tumors. That is why it is advisable to read the composition of animal feed. Propyl gallate, in turn, is referred to in connection with the possible ability to disrupt hormones in the human body, which can lead to reproductive or neurological problems.