Identifying suspect food additives

Every parent knows that children are susceptible to the sophisticated marketing strategies employed by manufacturers of processed food products. It’s not surprising when basic lines like breakfast cereal, cookies, drinks, and chips are linked to popular media characters like Spiderman, Dr Who, and Barbie. What many parents fail to realise is the extent to which some of these foods can be saturated with suspect chemical additives.

Chemical additives in food have been linked to a number of medical and psychological conditions which can affect childhood well-being and development. These include common and rare allergies, hyperactivity disorder, and appetite disturbances. Because they cannot be used by the body for normal growth and repair, most chemical additives need to be processed and eliminated. This represents an inefficient utilisation of resources.

One of the real difficulties confronting parents and caregivers is the complexity of the coded labelling system for common food additives. In the middle of a busy supermarket aisle with various distractions, how many consumers can readily identify the significance of E102, E104, or E129? Excepting those with heightened levels of interest or a food science qualification, many of us will fail to properly decipher the labels.

A helpful website is currently available to anyone seeking to identify those foods, drinks, and medications which contain the chemical additives linked to the developmental and health issues described above. Action on Additives was established by Lizzie Vann, the founder of a company promoting organic baby food. The website also encourages consumers to report products which are marketed to children yet contain suspect food additives.