Controversial food additives
November 15th 2008 20:55
Thiis a speech I presented recently to my Toastmasters club.
Melamine, aspartame, folate and iodine. These are four controversial food additives. One is known to be harmful, one may cause cancer and the other two are actually essential to human health.
1 Melamine
Melamine is an illegal food additive it is used to increase the apparent protein of watered now protein drinks and foods content of food and drink, such as milk products. Melamine is also used to make fertilizers, colourants for ink and plastic, flame retardants, synthetic countertops, and fabrics. Melamine is toxic to humans. , as you may know, recently 12000 people in and 4 babies died China were hospitalized due to ingestion of products containing melamine. Melamine causes kidney failure if high doses of it is consumed.. Chronic melamine consumption may cause damage to the reproductive organs and the bladder and kidney stones, this in turn can lead to bladder cancer, according to Wikipedia.
2 Aspartame
Aspatartame (E951) is a food additive, and its primary function is to sweeten food. It is low in energy and is added to diet foods (e.g. low fat yoghurt, low fat ice cream) and drinks (Coke Zero) as well as sugar free chewing gum and chewable vitamin tablets. You can also get in the form of table condiment. It is sold under the name of Splenda and NutraSweet. It is roughly 180 times sweeter than sugar without all those calories.
Aspatartame may cause cancer in rats, and because of this it was banned in the US for many years. It is now legal in USA and many other countries including NZ. It may also be linked to headaches, brain tumours and brain lesions, but it has been recommened that more research is done to confirm this.
However according to the NZ Food Foundation aspartame is harmless. In fact they say that “ an adult would have to consume 14 cans of a sugar-free drink every day before reaching the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of aspartame. And they would need to do that every day of their lives before possibly showing any ill effects”.
3 Folate/folic acid
Folate is a B vitamin and is essential to human health. It is naturally occurring in many foods such as fruit and vegetables. MOH NZ are proposing to to add folate to flour and bread to help prevent neural tube defects in babies. NTDs are harmful and often fatal. NTD is when the spine does not develop properly. There is strong evidence that pregnant women who consume adequate amounts of folate are less likely to have children with neural tube defects which are often fatal. Adding folate to food will benefit many others apart from pregnant women and their unborn children. It used by the body to help form DNA, but too much can cause trouble for people on certain medications. However there is evidence, according to MOH, that its unlikely that people in NZ are at risk of toxic effects from consuming too much folate.
Iodine
Iodine is essential to human health. We only need a little bit to function properly, however it appears that in NZ, people do not get enough. Iodine is important. It is required to make thyroid hormones which are involved in brain development and growth in children. It is also used to control the meatabolism. Iodine deficiency can lead to mental retardation and stunted growth. MOH is proposing to add iodised salt to bread. Very high intakes (in excess of the established upper level of intake) of iodine may inhibit thyroid hormone production. A sudden increase in iodine intake in those used to very low intakes for prolonged periods of time can produce iodine-induced hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis. However, as it is unlikely that this would be an issue for the New Zealand
Melamine, aspartame, folate, and iodine are all food additives. Melamine is harmful in high levels and is used to increase the apparent protein content of foods. It also used to make fertilizers and colourants. Asparatame is an artificial sweetener and is added to a range of foods in drinks. It is legal in NZ and is apparently harmless. Folate and iodine are essential to human health, however too much can cause problems however, MOH says that it is very unlikely that people in NZ will consume toxic levels of either nutrient. The message of this is speech to be aware of what is in your food.
Melamine, aspartame, folate and iodine. These are four controversial food additives. One is known to be harmful, one may cause cancer and the other two are actually essential to human health.
1 Melamine
Melamine is an illegal food additive it is used to increase the apparent protein of watered now protein drinks and foods content of food and drink, such as milk products. Melamine is also used to make fertilizers, colourants for ink and plastic, flame retardants, synthetic countertops, and fabrics. Melamine is toxic to humans. , as you may know, recently 12000 people in and 4 babies died China were hospitalized due to ingestion of products containing melamine. Melamine causes kidney failure if high doses of it is consumed.. Chronic melamine consumption may cause damage to the reproductive organs and the bladder and kidney stones, this in turn can lead to bladder cancer, according to Wikipedia.
2 Aspartame
Aspatartame (E951) is a food additive, and its primary function is to sweeten food. It is low in energy and is added to diet foods (e.g. low fat yoghurt, low fat ice cream) and drinks (Coke Zero) as well as sugar free chewing gum and chewable vitamin tablets. You can also get in the form of table condiment. It is sold under the name of Splenda and NutraSweet. It is roughly 180 times sweeter than sugar without all those calories.
Aspatartame may cause cancer in rats, and because of this it was banned in the US for many years. It is now legal in USA and many other countries including NZ. It may also be linked to headaches, brain tumours and brain lesions, but it has been recommened that more research is done to confirm this.
However according to the NZ Food Foundation aspartame is harmless. In fact they say that “ an adult would have to consume 14 cans of a sugar-free drink every day before reaching the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of aspartame. And they would need to do that every day of their lives before possibly showing any ill effects”.
3 Folate/folic acid
Folate is a B vitamin and is essential to human health. It is naturally occurring in many foods such as fruit and vegetables. MOH NZ are proposing to to add folate to flour and bread to help prevent neural tube defects in babies. NTDs are harmful and often fatal. NTD is when the spine does not develop properly. There is strong evidence that pregnant women who consume adequate amounts of folate are less likely to have children with neural tube defects which are often fatal. Adding folate to food will benefit many others apart from pregnant women and their unborn children. It used by the body to help form DNA, but too much can cause trouble for people on certain medications. However there is evidence, according to MOH, that its unlikely that people in NZ are at risk of toxic effects from consuming too much folate.
Iodine
Iodine is essential to human health. We only need a little bit to function properly, however it appears that in NZ, people do not get enough. Iodine is important. It is required to make thyroid hormones which are involved in brain development and growth in children. It is also used to control the meatabolism. Iodine deficiency can lead to mental retardation and stunted growth. MOH is proposing to add iodised salt to bread. Very high intakes (in excess of the established upper level of intake) of iodine may inhibit thyroid hormone production. A sudden increase in iodine intake in those used to very low intakes for prolonged periods of time can produce iodine-induced hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis. However, as it is unlikely that this would be an issue for the New Zealand
Melamine, aspartame, folate, and iodine are all food additives. Melamine is harmful in high levels and is used to increase the apparent protein content of foods. It also used to make fertilizers and colourants. Asparatame is an artificial sweetener and is added to a range of foods in drinks. It is legal in NZ and is apparently harmless. Folate and iodine are essential to human health, however too much can cause problems however, MOH says that it is very unlikely that people in NZ will consume toxic levels of either nutrient. The message of this is speech to be aware of what is in your food.
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