The 8 Most Damaging Ingredients to Watch for on Food Labels

Processed foods are loaded with chemicals, such as preservatives, artificial colors and artificial flavorings, which is a reason that you should avoid them. Once you become an educated label reader, you’ll realize just how dangerous they are!

The best way to avoid toxic chemical additives is to consume only fresh whole foods. But practically speaking, this can be difficult for many people to accomplish, at least 100% of the time. Chances are that, despite your best efforts, you’ll have some processed foods in your diet.
Therefore, it’s good to know which of the thousands of chemical additives are the most dangerous and should be avoided at all cost when you spot them on a food label.

An article recently posted on “One Green Planet”,,highlights eight particularly ingredients that you and your kids are probably eating. There seems to be good consensus about the worst of the worst, as seven of those were also dubbed the “Scary Seven”, by Andrea Donsky of “Naturally Savvy”.

If you notice any of these on a food label, put it right back on the shelf!

1. Artificial Sweeteners - Studies have shown that tasting something sweet enhances your appetite, regardless of calories, and consuming artificial sweeteners has been shown to result in even greater weight gain than consuming sugar.

2. Trans Fats and Vegetable Oils - Ever since the introduction of the first trans fat in 1911, Crisco, trans fats have been implicated in numerous serious health problems. They promote inflammation, which is a benchmark of most chronic disease.

3. Artificial Flavors - When you see the term “artificial flavors” on a label, there’s no way to know what it actually means. It could mean that one unnatural additive is included, or a blend of hundreds. For example, strawberry artificial flavor may contain around 50 chemical compounds. Some artificial flavorings have quite serious health concerns. The butter flavoring added to microwave popcorn(diacetyl) has several implications for brain health and may contribute to beta amyloid plaques, which are associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) - MSG is an excitotoxin. This flavor enhancer is most often associated with Chinese food, but it’s actually added to countless processed food products ranging from frozen dinners and salad dressing to snack chips and meats. However, the term “monosodium glutamate” or its acronym MSG might not appear in the ingredient list. Instead, dozens of other names may be used, such as glutamic acid, hydrolyzed protein, yeast extract and dozens of others.

5. Artificial Colors (Dyes) - Every year, food manufacturers pour 15 million pounds of artificial food dyes into US foods. However, a 2014 study by Purdue University suggests that children may be consuming far more toxic food dyes than previously thought. A variety of common food dyes and the preservative sodium benzoate cause some children to become more hyperactive and distractible. The amounts of dye in even single servings of some foods are higher than the amounts proven to adversely affect children’s behavior. Many of these dyes are derived for coal tars.

6. High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) - It’s often claimed that HFCS is no worse for you than sugar, but when you look at contemporary scientific research, you’ll see this is not the case. Americans are consuming massive quantities of fructose, especially in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, because it’s cheap and easily added to processed foods. HFCS contains free-form monosaccharides of fructose and glucose, so it cannot be considered biologically equivalent to sucrose (table sugar), which has a glycosidic bond that links the fructose and glucose together and slows its break down in your body.

7. Preservatives - Preservatives lengthen the shelf life of foods, increasing manufacturers’ profit, at your expense. Most are linked to health problems such as cancer, allergic reactions and more. Here are the top 5 to avoid; BHA and BHT, TBHQ, sodium benzoate, sodium nitrite and nitrate and azodicarbonamide.

8. Genetically Engineered Ingredients - New research on genetically engineered (GE) foods, continues to confirm the danger of adding GE ingredients to processed foods. Unfortunately, GE ingredients are NOT listed on the label! We’re getting closer to passing of labeling laws, but we’re not there yet. If at all possible, avoid all foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by selecting only those that are certified organic.

Read More