A pinch of hazard

One will never be able to look at a sandwich the same way again after the recent scare with potassium bromate, a common additive in bread.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India banned the usage of potassium bromate because of its harmful effects on health, including causing cancer. But we have just scratched the tip of the proverbial iceberg in terms of paying attention to food additives. And for a health-conscious generation, we are surprisingly dense when it comes to recognising these silent killers, of which more than 3000 are being used in food processing these days.

A busy lifestyle and rapid industrialisation have spurred the demand for packaged foods that are loaded with artificial preservatives.

On the top of this list is Monosodium Glutamate or MSG. Not many of us have heard about MSG but we know it by another name —‘Ajinomoto’. A common sight on supermarket shelves, it is found in many of the processed and packaged foods that we buy and is one of the most harmful things we can put inside our body.

“Remember how you are unable to resist finishing off that packet of chips in one go, even though you were full? It was because of ‘Ajinomoto’,” says Nishika S Desai, a student. “We have also heard people complain about how they are not able to reduce weight even if they are not eating that much. All these changes, whether in our taste preferences or body structure, have started becoming rampant only in the last few decades. These are all the side-effects of the intake of food additives like MSG.”

Says Parikshith B, a professional, “More and more people are getting addicted to outside food because it is tastier. Definitely! The reason is inclusion of enhancers like MSG, artificial sweeteners, Sodium Nitrate, Olestra, transfats and many more chemical cocktails that are not found in mom’s healthy cooking. Apart from the obvious side-effect of developing obesity, these are also known to cause headaches, nausea, weakness and heart burn at the very least.”

Picking out one more example, Nishika explains, “Artificial dyes, which are added to eatables to enhance their colour, can be found in thousands of foods, including breakfast cereals, cakes, sports drinks and even sweets. These are basically made from chemicals derived from petroleum and have been known to cause brain cancer and cell damage. Artificial food colours have been banned in many countries across the world but are still being liberally used in India.”

A knee-jerk reaction would be a decision to avoid these enhancers altogether. But that is easier said than done, especially for young working professionals or students who just look to grab a quick bite without paying attention to what they are eating.

“Eating well is easy when we are eating fresh produce. But it becomes almost impossible when you are shopping from the supermarket,” says Syed Suhail Ahmed, a professional. “A handy tip is to avoid eatables which have a long list of ingredients. Also, it helps if one knows how to read the labels on packets and identify the different names under which additives come. For example, E 620, E 621, E 622, yeast extract, hydrolyzed protein, gelatin etc are all forms of MSG. It only takes a little bit of reading and knowledge for a healthier you.”

And this is a small effort that we should all be willing to take. As someone said, ‘If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?’