Transcript PPT Food Additives & Cancer

Are Food Additives Safe?
Kayla Pietig
What exactly is a food additive?
 Technically a food additive is anything that you add
to your food!
 Legally…
The Legal Definition
 Legally, the term refers to "any substance where
the intended use of which results or may
reasonably be expected to result -- directly or
indirectly -- in its becoming a component or
otherwise affecting the characteristics of any
food." This definition includes any substance used
in the production, processing, treatment,
packaging, transportation or storage of food.
Think about this….
Can you name a food additive?
Why do we even use additives?
 Uses:
 Safety and Freshness
 Nutritional Value
 Improve Food Quality
Regulation of food additives
 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the
primary and legal responsibility for approving food
additives as “safe”.
 Today food and color additives are more regulated and
monitored than anytime in the past.
 What does the FDA consider when approving additives?
Generally Recognized As Safe
(GRAS)
 GRAS is a label that the FDA uses to describe various
products that are added to our food
 Items on the GRAS list are scientifically proven to be safe
 If not approved for GRAS the FDA takes action to prevent the
distribution of the product
 Product must be proven safe for the intended use before they
are allowed to be on the market
Food Additive Types:
 Direct food additives
 Indirect food additives
Color Additives
 What are color additives?
 Certified colors
 Colors that are exempt from certification
What are Color Additives Used For?
 What are color additives used for?
• Offset color loss
• Correct color variations and add enhancements
• To make foods more “fun”
Common Additives You May Have Heard
About…
Ingredient Type
Purpose
Seen on the Label As
Preservatives
Prevent food spoilage and
slow changes in color,
texture, and flavor
sodium benzoate, calcium
propionate, sodium nitrite,
potassium sorbate, BHA,
BHT
Flavors and Spices
Add natural and synthetic
flavors
Natural flavoring, artificial
flavor, spices, Monosodium
glutamate (MSG)
Fat Replacers
Provide mouthfeel, flavor, and
texture to replace the fat in
low-fat or fat-free foods
Olestra, cellulose gel,
carrageenan. modified
food starch, guar gum,
xanthan gum, whey
protein concentrate
Stabilizers, thickeners,
texturizers
Provide texture and
mouthfeel
Gelatin, pectin, guar gum,
carrageenan, xanthan gum,
whey
How are ingredients listed on the label?
 Manufacturers are required to list
all ingredients on the package label
 Product order
 Greatest amount to the least amount
 How Ingredients are listed
 Description
 Use
Commonly Researched Additives
 Amaranth
 Tartrazine
 Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)
 Sodium Nitrate and Sodium Nitrite
Amaranth
 Amaranth is a general term that refers to a whole family of
herbs
 The “Hopi Red Dye” was originally used by the Native American
tribe , the Hopi for a deep red dye
 Today we know it better as FD&C Red No. 2
 Uses
 The “Red Scare”
Amaranth…
 A study was conducted to determine the possible
carcinogenic affects of the color additive Amaranth
 Done with mice
 Mice were given a dose of 200 or 1000 mg/kg body weight
 Examined the mice gut and feces after given the dose of
amaranth
Study Results…
Is Amaranth Safe??
 Study Conclusions…
 Supported amaranth as a safe additive
 Amaranth is considered a non mutagenic
substance
Amaranth
 Amaranth is still used in Canada and Europe today.
 Despite research studies that support Amaranth as a
safe additive the FDA banned its use in the United States
based on the concept that the additive could possibly
not be safe!
Tartrazine
 Also known as FD & C Yellow No. 5, C.I. No. 19140, and
Food Yellow No. 4
 Orange/yellow powder that will dissolve in water
 Uses
Tartrazine Study
 “Effects of tartrazine on exploratory behavior in a three-
generation toxicity study in mice”
 Study done with mice
 Study Results
 The levels of tartrazine that where used in this study did
produce a few side-effects on neurobehavior through the
generations of mice.
Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)
 Uses
 Carcinogen or Anti-Carcinogen??
BHA as a Carcinogen
 BHA as a carcinogen research…
 Study done to determine the relationship between BHA and
bladder cancer and cancer of the forestomach in mice
 Study to determine BHA carcinogenic affects in Japanese House
Shrews
 Study Results
 Increased cell growth and cancer in the forestomach of mice
 Increased cell growth in the lungs
Anti-Carcinogenic Affects of BHA
 When given in large doses BHA may be a possible
anticarcinogen
 Still needs more research to confirm the claim
 No definite answer!
BHA
 Carcinogen vs. anti-carcinogen
 We do not fully understand how BHA works in both
situations!
 Still need more research
 What can we believe about BHA?
 No specific answer
 Currently it is an approved additive that has been found to be
safe by the FDA
Sodium Nitrite & Sodium Nitrate
 Uses
 Found in meat and fish
 Food safety?
 Used as a tool to prevent food spoilage that causes food born
illness
 Is sodium nitrite a cause of cancer or other diseases?
What do you think?
 Is the research supporting the safety of additives
trustworthy and reliable?
Regulation of food additives
 Once the additive is found safe and is approved:
1. The FDA issues regulations
2. Consultation with the USDA
3. Continued monitoring of the recently approved
additive
The Delaney Clause
 An amendment to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of
1938
 First Applied to the use of pesticides, but was later removed
from the Delaney Clause when and amendment was added
to the Food Quality and Protection Act
 Current appears in the Federal Food, Drug, & Cosmetic
Act
 Section 409- on food additives
 Section 721- on color additives
What do you think?
 Do you think that the FDA current system in approving and
monitoring food and color additives is adequate?
 Do you think that they need more information, or need to
provide more information about food additives on the label?
How Can Consumers Find Information
on Additive Safety?
 Find information on what the FDA approves for food
additives and which additives are on the GRAS list, visit:
www.fda.gov
What Does the Research Say?
 There is research available that support certain additives as a
carcinogenic agent and there are also studies that show some
additives are completely safe and could also have anti-cancer
affects.
Take Home Message
 Food additives have been in use since medieval times as a way
to preserve food and prevent spoilage.
 Technological advances has allowed us to find new ways to
preserve our foods while also adding flavor, color, and
creating a desirable mouthfeel.
 Food additives are in a majority of products we can consume
and are currently regulated by the FDA for product safety.