List Of Approved But Maybe Harmful Food Additives And Their Numbers

Some Food Additives , such as Riboflavin and Ascorbid acid, can have a beneficial effect on the health. These things are food components.

However, many chemicals added to our food, such as preservatives, colourings and flavourings,  are extremely harmful.  Some are proven carcinogens, while some are suspected of causing things like high blood pressure, migraines, alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, diabetes, and even obesity.

I made sure that I never gave my children commercial products which had any chemical additives in them when they were young.  I think that this is very important in bringing up children today – there is an even greater use of preservatives in food nowadays than there was when I had my children at home.  These poisons are extremely deleterious to the health, and especially to the growing child.

At the very least, some of the  food additives  listed below can have an immediate negative effect on your emotional and mental function.  They can so easily upset the balance of bacteria in the bowel, leading to the proliferation of the ‘bad’ organisms, such as candida albicans which causes yeast infectins.  They can lower your immunity to disease.

Nowadays, as I have just discovered,  I find I cannot eat quantities of cottage cheese because of the preservatives and thickeners which are added to most brands.  Even a well-known Aussie ‘naturally brewed’ has preservatives added to it, which I have found cause headaches and fluid retention.

Recently, I sampled some ginger beer and cottage cheese at a friend’s picnic party. The result next day was similar to a hang-over, with a massive headache, slow brain function and a slight puffiness of the flesh which warns me that the kidneys have taken some punishment.

I am now fasting on home made lemon and ginger root drinks, with some of my cousin’s beautiful New Zealand bush honey added to them. (Actually – cousins’ – there are two of these lovely people who have a farm down at Waikino, where you will find the proverbial ‘land of milk and honey’)

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So – what was in these two foods which I had yesterday?  I see immediately that the cottage cheese and the ginger beer both have the same preservative added.  So that probably means that I have consumed much more than what would be considered to be a ‘safe’ dose.

The Ginger Beer Contains good things such as root ginger, natural flavours, and Ascorbic acid, or Vitamin C.  But it also contains some harmful things, which would negate the ‘goodness’ of the ginger, etc. – These potentially harmful chemicals are the preservatives  202 and 211.  202 is Potassium sorbate.  211 is Sodium benzoate.

The Cottage Cheese Contains the same preservative –  202,  which is Potassium sorbate, and Thickeners 407 and 1422.  407 is the thickener Carrageenan which is a natural product, but which causes reactions in some people, so I have read.  The thickener 1422 I am unfamiliar with at this stage.

Anyhow – I am reminded of the fact that it is still imp;ortant for me to be vigilant about keeping foods which have harmful preservatives in them out of my diet.  When you are looking after young children, I think it is easier to remain conscious of food additives, and to keep them out.  When you get older and have no dependents any more, then it is easy to become slack and think that a little bit of this or that will not hurt.  But this is a bad attitude, I know.

So – A List of Common Food Additives and Their Numbers, taken from Rosemary Stanton’s ‘ ‘Health & Energy Cookbook’ with added information from other sources.

Colourings – generally, these are the numbers from 100 through to 163.  Many colourings can contribute to hyperactivity in children, attention deficit disorder, and depression in adults.  They are best avoided.

100 – Curcumin

101 – Riboflavin (natural vitamin)

102 – Tartrazine

107 – Yellow 2G

110 – Sunset Yellow FCF

120 – Cochineal, carminic acid  (Cochineal is a colouring which used to be derived from the cochineal beetle, but now it is an artificial form which may have side effects)

122 – Carmoisine

123 – Amaranth  (This used to be from the plant itself, but I think it is now a synthetic form,  which is not good)

124 – Brilliant scarlet 4R

127 – Erythrosine

132 – Indigo carmine

133 – Brilliant blue FCF

140 – Chlorophylls (natural)

142 – Green S

150 – Caramel

151 – Brilliant black BN

153 – Cholcolate brown HT

160 – Carotenoids (natural)

160-a – Carotene, alpha-, beta-, gamma-

160-b – Annato (bixin, norbrixin)

160-e – Beta-apo-8′ carotenal

160-f – Ethyl ester of beta-apo-8′ carotenoic acid

161 – Xanthophylls

161-g – Canthaxanthine

162 – Beetroot red, betanin (I think this one is also synthetically produced now, which may have side effects)

163 – Anthocyanins

170 – Calcium carbonate

171 – Titanium dioxide

172 – Iron oxides and hydroxides

Preservatives – generally, the numbers from 200 to 250 are the common preservatives:

200 – Sorbic acid

201 – Sodium sorbate

202 – Potassium sorbate

203 – Calcium sorbate

210 – Benzoic acid

211 – Sodium benzoate

212 – Potassium benzoate

213 – Calcium benzoate

220 – Sulphur dioxide

221 – Sodium sulphite

222 – Sodium bisulphate

223 – Sodium metabisulphite22

224 – Potassium metabisulphite

234 – Nisin

249 – Potassium nitrite

250 – Sodium nitrite

251 – Sodium nitrate

252 – Potassium nitrate

260 – Acetic acid

261 – Potassium acetate

262 – Sodium acetates

263 – Calcium acetate

270 – Lactic acid (natural food acid)

280 – Propionic acid

281 – Sodium propionate

282 – Calcium propionate

283 – Potassium propionate

290 – Carbon dioxide

296 – Malic acid

297 – Fumaric acid

300 – Ascorbid acid (a natural food component)

301 – Sodium ascorbate

306 – Tocopherol-rich extracts from natural food sources – a safe additive

307 – Synthetic alpha-tocopherol

308 – Synthetic gamma-tocopherol

309 – Synthetic delta-tocopherol

310 – Propyl gallate

311 – Octyl gallate

312 – Dodecyl gallate

320 – Butylated hydroxy-anisole (BHA)

321 – Butylated hydroxy-toluene (BHT)

322 – Lecithin (from natural food source – usually soy beans – egg yolk are rich in lecithin)

325 – Sodium Lactate

326 – Potassium lactate

327 – Calcium lactate

330 – Citric acid (naturally occurring)

331 – Sodium citrates

334 – Tartaric acid

335 – Sodium tartrates

336 – Potassium tartrates

337 – Sodium potassium tartrate

339 – Sodium orthophosphates

340 – Potassium orthophosphates

341 – Calcium orthophosphates

350 – Sodium malates

351 – Potassium malates

352 – Calcium malates

353 – Metatartaric acid

354 – Calcium tartrate

355 – Adipic acid

363 – Succinic acid

380 – Tri-ammonium citrate

400 – Alginic acid

401 – Sodium alginate

402 – Potassium alginate

403 Ammonium alginate

404 – Calcium alginate

405 – Propylene glycol alginate

406 – Agar (from sea-weed)

407 Carrageenan (naturally occurring in moss)

410 – Locust bean gum (natural)

412 – Guar gum (natural)

413 – Tragacanth (natural)

414 – Acacia

415 – Xanthan gum (natural)

416 – Karay gum (natural)

420 – Sorbitol

421 – Mannitol

422 – Glycerol

433 – Polyoxythylene (20) sorbitan mono-oleate

435 – Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan-mono-stearat436 – Polyoxythylene (20) sorbitan tristearate

440-1 – Pectin (naturally occurring in apples and in the seeds of pip fruit, and citrus fruit)

442 – Ammonium phosphatides

450 – Sodium and potassium polyphosphates

460 – Microcrystalline cellulose (powdered cellulose)

461 – Methylcellulose

464 – Hydroxypropyl-methylcellulose

465 – Ethylmethylcellulose

466 – Sodium carboxy-methylcellulose

471 – Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

472-e – Mono and diacetyltartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids

473 – Sucrose esters of fatty acids

475 – Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids

476 – Polyglycerol polyricinoleate

481 – Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate

492 – Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate

491 – Sorbitan monostearate

500 – Sodium carbonates

501 – Potassium carbonates

503 – Ammonium carbonates

504 – Magnesium carbonate

508 – Potassium chloride

509 – Calcium chloride

529 – Calcium oxide

536 – Poatassium ferrocyanide

541 – Sodium aluminium phosphate

551 – Silicon dioxide

553-b – Talc

554 – Sodium aluminium silicate

558 – Bentonite

559 – Kaolins

570 – Stearic acid

572 – Magnesium stearate

575 – Glucono deltalactone

621 – Monosodium glutamate

627 – Sodium guanylate

631 – Sodium inosinate

637 – Ethyl maltol

900 – Dimethylpoly-siloxane

901 – Beeswax (safe)

903 – Carnauba wax

904 – Shellac

905 – Paraffins

902 – L-Cysteine and its hydrochlorides

924 – Potassium bromate

925 – Chlorine

926 – Chlorine dioxide

Note:  Since this list was approved by the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia, some of these items may have been deleted from the ‘safe’ list.