FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK
FACTSHEET
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320 BHA and other
antioxidants
Antioxidants 310-312 and 319-321, used in prevent rancidity in oils, can
cause a full range of reactions from asthma to insomnia, depression, tiredness,
learning difficulties and children's behaviour problems. There are safe
alternatives (see below).
Antioxidants are the most hidden of all additives. There are four ways
consumers can be tripped up.
* manufacturer fails to list
ingredient on the product label
* ingredient is unlisted under the
5% labelling loophole
* consumer hotline gives wrong
information when contacted
* staff give incorrect information
regarding unlabelled food, eg takeaways
My family has been following the failsafe diet for ten years with
excellent results, but over one recent three month period, my daughter's
concentration and ability slowly decreased. We were appalled to find that we
had been caught, yet again, by food manufacturers. This time the problem was
unlisted 320 (BHA) in Devondale Dairysoft butter-oil blend, despite previous
assurances from the consumer hotline that the canola oil (forming 22% of the
final product) was antioxidant free. Since she was in the final year of a three
year course, she was unable to catch up the damage done. The product is now correctly labelled,
following strong complaints.
Antioxidants recently won the Worst Additive competition on this
website.
After battling with her son's behaviour following such treats as
supposedly additive-free fish and chips and icecream cones, the winner, Jenny
Savige from Warragul in
"Antioxidants are secret unless you go to extreme lengths to ask
the supplier of the food and then the manufacturer of the contents … what hope
have we got if such nasty additives are hidden in our foods?"
5% labelling loophole
Antioxidants do not have to be listed if vegetable oil forms less than
5% of the final product. In September 2003, Marnie Little from south of
Harmful antioxidants
310 Propyl gallate
311 Octyl gallate
312 Dodecyl gallate
319 tert-Butylhydroquinone,
tBHQ
320 Butylated hydroxyanisole,
BHA
321 Butylated hydroxytoluene,
BHT
Safe alternatives:
300 Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
301 Sodium ascorbate
302 Calcium ascorbate
303 Potassium ascorbate
304 Ascorbyl palmitate
306 Mixed tocopherols
(vitamin E)
307 dl-a-Tocopherol
308 g-Tocopherol
309 d-Tocopherol
- opaque containers
Where to find harmful antioxidants
Look for these additives in cooking oils, margarines, lards and any
other fats or oils. Then look for the products which contain these and you will
start to understand the problem. Nearly every processed food contains some kind
of fat or oil. It doesn't matter whether the ingredient label says vegetable
oil, a specific oil like canola or sunflower, fats of vegetable origin, or beef
tallow - unless they list some of the safe alternatives, they will probably
contain one of these harmful additives. Small amounts don't affect people unless
they are very sensitive, but if you eat them every day, effects will build up.
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What the 5% labelling
loophole says If the amount of an ingredient in a food is less than 5% of the food (such as 4.5 per cent sunflower oil added to soymilk), a food additive (such as antioxidant TBHQ, 319) in that ingredient does not have to be included in the ingredients list on the label unless the food additive is performing a technological function in the final food. Who decides is the additive is performing a technological function? The food manufacturers. What if consumption of the unlisted food additive can affect consumers? Too bad. |
Home and away
Unlike commercial oils, most but not all cooking oils for home use in
Avoid fried takeaways
When you eat out, any oils used to cook your food will almost certainly
contain at least one of these potentially harmful additives.
Check other products
Check the ingredients of your pantry. Look at your margarine, dairy
blend, crackers, biscuits, bread, baked goods, croissants, potato crisps, snack
foods, muesli bars, crushed garlic in oil, soymilk and other processed foods.
Any food which contains vegetable oils may contain these antioxidants and they
are not necessarily labelled. Eat these products every day and you will never
know what has affected you.
I discovered this when I carried out research, published in a medical
journal, using the failsafe diet for children's behaviour. In the first stage
of the study, two of the children failed to improve on the diet. I noticed that
both were eating large quantities of a particular biscuit. A call to the
manufacturer revealed that the biscuits contained vegetable oil with unlabelled
BHA. As soon as we removed these items from the diet, the children improved.
Soymilk
Failsafers were outraged when a health food company started using a
sunflower oil containing TBHQ in their soymilks without any mention on the
label. Many families using this soymilk gradually realised that the failsafe
diet had stopped working for them. When the mother who discovered this change
switched her son to another soymilk, he started doing much better. She said
'I'm so angry about manufacturers getting away with what they put in their
foods'. The company has since switched to a safe antioxidant.
To avoid harmful antioxidants, you must stick to the products listed on
the failsafe shopping list and read the product updates on the website. If you
want to eat any unlisted products containing any fats or oils, phone the
manufacturers and ask specifically about each of the gallates, TBHQ and BHA
listed above - but you might still get the wrong answer. We shouldn't have to
rely on word of mouth to judge the safety of food products. Public health is
not protected when parents have to go to these lengths to safeguard their
children.
What you can do
In a 25 year review of diet and behaviour (www.cspinet.org),
scientists from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest concluded that:
"The obvious public
health response would be to remove the irritants, if possible, from the foods
that children eat."
The answer is clear: REFUSE TO BUY! And tell the food companies
of your decision.
References
Clarke L. and others. 'The dietary management of food allergy and food
intolerance in children and adults'. Australian Journal of Nutrition and
Dietetics 1996; 53(3):89-94.
Feingold BF. Dietary management of nystagmus. J Neural Transm. 1979;45(2):107-15.
Fisherman EW and Cohen G. Chemical intolerance to
Butylated-Hydroxyanisole and Butylated-Hydroxytoluene, Annals of Allergy
1973;31:126-133.
Hanssen, M. New Additive Code Breaker, 2002, Lothian,
Juhlin L. Recurrent urticaria: clinical investigation of 330 patients.
Br J Dermatol. 1981;104(4):369-81
Swain A, Soutter V, Loblay R,
Witschi H and others. Metabolism and pulmonary toxicity of butylated
hydroxytoluene (BHT). Pharmacol Ther. 1989;42(1):89-113.
www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info
The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult
with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary investigation,
consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance.
updated November
2004
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