Are additives and preservatives in food bad for the human body?

[timeuser84]

Hi I would like to know the facts about this

 

[jim mcnamara]

https://www.nutrition.gov/whats-food/food-additivesThere are several links, based on things like food coloring, preservatives, and so on.

Some additives in the past have been delisted (banned) or limited by the FDA. A recent one is the addition of trans fats.
News article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...are-officially-banned/?utm_term=.a47a75b8797a

 

[russ_watters]

Are additives and preservatives in food bad for the human body?

I think the way the question is asked is incomplete: what matters is not if they are bad, it's whether it is worse to have them or not.

 

[Evo]

I think the way the question is asked is incomplete: what matters is not if they are bad, it's whether it is worse to have them or not.

Exactly, salt is a preservative.

 

[Rive]

I think @russ_watters was rather thinking about the amount/variety (!) of guaranteed quality (!) food becoming available all year around (!) than preservatives which happen to have nutritional value.

 

[russ_watters]

I think @russ_watters was rather thinking about the amount/variety (!) of guaranteed quality (!) food becoming available all year around (!) than preservatives which happen to have nutritional value.

Yes, food with preservatives has a longer, more stable/predictable shelf life - that's what "preserve" means. That makes it less likely you'll accidentally eat spoiled food. E.G., lat year's pickle incident where a jar of pickles I had went bad weeks before its expiration date:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/fermenting-pickles.948675/
Also, as you note, not all of the benefits are nutritional/health, which makes the analysis very qualitative.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Apropos of @russ_watters comment:
food poisoning (gastrointestinal infections) was in the top 10 causes of death in 1900. Taking into consideration the fact that Medical Science back then was much more art than science, so the data is not great, it still shows the effect of preserving foods safely. In 2000 food poisoning was rare, much less deadly and mostly something the CDC and USDA tracked.

Example

Credit University of North Carolina