PTE Food Additives Essay – Chemicals in Food Production and Preservation

Do the dangers derived from the use of chemicals in food production and preservation outweigh the advantages? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

PTE Food Additives Essay – Chemicals in Food Production and Preservation

Yum, yum! Going to enjoy your favorite pizza? It’s irresistible for you, we understand. But have you ever given a thought to the process of making all your favorite foods? The preservatives used? No? Well, let’s take a look now. We’ll think about the uses or harmful effects of preservatives later, first, we need to know why preservatives have to be used? The answer is pretty simple: to prevent bacteria growth and spoilage. These preservatives not only prevent the growth of bacteria can prevent us from enjoying good food too.

One of the harmful effects of preservatives in foods is that they cause breathing difficulties like asthma. Young children develop significant behavioral changes like hyperactive behavior due to consumption of food preservatives and additives. And not to forget, food preservatives increase the levels of heart damage over time. One of the most serious harmful effects of preservatives used in foods is that they are carcinogenic, i. e. cancer causing. Bread, which we have been consuming for years in various forms for breakfast, mid meal snacks was found to have potassium bromate which is carcinogenic but not banned in India.

Preservatives prevent microorganisms and fungi from developing on foods and thus preventing spoilage and maximize the number of time foods stay in our refrigerators. While preservatives help protect the food supply, their negative effects on our bodies can not be ignored. Bromates destroy nutrients and cause stomach problems such as diarrhea, sulfites cause joint pain and heart palpitations, artificially produced citric acid is known to cause asthma and allergic reactions.

So what can we do when everything we eat has preservatives in it? We can shop smartly and buy products which do not have harmful, carcinogenic ingredients in them. When buying deli meats , look out for ‘no nitrates’ on the labels. Slaughtered chickens are injected with sodium lactate, potassium lactate, hydrolyzed protein, monosodium glutamate and papain and to avoid these preservatives, USDA-certified organic poultry can be purchased.

Not all preservatives are bad or unhealthy for consumption. Some are necessary to ensure the safety and variety of different food stuff, we just need to look out for the harmful ones. Sulfites, sodium benzoate, nitrites, BHA/BHT are questionable.

What can we do to ensure a preservative -free shopping experience? Choose natural products, opt for organic and stay away from pre-packaged and processed food products as much as possible. The best way to avoid consumption of dangerous chemicals and preservatives is to use natural ingredients like salt, sugar, onions and rosemary extract to preserve foods.