This article addresses common misconceptions and biases about food additives and explains how they actually affect our health. While advertising and misinformation have led to the perception that food additives are dangerous, scientific facts emphasize their safety and necessity.
Remember the coffee mix commercial starring a popular actress with the tagline, “No sodium caseinate, a chemical compound in the primer?” It was a catchy phrase that synergized with the perception that “coffee is bad for you” and helped propel the product to the top of the sales charts, beating out a strong competitor. The negative sodium strategy of the ad blamed all of the harmful effects of coffee on sodium caffeine, a food additive that is added to coffee, and sodium caffeine has been associated with coffee ever since.
However, this marketing strategy played on consumers’ fears and deepened their distrust of food additives. In fact, many consumers didn’t have enough information about what sodium caseinate was at the time and how dangerous it really was, so they relied solely on the images and messages in the ads. While the ad was very powerful, the misconceptions it created are still deeply embedded in consumer perceptions.
On the one hand, the claim that sodium caseinate is not harmful to the body has caused controversy, but the negative image of sodium caseinate has remained in people’s minds regardless of the facts. These images created by misinformation and advertising do not disappear quickly, but rather become more deeply entrenched over time. Sodium caseinate, as well as other food additives, is constantly facing controversy. Because of their convenience, foods with additives play a role in many aspects of our lives. But are all of these foods harmful, gnawing away at our health in exchange for convenience? That’s a misconception.
To understand food additives, let’s start with what they are, which is defined in Article 2 of Chapter 1 of the Korean Food Hygiene Act. It reads as follows
2.“Food additive” means a substance that is added to or mixed with food in the process of manufacturing, processing, or preserving food, or a substance used for wetting food. In this case, it includes substances used to sterilize and disinfect utensil containers and packaging that may be indirectly transferred to food.
Based on these criteria, the Minister of Health and Welfare of South Korea has determined which food additives are safe to add to food and are listed in the Food Additives Gazetteer published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
One of the main reasons why food additives have been recognized as bad for you is because of the Chinese food syndrome. This syndrome was recognized in the 1960s when some people who ate Chinese food with a lot of MSG developed symptoms such as stuffiness, headaches, and dizziness, and the negative perception of food additives began to spread. The problem with food additives is the side effects that can easily be caused by consuming too much of them. In addition to MSG, it’s common to hear that sodium nitrite causes cancer, aspartame causes brain tumors, and so on.
However, these claims are either false or very difficult to prove. The food additives that are listed are endorsed by the Department of Health and Human Services and are not harmful over the long term. Of course, each of these can be problematic if consumed in “excessive amounts”. However, the ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake), which is the standard used by the Department of Health and Human Services to limit the amount of food additives that can be consumed, is 1/100th of the “minimal toxic dose,” which is the amount that would cause even a small amount of toxicity. In other words, you would have to consume 100 times the ADI to be even slightly harmed by the additive. Moreover, the amount of food additives in food is much lower than the ADI, so it’s easy to imagine that it’s unrealistic to consume that much.
To give you some specific examples, the most common additives are parabens. These are preservatives that are added to soy sauce, sauces, and various beverages to prevent mold and bacteria from growing. The ADI of these parabens ranges from 0 to 10 mg per kilogram of body weight, with an average daily intake of 0.228 mg/kg, so it’s not a big deal. Another example is tar-based colorants. Although these colors have been raised as possible cancer-causing agents, they have not been shown to cause any harm in humans, so their use is accepted. Furthermore, the daily intake is only 0.02% of the ADI, which is not a safety concern at all.
The idea that eating too much of this food additive is harmful is a myth. Eating that much of any food would cause serious problems. For example, even common condiments such as sugar and salt can cause problems when consumed in excess. In the case of sugar, too much sugar can cause blood sugar levels to rise very high, which can lead to diabetes, while too much salt or soy sauce can cause blood pressure to rise very high, which can lead to death. However, no one would classify them as dangerous substances because of the adverse effects of these common-sense amounts, and only poisonous food additives should be subject to such controversy.
The perception that sodium caseinate, or MSG, which we’ve seen in advertisements and blamed for “Chinese food syndrome,” is bad for you is also due to the fact that it’s chemically synthesized. But this is also a misconception. Sodium caseinate is a sodium salt added to the milk protein casein to make it more soluble in water, and while advertising has made it sound like it’s harmful, there have been no reports of harm. MSG is also the sodium salt of glutamate, an amino acid, and is a natural compound that can be extracted from kelp or soybeans. It’s also a very safe substance with no upper limit for consumption. The only problem is that you”ll be consuming sodium, but you can also reduce your overall sodium intake by adjusting the amount of salt you consume, since MSG can give you enough flavor with less salt than salt. The idea that additives are bad for you is a big myth.
Therefore, we need to get rid of the prejudice caused by these chemical images. On the contrary, food additives allow us to enjoy our food in a richer and safer way. For example, vitamin C is added to milk to improve its health and is used to prevent milk fat from going rancid. Saccharin, a natural chemical used as a sweetener, is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, allowing diabetics and dieters to cut calories without sacrificing sweetness. On the downside, you’ll still be consuming sodium, but you’ll also be able to reduce your overall sodium intake by moderating the amount of salt you use, as less is more. Food preservatives, such as sorbic acid, are also an important part of preserving various foods, and they allow us to eat fresh and safe food at our fingertips.
It’s important not to be overly fearful of food additives, but rather to recognize their role and value and utilize them appropriately.
