David Torres

Dual Credit Biology-6th Period

June 10, 2019
Should people care about the few additives in their food.
Food and additives go hand and hand. Food is basically energy (calories) that people,
animals, and plants eat or drink in order to live and grow, while additives are substances are
preservatives and enhancers. Additives are added to foods in order to preserve their self life and
enhance their appearance and taste. These food additives are more likely than not in every
America’s household and diets. Although these additives are added to overall make foods better,
people should care about these additives as they are not necessarily safe and cause concern to
one’s health.
First and foremost, one of the most common food additives is Sodium Nitrate, this is
added to mostly processed meats in order to preserve and prevent bacteria from forming.
However, Sodium Nitrate can cause cancer, according to Link (2018), “a higher intake of
processed meats may be linked to a higher risk of colorectal, breast and bladder cancer” (p. 25).
This indicates that since Sodium Nitrate is most commonly in processed meats, the relation
between the additive and various types of cancer is very very concerning to one's health. Then
Link (2018) goes on to state, “One review showed that a higher intake of nitrites and nitrosamine
was associated with a higher risk of stomach cancer” (p. 24). This is clearly stating that Sodium
Nitrate is in direct relation to stomach cancer and that disease is very well known to be fatal and
should raise immediate red flags in someone’s health.
Additionally, not only can additives cause cancer, but additives such as Artificial Food
Coloring (AFC) directly causes a health risk known as hyperactivity in children. For example,
according to Downs (2018), “​Artificial food color is suspected of causing increased hyperactivity
in children” (p. 6). This is clearly an indication that AFC is connected to the hyperactivity seen
in children and should cause concern in their health as it can lead to ADHD. Next, Downs (2018)
clearly states, “...concluded that consuming artificial coloring and preservatives in food can
increase hyperactivity in kids” (p. 8). Downs is officially saying that AFC directly leads to
hyperactivity in children, and this disease can not only affect children now but much much later
in their lives as well.
In addition of food additives causing health problems for humans, they can also increase
health risk in animals such as dogs. For instance, according to Bari and Yeasmin (2018), “Dogs
that ate bread made from treated flour suffered epileptic-like fits; the toxic agent was methionine
sulfoximine” (p. 8.4). This is basically indicating that the food additive process known as Agene,
harmed dogs because it lead to toxic substances to be found in their food. Then Bari and
Yeasmin (2018) go on to mention that a food additive known as Red 4 contained, “High levels
damaged adrenal cortex of dog; after 1965 it was used only in maraschino cherries and certain
pills” (p. 8.4). This is clearly indicating that Red 4 was harming a dog’s adrenal cortex which us
basically a producer of hormones that help regulate blood pressure. Which is a cause of concern
for the health of dogs everywhere.