Looking for the ‘hidden’ ingredients in everyday foods

Hide and seek" – it’s a game food manufacturers love to play. They "hide" dangerous ingredients in their products under seemingly harmless names on food labels, leaving consumers groping in the dark as they seek the truth.

This comes to light in view of the Food Allergen Labelling and Consumer Protection Act, which requires food companies to use common names for eight food allergens (like milk, shellfish, eggs, peanuts, fish, wheat, soy). This takes effect in January 2006.

"There has been a lot of press about this Consumer Protection Act, but very little discussion about the other ingredients hidden in foods by food manufacturers that pose a legitimate health risk to all consumers, not just those with specific food allergens," writes NewsTarget.com.

We can’t think of a better example than MSG (monosodium glutamate – better known to Pinoys as vetsin). MSG is actually an excitotoxin (read: an ingredient known to enhance the taste of food by overexciting the taste buds) and known to cause nerve damage. It’s a feeling we know only too well, especially after ingesting MSG-spiked Chinese food – otherwise known as the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. Which is why good Chinese restaurants like to advertise that their food does not use MSG.

NewsTarget.com hits the nail on the head: "While MSG is sometimes listed directly on the label, it is more frequently hidden in other ingredients, such as yeast extract, autolyzed vegetable protein, or hydrolyzed vegetable protein. All three of these ingredients contain monosodium glutamate, and yet they are designed to mislead consumers by avoiding mentioning MSG directly on the label."

According to truthinlabeling.org, these ALWAYS contain MSG: glutamate glutamic acid, gelatin, sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, textured protein, any protein that is hydrolyzed.

It adds that these OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing: carrageenan, maltodextrin, malt extract, malt flavoring, barley malt, natural pork flavoring, natural chicken flavoring, natural beef flavoring, broth, bouillon, soy sauce, soy sauce extract, soy protein, pectin, whey protein, anything protein fortified, anything enzyme-modified, anything fermented.

Spilling more MSG facts, truthinlabeling.org notes that low-fat milk products often contain milk solids that contain MSG.

There’s also hidden MSG in candy, chewing gum, and drinks, which also contain aspartame that can cause MSG-type reactions in MSG sensitive people. There are people who react to even a very small dose of MSG.

If you think MSG is found only in our everyday food, think – and look – again. There’s MSG in our soap, shampoo, hair conditioner, and cosmetics. Of course, MSG is hidden under the words "hydrolyzed" and "amino acids" – yes, right under our unsuspecting noses.

Then there’s sodium nitrite that sounds like a form of salt you love to sprinkle on your food. Fact is, this ingredient is extremely carcinogenic. Now, that’s a hard story to swallow.

NewsTarget.com gives more than a sprinkling of info on sodium nitrite: "When combined with your saliva and digestive enzymes, sodium nitrite creates cancer-causing compounds known as nitrasamines. These nitrosamines are so toxic to biological systems that they are actually used to give lab rats cancer in laboratory tests. In humans, the consumption of sodium nitrite has been strongly correlated with brain tumors, leukemia, and cancers of the digestive tract. Yet this ingredient carries absolutely no warning on food labels and, in fact, seems to sound like a perfectly safe ingredient like sodium."

Where to find sodium nitrite?

Look for it in bacon, ham, hotdog, luncheon meat, and other packaged meat products. Manufacturers use it to add red color to meat products and give them a fresh look (otherwise they’d look gross with their rotten gray color).

There’s also carmine, which certainly doesn’t sound like it comes from ground-up insect (specifically, the dead, ground-up husks of female red beetles). Typically raised in the Canary Islands, these female beetles are dried and ground up to create a red paste that is added to food to give it a rose-like or strawberry color. It is commonly found in colored pasta, some candies, bottled juices, frozen pops, and some so-called natural cosmetics.

But while carmine does not pose a health risk, it is yet another glaring example of the dishonest labeling practice of food companies.

And then there are the hidden animal ingredients, a special concern for vegetarians. In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Being Vegetarian, Suzanne Havala gave some meaty observations, thus: Animal fats are added to candy, baked goods, chewing gum, liquor, etc., and these are often not specified on the ingredients list. Much of the commercial gelatin that we buy in supermarkets is a by-product of pig skin. Calcium stearate, a mineral typically derived from cows or hogs, is found in garlic salt, vanilla, salad-dressing mixes.

And of course, vegetarians should know that our fave french fries – which are anything but French – are deep-fried in lard or pork fat.

Indeed, there’s more to food labels than meets the eye.

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‘Green’ cooking and more at eco-market

Have an eco-friendly feast as the Zero Waste National Recycling Movement of the Philippines Foundation holds Samu’t-Sari 2005, a one-of-a-kind bazaar featuring eco-friendly products, healthy/organic food, arts and crafts, personal and home care products, pet care products, home decor, eco books, and more.

Simply look for the booths strewn under the thick tree canopy that covers the National Ecology Center on East Avenue, Quezon City, fronting the Philippine Heart Center.

Think green – and see a lot of green at this bazaar that also features selected green practices and technologies as well as Pinoy inventions.

To complete the eco-friendly shopping experience, shoppers will be provided with eco-friendly bags. Or they’re encouraged to bring their own eco-friendly bags.

Bazaar hours are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A highlight of Earth Day Celebration on April 22-24 and held with the support of the Alternative LyfStyle Eco-Marketing and Consultancy, Samu’t-Sari 2005 will be graced by participants of the 2005 Earth Day Network Philippines and people from non-governmental organizations, government, and private agencies.

For inquiries, call 925-4718, 0918-4210729 or 655-5674/0917-4777749. E-mail at ekomarket2005@yahoo.com or gene_romero@i-manila.com.ph.

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We’d love to hear from you. E-mail us at ching_alano@yahoo.com.