Your health, your children’s health, and food additives

We generally assume, wrongly it turns out, that EPA, FDA and other governmental agencies will do their job and keep us protected from the corporations trying to make money at all costs, including jeopardizing consumer safety.  Let me give you an example or two:  There are many many chemicals in our food and food wrappings, food packaging, plastic tupperware, cooking pots and pans,  the preservatives and artificial colors and flavors that they put in the food these days that we assume it must’ve been tested for safety and carcinogenecity.   It turns out that is a wrong assumption.  Many of the laws that govern what is being added to food are out dated.  Many chemicals considered to be in the GRAS category (generally recognized as safe), are in fact not safe and have not even been tested for safety!!

Children and their developing bodies and endocrine system are far more vulnerable to disruption than adults.  And the damage has far more serious and long term consequences.  Many already in the food supply have not been tested at all, or their effects on children and their health is unknown due to lack of testing.  Some of these chemicals are known to affect brain development and or endocrine disruption potential!  Children are particularly susceptible to these chemicals as their weight adjusted doses is much greater than an adults and of course they are just more sensitive to the effects of any chemical, specially endocrine mimicking ones.

Endocrine disruption is not the only potential problem with these compounds.  There is cardiotoxicity, immune disruption and or suppression, decreased birth weight, and more recently there has been a link between obesity and the chemicals we maybe exposed to early in life and the potential for some foods to cause obesity, called a foods obesogenecity factor!

And its not just the additives to the food itself, but lots of the toxic chemicals are coming from “food contact substances” which are essentially the plastic wrappings and the chemicals they leach off into the food.   There is direct and indirect additives.  Indirect additives here can mean things such as paper, paperboard, plastic or other polymers, dyes, coatings, adhesives.  Direct food additives include artificial coloring, artificial flavorings and almost of the preservatives added during processing!

So what your food touches before you eat it, while you microwave it, wrap it for lunch, etc matters.  Too much convenience is exposing us to harmful chemicals.  These effects are long lasting when exposed to early in life!

Please be aware and protect yourself and your kiddos accordingly.

What the children and toddlers are exposed to early in life will determine their health into adulthood and beyond so please watch how much plastic and the like touches their food.   Even more important, keep the kiddos and yourself protected from the ravages of the zika virus, which as soon as it came on the scene, I was the first to say that its not detrimental and disastrous to only babies in the womb, but anybody with neuronal stem cells can be affected by thi virus!  We all have neuronal stem cells keeping the brain repaired and keeping us functioning.  Zika can damage these cells even in adults!!!  It turns out that was a correct fear and concern.