If you’re keeping an eye on what you eat this year, you may want to take it a step further than just calorie and fat intake. There are several additives that are legal in the United States, but banned in other countries because of their potential link to cancer.
The European Union bars several additives that have been linked to cancer from being used in food, as well as several drugs that are used in farm animals in the U.S. But the United States is lagging behind Europe when it comes to removing these substances from what we eat.
Read More- Potassium bromate — This additive is commonly used in baked goods. Potassium bromate is often added to flour used in bread, rolls, cookies, buns, pizza dough, and other goods. The Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the FDA to ban the additive nearly two decades ago — but to no avail.
- Azodicarbonamide (or ADA) — ADA is also commonly used in baked goods as a whitening agent; it can be used in cereal flour and as a dough conditioner. The additive breaks down during baking into chemicals that reportedly cause cancer in lab animals.
- BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) — Both of these additives are widely used as preservatives in the U.S. — they prevent oils in foods from oxidizing, which affects flavor, color, and odor of foods. Both BHA and BHT are restricted in Europe, but widely used in the U.S. Evidence on the danger in BHT is mixed, but BHA is listed as “reasonably anticipated” to be a human carcinogen in the U.S. government report on carcinogens.
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