Decoding Dangerous Food Additives: Your Guide to Smart Grocery Choices

Isn’t fruit juice concentrate and Agave nectar supposed to be healthy? How about cocoa butter and things like Brine, Mono, and diglycerides? No idea what these words on the food labels mean? No worries. Today, we will tackle all these mysterious food additives that the food industry doesn’t want you to know about. We will discuss how they impact your health and why you should be on lookout for them when doing your grocery shopping.

Some of the food additives that you can frequently see among the ingredients on the food labels are words like dextrose, fructose, and glucose. All of these are nothing else but different words saying the same thing – sugar.  But which one of these sugars is the worst for your health?

Well, the first thing you need to understand is that when you notice any of these listed among the first few ingredients on a food label, it’s a clear sign that the product is primarily made up of sugar, given that ingredients are listed in descending order of their quantity in the food.

Let’s look at the individually. Dextrose is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and is used by our cells for energy. It has a high glycemic index, which means that it can cause a rapid spike in blood sugar levels.

What about Glucose? While glucose isn’t as sweet as table sugar (sucrose) or fructose which is another sugar that we will discuss next, it still provides a sweet taste. The main problem with glucose is that it also causes very rapid blood sugar spikes after you digest it similarly to dextrose. Over time this can lead to insulin resistance and associated diabetes.

Fructose as mentioned earlier is also sugar, but unlike glucose and dextrose, fructose is metabolized primarily in the liver. For this very reason, fructose does not cause a quick rise in blood sugar or insulin levels like glucose and dextrose do, but it causes a lot more health issues. You will frequently encounter fructose in the form of high fructose corn syrup. High fructose intake can lead to a buildup of fat in the liver, a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Fructose also contributes to insulin resistance and promotes storage of visceral fat – the fat that engulfs your organs and leads to various metabolic diseases such as diabetes. Lastly, fructose has also been shown to increase the level of a particular fat in your blood called triglycerides.

Now, let’s talk about maltose. Maltose is a type of sugar derived from malted foods or fermented by yeast. In your body, it is broken into regular sugar, and the body treats it the same way, which means that it also raises blood sugar, but compared to glucose, maltose has a slightly lower glycemic index than pure glucose and will not raise blood sugar as rapidly. Lactose, on the other hand, is a sugar that is naturally found in milk and causes milk intolerance in certain individuals who are not able to break down lactose. Sucrose is nothing else but your old-fashioned table sugar derived from sugar cane and sugar beet. So, from the above-mentioned sugars, high fructose corn syrup is definitely the worst one.

But we have a few more sugars commonly hiding in foods, some of which are portrayed as healthier options. These include barley malt, malt syrup, or rice syrup, which are just different names for sweeteners, all of which will raise your blood sugar level, but which will spike your sugar the most? In reality, the main difference is in the source that is used to derive these sweeteners from- barley, malted grains, or rice. However, rice syrup, often used as a sweetener in organic and health foods and considered a “natural” sweetener used in granola bars, cereals, and some baked goods, is the worst when it comes to rapid sugar spikes. That’s because rice syrup contains high glucose content, which is rapidly metabolized – that’s something not good for anybody who needs to control their blood sugar.

Now, evaporated cane juice may sound healthier, but is it? It is often referred to as “evaporated cane juice” or “unrefined sugar.” You will frequently hear people saying that because it undergoes less processing than regular white sugar – that’s why it is a bit darker- it contains minerals like iron, calcium, and potassium which are good for you.

Well, unfortunately, in reality, it is just another sugar, and that’s exactly how your body will treat it. The amount of trace minerals it contains is so small that it is not even worth mentioning.

Some people also think that agave nectar, because it is marketed as natural, is a good, healthy sweetener, much better than white sugar. Folks, nothing could be further from the truth. The biggest problem with agave nectar is that it is super high in fructose.

The content of fructose is often much higher than that of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which we discussed earlier. Now, the exact fructose content can vary depending on the brand and processing, but it’s generally around 70-90%. That’s huge, folks. Now, you may say that it has a pretty low Glycemic Index due to its high fructose content, but given all that, we just mentioned about the impact of high fructose intake on our health – I don’t think it’s worth messing with it.

The bottom line is that you never want to eat any form of sugar for its vitamin, mineral, or other promoted nutritious value. Always treat it as just another sugar. The same goes for fruit juice concentrate, which is used as a sweetener in many processed foods. Sugar is sugar and even eating too much natural fruit sugar in fresh fruits can be bad. I had a patient who could not understand why all of a sudden he developed pre-diabetes. After doing a detailed diet recall it turned out that he was eating a bowl of fresh fruit every day for dinner thinking it was healthy. His blood sugar went back to normal once he stopped it and only 1-2 pieces of fresh fruit a day.

If you see the words “partially hydrogenated oils” on the food label, it means that the food contains trans fatty acids, which are far worse for your health than naturally occurring fats. Now, frequently, you will see the word shortening. These fats are made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and also contain trans fatty acids. Lecithin, which you will commonly encounter on food labels, is a fatty substance used in food as an emulsifier to mix oil- and water-based ingredients. It’s naturally found in many foods, including eggs, soybeans, and sunflower seeds. So, when you see lecithin listed as an ingredient on a food label, it’s typically derived from one of these sources. As a food ingredient, it is generally considered safe.

Mono- and diglycerides are essentially fats that fulfill the same role as lecithin, but the concern is that they may contain trans fatty acids, and for vegans, it is not always clear if they are derived from animal or plant sources. So, what about things like palm oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter? Are they healthy, more natural fats? While it is true that they are more natural, keep in mind that all of them are high in saturated fats, which raise cholesterol much more than the presence of cholesterol in food itself. So, you still need to be careful about how much of these you consume. Let alone the fact that, like any other form of fat, they are high in calories and will add pounds to you if you are not careful.

Most people are familiar with MSG – monosodium glutamate, which is what makes many processed foods taste good because it serves as a flavor enhancer. It is commonly added to Chinese food, canned vegetables, soups, and processed meats. Most people are familiar with the adverse reactions that many people experience- headaches, muscle tightness, heart fluttering, tiredness and weakness, flushing and so on. But what about autolyzed yeast or hydrolyzed yeast? These are derived from yeast that has been broken down into its individual components and used to provide a meaty taste to the food without actually adding any meat or artificial flavors. You will commonly find them in products like soups, broths, sauces, snack foods, and vegetarian products.

What is bad about them is that they are also frequent sources of MSG, which the manufacturer does not have to disclose on the food label if the amount of MSG per serving is below a certain government threshold. So, if the product says no MSG, but you see among the ingredients autolyzed yeast or hydrolyzed yeast, you can almost bet that there is MSG. Disodium phosphate is frequently used in processed cheeses as an emulsifying salt to help maintain the smooth, uniform texture of the cheese and prevent the separation of fats and proteins. What you should know is that, besides the fact that it can contain MSG, eating too much food containing disodium phosphate may elevate the level of phosphorus in your body, which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

This is particularly important for individuals with chronic kidney disease, who must monitor their phosphorus intake since phosphorus is harmful to the kidneys. So, what about if you see the words “Brine” or “Cured”? Are they bad for you? The word “brined,” in a nutshell, tells you that the product has been soaked in saltwater, which is a traditional method of food preservation that has been used for centuries. While brining can improve the taste and texture of foods, it also increases their salt content, which is not good if you need to keep your salt intake low because of high blood pressure.

Curing, on the other hand, involves treating foods with salt, sugar, nitrates, or nitrites to preserve them and extend their shelf life. Commonly cured foods include ham, bacon, salami, and some fish. The purpose is to get the salt to draw out moisture from the food and make the environment in the food less hospitable to bacteria. As with brining, cured foods tend to be very high in salt, which can contribute to high blood pressure and other health issues. The case gets a lot worse with nitrates and nitrites, which have been linked to an increased risk of certain types of cancer when consumed in large amounts over time.

This is made worse during cooking, like with ham, bacon, or salami, especially cooking at high temperatures, when the nitrates and nitrites can form nitrosamines, some of which are carcinogenic. So, what about Sodium alginate and Sodium ascorbate? These are also forms of salt used in processed foods. Sodium alginate is derived from brown seaweed and is used in the food industry as a thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier.

It’s often found in ice cream, jellies, and dressings. Sodium ascorbate, on the other hand, is a salt of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and is used in the food industry as an antioxidant and preservative. It helps to maintain the color and flavor of foods by preventing oxidation. Both of which are considered generally safe but are forms of salt, so keep it in mind.