What started out as a innocent glance at the ingredient list of my son’s favorite crackers has turned into a mission to learn about each ingredient on the back of every food label. It’s all too easy to ignore what is too complicated to understand, but I think I’ve come up with a solution to simplify it all. Each week I will expose a new ingredient found in foods through an ‘Awareness Week’ of that ingredient.
You will be able to find full listings, blog postings, and links at Pure Foodology 101 as well as daily updates on my Twitter and Facebook pages.
Luckily there are grocery stores that ban possibly dangerous ingredients (one of my favorites is Earth Fare. Here is a link to their banned ingredients list). Shopping there saves me the trouble of worrying about each ingredient but since this is not always an option, I look forward to having an arsenal of knowledge to know exactly what I’m buying (or not buying, as the case may be).
TBHQ (Tertiary Butylhydroquinone)
TBHQ is a butane-derived chemical preservative (say what!) used to greatly extend the storage life of foods. The FDA allows amounts of up to 0.02% of the total oils in food to be TBHQ. This “limit” sounds like an immediate concern, as does the side note ‘added for freshness’ that follows TBHQ in my son’s crackers. It’s as if they’re giving an excuse (red flag).
Can be found in: fats/oils, butter, margarine, ice cream, bread, crackers, potato chips
oils, fats, butter, ice cream, margarine, bread, potato chips — See more at: http://www.befoodsmart.com/ingredients/tbhq.php#sthash.nKxGyNqT.dpuf
Possible health concerns: hyperactivity, ADD/ADHD, asthma, rhinitis (runny nose), dermatitis, nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, cancer, collapse and delirium. (“Honey it wasn’t me, it was the TBHQ!“)
This article was originally posted to: www.PureFoodology.com
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