Challengin Nutrition Myths: Myth # 4

Myth # 4: Food today is full of dangerous chemicals.

All foods are made up of chemicals. You might be surprised to see the list of chemicals that make up a perfectly natural apple or orange. Certain processed foods have small amounts of approved chemicals added to increase their safety, shelf-life, palatability, appearance, texture, etc. What some folks have forgotten is that "it's the dose that makes the poison"...in other words, it's the amount of most substances that will determine whether or not they are toxic. In small amounts approved preservatives and additives are not harmful and are infinitely preferable to mould, rancidity and bacterial invasion.

Most countries have laws that are very strict in terms of just what and how much of a particular additive or preservative is permitted to be put in a food. The testing for safety of additives and preservatives is extremely thorough as well. Unfortunately foods rot, bacteria invade, and insects attack; nature is not always as benign as it's cracked up to be.

For whatever reason some people seem more comfortable with an illness delivered by nature than with the scare of man-made chemicals. The nonsense of drinking raw, unprocessed milk is a case in point. Despite overwhelming evidence of the risk of bacterial contamination in raw milk, some people would consume it in preference to pasteurized milk because of a sense that it is more "natural". Similarly there are those who argue against the fluoridation of drinking water even though this practice has been shown to be of benefit to teeth and safe in the amounts used. Another fear is of irradiation. While this method of food preservation could be argued to be unnecessary in western countries since we have other, effective methods, there are great numbers of people starving in third world countries while donated food rots or falls victim to insects. They could benefit greatly if this food were to be irradiated.

Yes, we want to be vigilant about food safety, but at the same time we should be receptive to advances in food technology. And remember the alleged conversation between two cavemen: "How come everything we eat is 100 percent natural, yet our life expectancy is still only 23?"