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Kimberly Frez Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 Date 2/13/14 Revealing The Harmful Chemical Additives In Our Foods

Food is a necessity for maintaining life. Dating back to the beginning of time humans were omnivores, eating both meat and plants. Today, being an omnivore, herbivore, or even carnivore has become a personal choice. Through the foods that we eat, we get the nutrients and energy that we need to live out our days. Our dependency on food is crucial. Each and every one of our bodies is a temple and it should be a priority to take care of them. Now we depend on other people to make many of our foods. Consumers go to grocery stores and restaurants to purchase food that has already been made, or, ingredients to make a meal at a later time. Again, these foods we intake are supposed to give us the nutrients and energy to be healthy people but its time to realize that many of the foods we are eating are hurting us rather than benefiting us. How often when purchasing foods do we take the time and read the nutrition labels to understand what it is that we are consuming in our bodies? In most processed foods that we eat, but not solely processed foods, the foods contain harmful chemical additives: mercury, trans-fats, and olestra being some of them. Not all chemical additives cause detrimental long-term effects to the body but many do. It is important to educate consumers so that they may be smarter shoppers when it comes time to choosing what they are eating and this will have for a healthier United States.

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Mercury is an additive that has been found in fish. When looking at a periodic table, mercury, Hg, is located in the transition metal section with its atomic mass approximately 200.59 signifying that it is a heavy metal. This naturally occurring metal is one that can be neither created nor destroyed emphasizing the natural in naturally occurring. It is unsafe to come in contact with any amount of mercury; which is why to humans, mercury is a toxin. According to EarthTalk of Scientific American: Human industrial activity (such as coal-fired electricity generation, smelting and the incineration of waste) ratchets up the amount of airborne mercury which eventually finds its way into lakes, rivers and the ocean, where it is gobbled up by unsuspecting fish and other marine life. When we consume these fish we are allowing mercury to enter our bodies where it can never be destroyed. If consumed while carrying a child the child has a greater chance of being born with birth defects. Mercury is also considered a carcinogen, and also causes methylmercury toxicity, also known as Minamata disease. (Mercury.utah.gov) Another harmful additive is trans fat. These are found on nutrition labels as trans fat, or partially hydrogenated oils. A trans fat is formed when more hydrogen atoms are added to a compound and use the heavy metal platinum as a catalyst. Platinum, just as mercury, is found in the transition metal section of the Periodic Table. Using platinum as a catalyst should alert all consumers because jewelry and many other not digestible things are made out of platinum, and also like mercury, cannot be destroyed from the body. Trans fats harm to the body works as a domino effect. A person consumes food with trans fats; the trans fat affects your cholesterol, which then leads to a heart attack, or stroke, or even atherosclerosis. According to the American Heart Association: the trans fat affects your cholesterol by raising the low-density lipoprotein,

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LDL your bad cholesterol, and lowers your good cholesterol, HDL, high-density lipoprotein. The LDL works by building up inside the inner walls of your arteries. Major arteries lead to the heart and brain, and a blockage in those arteries leads to heart attacks, strokes, and or atherosclerosis. HDLs job is to slow down that build up but with less HDL than LDL it makes things difficult causing the health problems. Something that should really shock consumers is the rule set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Trans fat content must be expressed as grams per serving to the nearest 0.5-gram increment below 5 grams and to the nearest gram above 5 grams. If a serving contains less than 0.5 gram, the content, when declared, must be expressed as "0 g." When reading the rule it specifically says a serving. Just one serving is hardly ever consumed and if the food still had trans fat in it, consuming more than one serving would make the amount of trans fat consumed larger as well. Olestra is another chemical additive. P&G discovered Olestra accidentally, and gave it its brand name, Olean. When Olestra was discovered it was a scientific success because it was something that was easily digested by infants. To top it being easily digested, Olestra contains no fats, calories, or cholesterol. Ultimately Olestra is a fat substitute. Although its severity is not like mercurys and trans fat Olestra causes abdominal cramping, loose bowl movements, and weight gain. The biggest concern of Olestra is that it does not allow the body to absorb nutrients and vitamins. New news has shown that Olestra can be also found in paints and lubricants. On ABC NEWS news report Not So (O)Lean: Eating Faux Fat Makes Rats Real Fat Susan Swithers, psychology professor at Purdue University said, "When we get cues that something is fatty, but no calories arrive -- like with fat substitutes -- our body gets confused." By consuming

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Olestra the body is not able to preform normal bodily functions correctly, which essentially leads to many problems. Mercury, trans fats, and olestra are some of the harmful chemical additives in our foods but are not all of them. The amount of unhealthy food that we consume is high and the health of everyone consuming these foods is going low. A healthier lifestyle can always be implemented and will benefit the body. Your body is a temple and its up to you to take care of it. It is important that we acknowledge issues such as these and educate the public. Although a bag of chips or a slice of pie may be eaten without thinking about things, these foods are some of the main reasons why we have so many patients in the hospital. Knowing how to avoid these foods will help in the long run. Food is a necessity for maintaining life. Its time to realize that many of the foods we are eating are hurting us rather than benefiting us.

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Works Cited

Daniel S., Jones. CHEM 1204 Supplementary Notes. 14. Print. "Good vs. Bad Cholesterol." American Heart Association. American Heart Association.Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "Guidance for Industry: Trans Fatty Acids in Nutrition Labeling, Nutrient Content Claims, Health Claims; Small Entity Compliance Guide." U.S. Food and Drug Administration. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Aug. 2003. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. Hutchison, Courtney, and Abc News Medical Unit. "Not So (O)Lean: Eating Faux Fat Makes Rats Real Fat." ABC News. ABC News Network, 21 June 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
"Mercury.utah.gov | Mercury Toxicity." Mercury.utah.gov | Mercury Toxicity. Utah Department of Enviromental Quality, . Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

"Olestra." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Phelan, Jay. "Chapter 2 Section 2.13." What Is Life?: A Guide to Biology. New York: W. H. Freeman &, 2010. 60. Print.
Scheer, Roddy. "How Does Mercury Get Into Fish?" Scientific American Global RSS. Ed. Doug Moss. E - The Environmental Magazine, 30 Dec. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. "South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control." SCDHEC: EQC Administration. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Web. 10 Feb. 2014. "What You Need to Know about Mercury in Fish and Shellfish." United States Environmental Protection Agency. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Web. 10 Feb. 2014.