Food Additives: Food Colorings and Flavorings
Are They Healthy of Unhealthy?

What are food additives? What are food colorings? What are food flavorings? Are they healthy or unhealthy for us? These are all questions that will be answered throughout this paper. I will go into deep detail about what these things are and where they come from. Also, we will see if these things are healthy or unhealthy for our bodies. After knowing answering all these questions, you will leave educated knowing more about what you may eat every day. First, I will go into detail about what food additives consist of. In general, food additives are substances that are added to food. These substances either make food look or taste better to the public. Also, there are substances that are added to food to keep it safe and clean from pesticides and other processes. Food additives can consist of two categories: direct and indirect. These are two ways of food additives getting inside our food and affecting the taste, smell, and safety of it. Direct food additives are substances added to food for a certain purpose. For example, xantham gum is added in food to make salad dressings, puddings, and things of that nature. Indirect food additives are substances that just finds their way into food during certain processes. For example, small amounts of chemicals from when food is processed and packaged finds its way in food while being stored. This is the reason why FDA requires food safety inspectors to inspect food before it is sent out to the stores and markets for consumption. Now that we know what food additives are, let’s go deeper into this subject at hand and start, by discussing about food flavorings. Food flavorings are food additives used to enhance or alter the taste of food. Food flavorings are split up into three main categories. The first category is natural flavorings. Natural flavorings are derived from a plant or animal and do not contain any type of artificial or synthetic substances. The second category is nature-identical flavorings. Nature-identical flavorings are chemically made to match the genetics and chemical makeup of natural flavorings. The last category is artificial flavorings. Artificial flavorings are flavorings that aren’t identified and basically, just chemicals mixed up together for human consumption. Even though all of these flavorings are made for consumption, are they healthy for us? In my opinion, it depends what type of food flavorings are used. I believe natural flavorings are the only flavorings that are safe and healthy for us. As for nature-identical and artificial, they are not healthy for consumption or mixture. For example, in 2000, it was discovered that a butter flavoring chemical called diacetyl was causing employees to get a rare lung disease. This happened right in Missouri and grabbed the attention of FDA. FDA made it to where now, food companies have to provide protection to employees from the chemicals used in their products. Food flavorings can make your food taste good but by breathing it in, you can develop bronchiolitis obliterans. So, we all can say no, food flavorings are not healthy for us. The chemicals cause an imbalance and health risks occur. Food flavorings are still being developed and tested throughout the world. Some companies are trying to make things healthy while also being cost-efficient. I personally hope that more natural food flavorings can be produced and implanted into more foods. Since they are natural and have no chemicals added to them, they shouldn’t be able to harm us. Since we have gone over food flavorings, now we can go into food colorings. Food colorings can be any dye, pigment or substance that’s added to any type of food. Food colorings are really self-explanatory. There are only two types of food colorings: natural and synthetic. Natural food colorings are derived from plants and animals, while synthetic food colorings are chemically made up. All food colorings have to be certified by FDA before adding them in food products. Certified food colorings include dyes and lakes. Dyes are water-soluble and usually in foods like dry mixes and drinks. Lakes are more thick and stable than dyes. Lakes are usually in foods that have fats or oils like candy and gum. With food colorings, I believe food colorings may be healthier than food flavorings. Natural food colorings are healthy while synthetic food colorings have been linked to certain health risks. For example, red dye #2 has been linked to people getting cancer in the 1970s. They banned red dye #2 from being sold in food products in the United States. After this happened, people became more and more concerned with food dyes in the food because literally it’s in every food product you have in your kitchen! What can we say about both food flavorings and colorings? Are they healthy or not? I can say that synthetic flavorings and colorings are not healthy. The chemicals may can be consumed but cause so many other problems within your body. Artificial dyes have been linked to many disorders and diseases. Anything natural hasn’t been linked to anything because it comes straight from the ground and goes straight into our food, just in different ways. Until someone proves me otherwise, I am all for natural and not with synthetic because nothing hasn’t been proven against it.

Works Cited
Flavorings (2013). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.foodadditivesworld.com/flavorings.html
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2011, November). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm094211.htm
Whitney, E., & Rolfes, S. R. (2015). Understanding Nutrition. Stamford: Cengage Learning.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/flavoringlung/