Do you know what food additives are in your food basket?

In modern food production there are various food additives that most of us know very little about. Shouldn‘t we know what chemicals are being used and the impact  they can have on our bodies? Will some of them provoke allgergies or even cause ADHD in our kids or will they have a positive anti-oxidating effect?

In the right hand column E-efnin, Nature.is has compiled a comprehensive list of the various food additives and in a version for smartphones on e.natturan.is (only in Icelandic). These are chemicals such as dyes, preservatives, and binding chemicals. Some may be harmful to human health, while others are anti-oxidants and considered to be beneficial. The third group are relatively neutral, i.e. they are not known to cause a positive or negative effect. The harmful food additives are marked in red on the scale, neutral additives are on the yellow part of the scale, and food additives considered positive are on the green part. Sources are cited in every instance and the precautionary information is given for your consideration. Nature.is is not expressing it‘s opinion in this case.

By entering the name of the E-chemical you want to learn about, you can receive information in the field below (only in Icelandic but will appear in English as well shortly). Then you‘ll be in a better position to decide what to buy and your choice as a consumer can  have an positive impact on the market. Our hope is that through proper education, consumers will understand the issues, stand together and bring about a renaissance in food production.

All the food additives have a so called E-number, where E stands for Europe. More detailed information about them can be found on the web page of The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority – www.mast.is . The Authority is responsible for the surveillance of food with food additives used here in Iceland.

Graphics: E-additives tool icon and graphics showing how the tool works. Guðrún Tryggvadóttir, Signý Kolbeinsdóttir and Einar Bergmundur ©Nature.is.