Parents are increasingly becoming aware of the links between artificial food additives and their children's health. Many will request that nurseries avoid giving their children certain additives such as artificial sweeteners, artificial colourings or certain preservatives. It is an unfortunate truth that children's foods often feature such additives. An Organix report, Carrots or Chemistry, found that one third of children's foods contained colourings and most, particularly biscuits and cereal bars, had an average of five additives.
There are two principal problems with additives:
* Children need top quality ingredients as they are at a critical growth and development stage which depends upon good nutrition. Flavourings and colourings are often used to disguise cheap and tasteless ingredients (such as mechanically recovered meat, starch, maltodextrine and added water) that have little or no nutritional value.
* Many artificial additives are thought to be linked to health problems in children, particularly in relation to behavioural problems, asthma, eczema and headaches. Artificial colourings have been linked to hyperactivity, mood swings, sleeplessness and poor concentration. Artificial colourings and sulphur pre- servatives are linked to asthma and skin rashes and can be a problem for those with aspirin intolerance. Artificial sweeteners and MSG (mono-sodium glutamate) have been linked to headaches, dizziness and seizures.
Dirty dozen
Identifying additives which need to be avoided for a particular child can be a bit of a maze as labelling laws do not require manufacturers to be consistent. So, for instance, you might be looking out for an E-number but find that the chemical name is used.
These are the principal groups of additives which parents may be concerned about and which have been labelled the 'Dirty Dozen' by the Organix Carrots or Chemistry report: 1 Mechanically recovered/separated meat
2 Monosodium glutamate E621(flavouring)
3 Sodium 5-ribonucleotide E635(flavouring)
4 Aspartame (sweetener) E951
5 Acesulfame K (sweetener) E950
6 Sodium Saccharine E954(sweetener)
7 Sodium Benzoate E211(preservative)
8 Sulphur Dioxide E220(preservative)
9 Colours:Quinoline Yellow E104Brilliant Blue E133Sunset Yellow E110Carmoisine E122Ponceau 4R E124Indigo Carmine E132
10 High salt foods (more than 0.5g sodium or 1.2g salt per 100g)
11 Hydrogenated fat, saturated fat, (more than 5g per 100g)
12 Refined sugar
Catering to avoid additives
Follow these golden rules:
* Prepare as much food as possible from fresh ingredients. In this way you can control precisely what goes into a dish.
* When buying pre-prepared ingredients choose those with an ingredient listing you can understand without a chemistry degree. Take a little time to identify best options and then, in the long run, sourcing becomes simpler. For instance, one well-known spread has the ingredients: butter, vegetable oil, water, salt. A similar, also well-known, spread has the following ingredients: vegetable oil, water, buttermilk, salt, emulsifiers: mono- and di-glycerides (E471), sunflower lecithin (E322), preservative: potassium sorbate (E202), citric acid (E330), vitamin E, flavouring, vitamins A and D, colour: beta-carotene (E160a). One has four ingredients you can identify, the other has many ingredients which may not actually be particularly detrimental, but suggests lower quality ingredients and you remain in the dark about advantages and disadvantages.
* Choose the best quality dishes you can. For instance, choose 85 per cent meat sausage instead of 60 per cent meat sausage to minimise the amounts of fillers, binders, salt and preservatives used.
* Choose organic options certified by the Soil Association or other recognised body. Organic regulations are tight and minimise the use of additives.
* Always think around the problem. For instance, offer good-quality chocolate buttons instead of coloured candy buttons. Make jelly from 100 per cent fruit juice and a gelling agent instead of from highly coloured packet jelly. Mash banana with plain yoghurt instead of offering banana 'flavoured' packet mix desserts.
* Antioxidants which are natural and are not linked to problems are: ascorbates/vitamin C (E300-E304) and tocopherols/vitamin E (E306-E309).
* To avoid preservatives choose frozen instead of chilled foods (but still check the labels to be sure).
* Be suspicious of labels, especially if they make claims on the front of the package. For instance, if they say 'No artificial flavours', why are they not also saying 'No artificial colouring'? Check the small print. NW This article has been sponsored by the Organix Children's Food Advisory Service, where Suzannah Olivier is the consultant nutritionist
Resources
* Carrots or Chemistry report offers ideas for healthy snacks and lunchboxes, go to www.babyorganix.co.uk or call Freephone 0800 393511
* Children's Food Advisory Service Pack for Nurseries www.childrensfood.org
or for info on the quality of school catering and how to improve it www.
foodforlifeuk.org
* Organic Baby and Toddler Cookbook by Lizzie Vann of Organix gives additive-free recipes
* Suzannah Olivier is the author of several books including What Should I Feed My Baby? and Healthy Food for Happy Kids, visit www. HealthyFood 4HappyKids.com
