Food Preservatives In Food

Food is one of the most basic necessities humans require for survival. Humans consume a notable amount of food on a daily basis to keep the body active, to supply energy for everyday activities and to satisfy cravings, but does men know what are put in their food? Have you ever wondered how food stay on supermarket shelves for a very long period of time without getting rotten? The answer to that is food preservatives. Food preservatives are added to food for many reasons including the preservation of food, to improve or maintain appearance, to add colour and to enhance the taste of food. Thousands of years ago, when people started growing crops, the use of food additives were not required as the population at that time did not require food to be kept for long. Fast forward to today where half of the additives that are found in todays products have preservatives that even adults cannot pronounce? A coincidence perhaps? I disagree. It comes as quite a shock to see people blindly consume their food with no knowledge at all about how food preservatives can have an adverse effect on health and it can be a sad sight to see. The reason many do not adhere to the effects preservatives have on health is because the effects are …show more content…
The simple yet harmful chemical of sodium nitrite can be mostly found in processed foods such as ham, bacon, pork and beef loins, salami, pepperoni and basically all frozen prepared meals. This harmful substance is normally used for the preservation of meats and as a colour enhancer by meat corporations to give packaged meat a better appearance to attract consumers. Unfortunately, sodium nitrite is the main component in the development of cancer-causing nitrosamines in the human body which will increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 67% according to a University of Hawaii research in 2005. In the same study, people who consumed an average of 50 grams of