Food additives – uncovering what’s really in our food.

Any basic dictionary will tell you that a food additive is something that is added to our food as part of the processing of the food, for the preservation of that food, to colour that food or to stabilize that particular food. In essence it becomes part of that food directly or indirectly. The original food additives were in fact spices, salt and even smoke.

When you really look at the foods that we are consuming every day, it’s alarming at just how much extra we are getting in our diets in the way of food additives. Are they really that necessary? Are they in fact that safe?

Local Author Julie Eady started out wanting to do what was best for her family in the way of health and nutrition. With a history of allergies and asthma she began a personal project to look into foods that she was putting on the table for her family and realised that they contained many food additives that held some real health concerns. This personal project turned into a fabulous book –

The Essential Information about what’s really in the food you eat, which additives to avoid and why. This book explains clearly and simply which food additives are linked to health problems or banned because of safety concerns, and also shows you how easy it is to avoid them in your shopping.. A must have book and a great gift for anyone who cares about their health and especially anyone responsible for feeding children. Comes with handy Additives to Avoid card to make your shopping simple.

When I found out about this it really hit home. As a mum myself with two young daughters at home, a history of allergies on both sides of the family and asthma, it couldn’t have come at a better time. In fact we were already looking at our diets very closely. We already had the experience of a child with reactions to food colourings and dyes, but didn’t realise just how many foods had the same additives. It was time to clean up our act and FAST.

We invited Julie to our office in Hillarys to speak to our patients and what a wealth of information she did bring to us. I highly recommend if you ever have the chance to hear either Julie or another member of her team speak make the effort – you will not be disappointed. You will be shocked at just how insidious some of these additives are in our diet. Julie can be booked from February next year to speak to school communities, parent groups or work groups, please contact her directly on 94032245 or alternatively additivealert@bigpondcom.

Visit Julies website for more valuable information www.additivealert.com.au