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Video length: 4 min
Health: what are food additives hiding?
Health: what are food additives hiding?
(France 2)
Food additives allow products to color, thicken and preserve longer. How are they made, and do they present health risks?
E471, E385, E417… The French consume on average 4 kilos of food additives each year. Whether they are colorings or preservatives, they are hidden in candies, drinks, and many processed products. The market for these additives represents 120 billion euros. In France, nearly 339 natural or synthetic additives are authorized. Among them, some guarantee sanitary quality, we should be wary of certain others and their mixtures.
Favor short lists
“We have not studied the long-term influence of these 339 additives in humans and we have not studied the cocktail effect“, warns Anthony Fardet, researcher in preventive and sustainable nutrition at INRA. According to him, “even an isolated additive that does not exceed the maximum authorized dose can become deleterious in interaction with other additives“. The expert advises consumers to favor the shortest ingredient lists.
